How to Blót ? - The Basics

In the past few years, I've been writing about the Norse Pagan Traditions, feasts, Blóts etc. and I realised that I have never wrote a post to help people starting their blóts or at least giving a brief notion of how it is done. Some people have already asked me how to make sacrifices and offerings and I have always helped them, giving to them the knowledge that I have about that subject, but never occur to me that I could actually write a post about it and maintain even more people informed.

In the Hávamál there are at least two lines that ask if one knows how to bid (pray) and how to sacrifice. 
I understand that so many have still a lot of difficulty with this kind of practice, no one has ever born with all the knowledge about these things. It takes time. We live in a world (nowadays) where these things are seldom taught, and there is still only a few who are willing to "waste" a bit of their time, to teach the eager ones.
Our society is so used to sit in some place, listen someone babbling about the subject, speak some words so often that starts to sound like a song, so well memorized that has no meaning whatsoever in our minds, toss money and that's it, that we completely forgot how to actually worship the gods in our own way. The key to know how to Blót, is to know the way of personal worship. Worship the deities on our own isn't easy and most of the time we don't know were to start. However, there are several different "steps" one can take in order to build a structure that leads to the worship of the deities in a personal matter. I will write a brief "guide" for group worshiping, but you, whoever you are, will easily be able to modify that for individual practice.
Note that these are not instructions on how you must perform, just a general outline. You are completely free to perform accordingly with your community, your own group or your own customs. With time and practice, your knowledge and skills will grow and you will start to perform in your own way.

1- Consecrate, Sanctify (hallowing) the place, to make it sacred. This can be done in many different ways. Some people often carry fire around the ritual area accompanying it with the singing of a holy song or reciting a poem or a prose work. Some consecrate the area with ale or mead, invoking the land spirits to guard the place and help during the rituals. This is made when you haven't been in the place before, or if you think that you will never come back there. It is actually to "mark" the area with what you will about to do. If you have your own place and if you have done it before in it, it is seldom needed to do it again in that specific place, at least by you. If a new member enters the community, this has to be done again to welcome the person into the area and into the group.

2- The next step is the "Calling", the invocation of the gods, spirits or ancestors. Usually asking them with a prayer, to be present among you and your folk, to be present during the rituals. Invoking the gods by calling their names. You can write your own invocation, be that for the gods or for the specific Blót, or both of course. Whatever you might use to invoke the gods, or even if the group sings a song, none of these methods are a command, it is a mere invitation, they might come or not.

3- "Advice" and/or "Council", is when the purpose of the gathering and the blót is explained and why the people are there and for what purpose the specific deities, spirits or ancestors have been previously called. It can ether be explained with ordinary speech or reciting a specific part of the lore. Reciting a myth, a story. The important thing is to explain the why of making the offerings and to whom they are being held.

4- Making the Offering. The blót is the worshiping of the holy powers and to make an offer to them. Now is the time to present the offerings and make them holy. It is the simple act of offering something to the gods, spirits and/or ancestors, and those become holy because they cross the veil between our world and theirs. Offerings can be anything of worth.
If you are making an offering of food, you might leave it out there to be eaten by animals, bury it or sink it into water like you would with physical goods. If you are using a libation as the main offering, you will likely want to pour it out on the ground or be poured into an offering bowl to be used in the Blessing later. It is very common to pass around a communal drink for ritual toasting and praise prior to pouring it out, like the horn filled with mead for example.

5- Blessings. Time to bless the people involved in the ritual, sprinkling each person with the previous blessed offering and speaking a simple prayer to impart divine favor and protection. Part of the offering, should be given to the land itself where the blót is taking place, to bless the area and strengthen what links each people involved in the ritual, with the spirits of the land and to mark that place for future sacrifices.

6- Ending. Since every blót has a clear start, it should also have an end. Something to make clear that the rite came to and end and that it is all over. Recite a farewell poem or any words to show the gratitude for the presence of the community and the ones that have been called upon.

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Váli blót - 14 February - Valentine's Day

Váli Blót

First of all, i would like to tell you who is the god Váli.


Vali, as it is told in the Skaldskaparmal, is the "son of Odin and Rind, stepson of Frigg, brother of the Æsir, Baldr's avenging As, enemy of Hod and his slayer, father's homestead-inhabiter."
Váli is also among the twelve Æsir seated as judges at Ægir's banquet. He is not only seen as a God of vengeance, but truly one of the Æsir, seated with the others at table and drink. He is referenced for his courage and his accuracy with the bow, and is one of the inheritors of Asgard after Ragnarok.

The Birth of Váli

The prophecy made by Rossthiof was duly fulfilled, for Rinda bore a son named Vali (Ali, Bous, or Beav), a personification of the lengthening days, who grew with such marvelous rapidity, that in the course of a single day he attained his full stature. Without even taking time to wash his face or comb his hair, this young God hastened off to Asgard with bow and arrow to avenge the death of Balder, God of light, by slaying his murderer, Hodur, the blind God of darkness.
Of course, metaphorically speaking, he hasn't born just for a single purpose, to avenge the death of Baldr, and he did not took a single day to grow and run to Asgard to kill Hodr, this tale is told, for us to have that perception that Váli was quickly trained to become a great warrior, an archer, and he grew with such skills, that he became a great god, and too soon he proved his abilities, his skills.
Also, there is a tale which says that de God Hoder (the Danish version of the god Hod / Hodr) was the lover of Nanna the princess of the Danes. Balder also desired Nanna and tried to woo her without success. Undeterred Balder raised an army of gods and attacked Hod with a fleet of ships. Hoder successfully held them off and even managed to break Thor's weapon ( apparently in this time, Thor did not owned his magic hammer Mjölnir ) Hoder eventually killed Balder using a magical sword. Odin's son Bo ( Váli ) later avenged Balder.

Why is it Váli's day at the same day as Valentine's Day ?

Vali is the God of eternal light, just as a beam of light was often called with arrows, he is always represented and worshiped as an archer. For that reason his month in Scandinavian an now in Neopaganism of Northern Beliefs calendars is designated by the sign of the bow, and is called Lios-beri, the light-bringing. As it falls between the middle of January and of February, the early Christians dedicated this month to St. Valentine, who was also a skillful archer, and was said, like Vali, to be the harbinger of brighter days, the awakener of tender sentiments, and the patron of all lovers.

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Haustablot or FallFest 21st-24th September

Note: The Drawing was made by me to ilustrate the celebration i am about to write of.
You can watch my works in this [Link] at my gallary.

To begin with, i will tell you what a Blót is.

The Blót was Norse pagan sacrifice to the Norse gods and the spirits of the land. The sacrifice often took the form of a sacramental meal or feast. Related religious practices were performed by other Germanic peoples. This celebration wasn't made just by the norse/germanic people, but also throughout Europe, the celts, and latins did it, in their own traditions, often animals and even people ( most prisoners of war ) were sacrificed, the word Blót means "to worship with sacrifice", in this celebrations, the people give their offerings, such as mead. food, animals, personal objects, all to the Gods and in turn, people expected the Gods to give them gifts in turn, they asked for fertility, good health, a good life and peace and harmony between the people and Nature.

Now that you know what a Blót is, i will tell you what is the Haustablot, this specific blót in this time of the year, in 21st to 24th of September, it is the autumn equinox, such as the Celtic Mabon and Alan Elfed, it is a time to celebrate the harvest of the crops and it's ending, it is also a time to thank and to meditate, the celebration is made with the food and drink that is made with the Corn and wheat, and also to celebrate with cakes, cookies, mead, bread, vegetables, fruits, nuts.
It is not just a time to thank to yourself, your family, the Gods, and all the hard work, but also a time to thank to the Landvættir, who  are spirits of the land and they protect and promote the flourishing of the specific places where they live, which can be as small as a rock or a corner of a field, or as large as a section of a country.