Othala Acres Yule Swine Blot report
Some may care and find joy in this tale while others may yawn and
snooze. Typically I use the Anglo Saxon naming conventions, but I
stuck with what is more common for this. For those wide awake, with
interest in events not long past I say Lo!
Lo, these few days past found a rare and wonderful deed done. The
resurrection of Swine Blot to the Gods of Asgarth has continued for 8
unbroken Yule-tides. As in our forefathers days, it is kept holy by my
family. It is kept here at Othala Acres, New Hampshire.
Although every Yule Swine Blot is different from the last, they are
all the same. The details shift and grow while the folk gathering, the
Gods honoured, the life given, the sacred meat cooked, the Husel
(sacral feast) consumed and Symble drunk remain constant.
The folk came in all in a rush. From many corners of the New England
they had traveled. Friends and kin, they brought cheer and honour.
Hands clasped and arms embraced friend knowing that joy and happiness
were to blossom while the day was marked as being a Holy celebration
of Yule. Introductions were made for new faces but within moments it
was hard to tell who were new friends and who were long known to each
other! The toasts and joking could have gone on for the rest of the
day unbroken if we didn't keep in mind that we were here to Blot Swine
in honour of our Gods and Goddess for Yule. The Aesir and Vanir
deserve no less.
Before the folk could gather at the rise before the grove, the Blot
Swine was crated by myself, Tim, Hansen, Matt and Mike, then carried
in and placed before the God Pole of Odin, Thor and Ing Frey, all
under the eaves of Ingsleigh Hall. Guinness beer brought from Ireland
was offered in honour to the young boar that had been raised on our
farm for this purpose. It would be a lie to say the beer was greedily
guzzled down from the bowl, but down it did go. A second and third
beer then followed that first one. I can imagine the warm glow in that
belly.
As that was done, the folk gathered at the rise. In my hands was a
banner hung on a pole topped with a deer skull. My mouth opened and
out came the song always sung here to mark the next minutes as holy
and sacred. Thunor Weoh. The land has already been hallowed by nature
and the countless Holy Days celebrated here.
Into the grove we went as I led the sith, the procession. Around the
fire, smokily burning, I sang and carried the banner until all were
around the fire and gazing at the sacred gift. Without wasting time, I
kept the course of ritual going, letting the gathered folk follow my
lead by touching the Blot Swine and uttering a request. After all had
a chance to touch the beast, the final Yule Bede or Yule prayer left
my lips for all to hear. The words finished, an apple was offered the
Yule Boar and Lily sent him to the Heavens with a touch of the .22
rifle. My sure hands, using Lily's Pepere's long knife, then bled him
into the Blot Bowl which was held by Annie's capable hands. Mike and I
ensured the Yule gift drained well.
Again Lily was in action as she carried the mead horn to the folk,
mixing it, in the end, with the contents of the Blot Bowl. A pine
bough was used which Ingrid and Stephanie used to asperse the hands of
the Tru folk there. That done, I sprinkled the Hall and the God posts
before wassailing it into the earth.
It was done. It was good and it was Holy.
Butchering soon began and the other Stephanie, my distant cousin, took
over what I began. She butchers better than I do and there is no shame
in saying so.
During this time, others shared joy and gathered in the kitchen, as
always. Folks also clustered in the library near the woodstove which
was throwing soothing heat. Ingsleigh Hall also had it's own woodstove
going and friends also gathered there. There were lots of movement
between the three locations. Some would sit in the Hall then move to
the kitchen, winding up in our library and then back to the Hall.
Into the oven went the loins of the Blot Swine for a simple pork loin
dish,. Vegetables, potatoes as well as a ham, cured by Lily, from last
years blot swine went into the oven cold and came out hot. Once the
food was laid out I boomed out the words I always shout 'The Husel is
now served, let us eat and be merry!' Folks lined up, kids and adults
filled their plates and sat at the dining room table or other tables
setup in the house.
The Husel done, thoughts of Symble arose and we, who were still here,
gathered in Ingsleigh Hall. What is there to tell? The horn went
around three times in the woodstove warmed Hall. Lily carried it
first, then Annie, then Cat E. Then it was over. The sky was cold and
it's blackness contrasted wondrously with the vast display of stars.
After some merriment, the Yule Holiday celebrations broke up and the
night became calm.
I swear this is what happened for Yule Swine Blot and I believe the
Aesir and Vanir were honoured well by us.
--
Ron Boardman
Eþelæceres/Othala Acres
http://www.othalaacres.com/
from Thomas Jefferson in a letter to Major John Cartwright entitled
"Saxons, Constitutions and a Case of Pious Fraud" :
I was glad to find in your book a formal contradition, at length, of the
judiciary usurpation of legislative powers; for such the judges have
usurped in their repeated decisions, that Christianity is a part of the
common law. The proof of the contrary, which you have adduced, is
incontrovertible; to wit, that the common law existed while the
Anglo-Saxons were yet Pagans, at a time when they had never yet heard the
name of Christ pronounced, or knew that such a character had ever existed.
snooze. Typically I use the Anglo Saxon naming conventions, but I
stuck with what is more common for this. For those wide awake, with
interest in events not long past I say Lo!
Lo, these few days past found a rare and wonderful deed done. The
resurrection of Swine Blot to the Gods of Asgarth has continued for 8
unbroken Yule-tides. As in our forefathers days, it is kept holy by my
family. It is kept here at Othala Acres, New Hampshire.
Although every Yule Swine Blot is different from the last, they are
all the same. The details shift and grow while the folk gathering, the
Gods honoured, the life given, the sacred meat cooked, the Husel
(sacral feast) consumed and Symble drunk remain constant.
The folk came in all in a rush. From many corners of the New England
they had traveled. Friends and kin, they brought cheer and honour.
Hands clasped and arms embraced friend knowing that joy and happiness
were to blossom while the day was marked as being a Holy celebration
of Yule. Introductions were made for new faces but within moments it
was hard to tell who were new friends and who were long known to each
other! The toasts and joking could have gone on for the rest of the
day unbroken if we didn't keep in mind that we were here to Blot Swine
in honour of our Gods and Goddess for Yule. The Aesir and Vanir
deserve no less.
Before the folk could gather at the rise before the grove, the Blot
Swine was crated by myself, Tim, Hansen, Matt and Mike, then carried
in and placed before the God Pole of Odin, Thor and Ing Frey, all
under the eaves of Ingsleigh Hall. Guinness beer brought from Ireland
was offered in honour to the young boar that had been raised on our
farm for this purpose. It would be a lie to say the beer was greedily
guzzled down from the bowl, but down it did go. A second and third
beer then followed that first one. I can imagine the warm glow in that
belly.
As that was done, the folk gathered at the rise. In my hands was a
banner hung on a pole topped with a deer skull. My mouth opened and
out came the song always sung here to mark the next minutes as holy
and sacred. Thunor Weoh. The land has already been hallowed by nature
and the countless Holy Days celebrated here.
Into the grove we went as I led the sith, the procession. Around the
fire, smokily burning, I sang and carried the banner until all were
around the fire and gazing at the sacred gift. Without wasting time, I
kept the course of ritual going, letting the gathered folk follow my
lead by touching the Blot Swine and uttering a request. After all had
a chance to touch the beast, the final Yule Bede or Yule prayer left
my lips for all to hear. The words finished, an apple was offered the
Yule Boar and Lily sent him to the Heavens with a touch of the .22
rifle. My sure hands, using Lily's Pepere's long knife, then bled him
into the Blot Bowl which was held by Annie's capable hands. Mike and I
ensured the Yule gift drained well.
Again Lily was in action as she carried the mead horn to the folk,
mixing it, in the end, with the contents of the Blot Bowl. A pine
bough was used which Ingrid and Stephanie used to asperse the hands of
the Tru folk there. That done, I sprinkled the Hall and the God posts
before wassailing it into the earth.
It was done. It was good and it was Holy.
Butchering soon began and the other Stephanie, my distant cousin, took
over what I began. She butchers better than I do and there is no shame
in saying so.
During this time, others shared joy and gathered in the kitchen, as
always. Folks also clustered in the library near the woodstove which
was throwing soothing heat. Ingsleigh Hall also had it's own woodstove
going and friends also gathered there. There were lots of movement
between the three locations. Some would sit in the Hall then move to
the kitchen, winding up in our library and then back to the Hall.
Into the oven went the loins of the Blot Swine for a simple pork loin
dish,. Vegetables, potatoes as well as a ham, cured by Lily, from last
years blot swine went into the oven cold and came out hot. Once the
food was laid out I boomed out the words I always shout 'The Husel is
now served, let us eat and be merry!' Folks lined up, kids and adults
filled their plates and sat at the dining room table or other tables
setup in the house.
The Husel done, thoughts of Symble arose and we, who were still here,
gathered in Ingsleigh Hall. What is there to tell? The horn went
around three times in the woodstove warmed Hall. Lily carried it
first, then Annie, then Cat E. Then it was over. The sky was cold and
it's blackness contrasted wondrously with the vast display of stars.
After some merriment, the Yule Holiday celebrations broke up and the
night became calm.
I swear this is what happened for Yule Swine Blot and I believe the
Aesir and Vanir were honoured well by us.
--
Ron Boardman
Eþelæceres/Othala Acres
http://www.othalaacres.com/
from Thomas Jefferson in a letter to Major John Cartwright entitled
"Saxons, Constitutions and a Case of Pious Fraud" :
I was glad to find in your book a formal contradition, at length, of the
judiciary usurpation of legislative powers; for such the judges have
usurped in their repeated decisions, that Christianity is a part of the
common law. The proof of the contrary, which you have adduced, is
incontrovertible; to wit, that the common law existed while the
Anglo-Saxons were yet Pagans, at a time when they had never yet heard the
name of Christ pronounced, or knew that such a character had ever existed.