Munson's Mead Hall

Mail:
asaman at
destinyslobster.com

Asatru Altars

Many Asatruar set up personal altars. Indoors, these might be called "Ho:rgr" after the Old Norse. They are often set up close to the center of the home. This is because in traditional Norse houses, the very center of the hall was where the fire was; often located in a pit between the two main roof supports. To modern Asatruar, the altar and the hearth are quite synonomous.

Others will set aside sacred space outdoors on their property, usually using the term "Ve'". Such a space may or may not contain an image or a mound of stones to use as an altar. But the term Ve refers only the the sacred space.

My own altar (shown at right) is set up in what is pretty much the center of the house. You walk past it regularly, and it is plainly visible when you are in the living room. Having it there to catch the eye and turn the thoughts is an important daily life integration, I think. It includes a sledge hammer (my honorary Mjolnir), a copper bowl (blotbowli) and a large, heavy brass ring I consider to be an Oath Ring (it's actually a kung fu wrist exercise ring, but the size and weight are impressive).

There are two drinking horns - a blue glass one we use when it is just the two of us or a small group of guests, and a medium-size bull's-horn horn for larger occasions.

A shelf under the altar has several of my favorite Lore and study books.

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Recently, we have decided to change the colors of the altar candles to mark the seasons and current/recent holidays. Here is our "candle calendar":

Thorrablot (Thor's Feast) - Ice Blue

Charming of the Plough (Idis-thing) - Spring Green

Ostara - Spring Equinox - White

Sigrblot - Dark Blue

Walpurgisnacht - Purple
May Day - Amber

Midsummer - Yellow

Freyfaxi - Dark Green

Winternights - Black

Ancestorblot - Red or Orange

Yule - Gold

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I also have set up a ho:rgr at the base of an old walnut tree in my back yard. We typically use this for outdoor blots and for making libations to the Landvaettir.

Personal altars are very useful for developing daily practices and a general "Heathen Mindset". For example, each day as I leave the house in the morning, I make it a point to briefly touch the hammer and think a "Heathenful thought", like a quick Hail to an Ase, ancestor etc. It is very quick and simple. I do the same when I return home. It is basically the same idea behind the Jewish practice of touching the Mezuzah.

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Here are some examples of what other people have done to create sacred places in their homes...

"Altars.... I Love my altars! Yes there are many *smile*
In our Family room we have both our Family/Ancestor altar It is a bookshelf in which we keep all of our spiritual related books, It's covered with a long black cloth to the ground and then on the actual top of the shelf we put pics of our family that have passed, a pair of antique candle sticks and a journal for us to write in about those who have passed, then on the wall behind it we have all the living family pics surrounding another small shelf with a back that I wrote out the Verse- 'Lo There do I see my Father....' ( the whole thing ) on.

Directly across from it is a small "dresser" that is our tribe/business/working altar It's pretty big and has pics of us, a vase for flowers and such, A hammer ( sledge ), a bottle of Mead, My amber ball ( size of a navel orange), Offering bowl, All which were gifts to us by members of the tribe...

Then in our bedroom we keep our personal altars Mine is souly to honor Freyja so I keep that in my own space, this is were we put our stuff that is Hands off...

As for Horns, I am in the middle of getting supplies ready to start finishing the twenty rough & raw horns we just got in a few are going to the Tribe members which will then grace our Tribal altar and then the rest are going to stock."

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"Mine has grown pretty organically, as I've acquired more objects that have a specific meaning to me. I love the altar now, but it's taken a while to get to that point. It's actually quite small, with two Dala horses (just because I love them, and they remind me of Frey), a Dala-style candleholder with a three-limbed candle in it (to represent Yggdrasill), a *gorgeous* statue of Ullr (by Donna Kaunike), a piece of amber (for Freyja) and some seashells my husband brought home from a business trip (for Njord). All of these objects sit upon a Swedish table runner. Hanging on the wall above the altar is a plaque of Frey and Gerd (also by Donna Kaunike).

It's taken me quite a few years to assemble these objects. The amount of time I've spent building the altar has taught me that it's a real "process," (for me at least), not something to be knocked together in a spare hour.

I don't know if there can be "too much" on an altar. It's such a personal thing. Having a cluttered altar with tons of stuff wouldn't appeal to me, but it might to someone else.

My husband and I plan on erecting a (very) small building (more of a shed-type thing) in our backyard at some point in the future as a space in which to honor the Gods and Goddesses. I was suprised to see how "styling" some of the garden shed kits are. :-) It is my belief that whatever objects we place in that building will be much more rustic than our indoor altar."

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"We have a mantle over the fireplace which is a sort of altar. We keep a large pair of a matched drinking horn and blowing horn which are kindred horns (and rotate between members of our kinderd depending on who is elected tribal head for the year) and a small pewter longboat which I purchaced from a scandinavian heritage shop which is very good for leaving small gifts for the wights and in which I just left some honey. There is a statue of Thor in the center and two plants on either side of the mantle.

Something else I used to do when I did some sewing. I had a small decorative wooden box which I set aside scraps of nicer material for the house wights. I haven't set up my sewing stuff since I moved, but it's something I'll do again. I did notice that scraps went missing from the box from time to time never to be seen again, yet I didn't loose scraps from other sources."

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"My altar is small, but has a candle and stand, an enormous brass oath ring a friend made for me that fits PRECISELY over the candle stand, even though I never sent him even an approximate measurement (hail Volund!), my Freysman antler, bell, and tusk, a drinking horn I carved myself, and numerous mementos: a woodburning of the Irminsul, gifted to me at my first Yule, a rock I used to hold my notes down at the first public blot I gothi'd, three shells from the beach where I hosted my first sumbel, a silk rose from a friend's memorial blot, and a silver rabbit that belonged to her, and a fishhook Njord left in my truck . . . seriously, it was just THERE . . . and I don't fish. It all fits on one of those 'topper' tables, draped in Freyr's colors---browns and greens and creams and pale blues."