- Sumbel

- Rituals

- Mead Brewing

Mail:
asaman at
destinyslobster.com

People:

Godman/Godwoman: general terms for priests of Asatru. This term may be used to describe someone who is simply leading a blot. It also applies to one who has taken on the role of a priest full-time. This includes lore study, establishing or leading a Kindred, counciling and mentoring, maintaining sacred places and regalia, etc.

Gothar: the plural form of "Gothi" or "Gythia". Another set of terms for priests. Proper pronunciation in Old Norse is: Gothar (go-thar). Lit: "those who speak the godly tongue."

Places:

Haugr: Old Norse - a burial mound. Related to "ha'r" ("high") and to the (obscure) English word "how." Cleasby-Vigfusson defines "haugr" as I. "how, mound" II. "cairn, over one dead." The OED defines "how" as 1. "hill, hillock" 2. "an artificial mound, tumulus, or barrow."

Ho:rgr: Old Norse - any kind of altar or cairn where offerings are made. Defined by C-V as "an altar of stone" or "sacrificial cairn, built in open air, and without images."

Hof: Old Norse - a holy building.

Ve': Old Norse - an outdoor sanctuary, usually with some sort of altar or image.

Lundr: An empty grove set aside as a sacred place. There was a grove dedicated to Skadhi in eastern Sweden called the "Skadalundr".

The usual Icelandic word for a temple. A "ve'" originally meant a building of any sort; it later (but still long ago) came to mean a sacred building. C-V report that "hof" is the usual place- name element in Norway and Iceland, whereas "ve'" plays the analogous role in Danish. It seems the generalization of "ve'" by modern heathens to mean an outdoor sacred space came about because 1) ve' is related to various words meaning "hallowed" and so implies sacrality generally and 2) we already have a word (hof) for a building. Thus, if you were honoring the gods in the woods, you'd use "lundr". If you had a place set up in those same woods with a hörgr or some statues, you'd call it a vé. Build a temple in those woods, and it's a hof.

Here are links to some images of Hofs and Ve's:

Groa's Hoff (Vingolf Kindred, NJ)

Ormswald Hof (Middlesex Hearth, England)

Things:

Oath Ring/Troth Ring: A solid gold or silver ring used for the swearing of oaths and also a symbol of priesthood. An altar object. A surviving 1,600 year old Ring of the Goths with runic inscription still survives, crafted in solid gold. The Oath Ring is brought to all Kindred functions, and is worn by the Gothi at all Blots and Sumbels as a service to the Folk who may wish to take a sacred oath. The Book of Settlements, written in Iceland to describe the Godic Republic, says; "A Ring of a prescribed size should be placed on the altar in every Main Temple. The Gothi of that temple should carry that Ring on his wrist to all regular Things, where he should conduct the procedures. Before that he should wash the Ring in the blood of a bull he had sacrificed himself." Many Asatruar have an oath ring as part of their spiritual regalia, though it may not be of precious metal.

Blótbolli: A bowl for catching libations during a blot. Often, mead is blessed, poured into a horn for the folk to drink from, then the remainder is poured into the bolli. This is then poured out on the ground or over the stones of a ho:rgr. Copper is a common material for bollis since the lore tells us of copper cauldrons used in ceremony.

Miscellaneous and Slang:

Hammer Rite and Sign: A more or less modern invention, the Hammer Rite or Hammer Warding is performed by many Asatruar as a way of sanctifying space for a blot. A symbolic Mjolnir (sometimes just the godman's fist) is swung, shaken, waved, or otherwise presented to the four direction corners and then above and below. Alternately, it may be held in the air as the Gothi turns a circle, announcing that he/she is making the stead holy for kin and gods and any wights who wish weal (good), and that any who wish to break frith or cause harm, man or wight, to fear Mjollnir's wrath (at this point striking the hammer on the ground).

The Hammer Sign is the act of drawing a hammer-like shape in the air over an object (such as a horn of mead) that one is blessing. Sometimes, the godman will simply hold up a Thor's hammer pendant or use a real hammer.

Both the Hammer Sign and Hammer Rite, as we know them today, are commonly held to have been created by Stephen McNallen of the then Asatru Free Assembly (circa 1976). Later, in 1978, Thorrson / Flowers modified the Hammer Rite; Kveldulf Gundarsson doing the same again in 1989. The original idea was to create a Wihstat (Gart or Ve'), or Frith- yard - a place where no weapons or battle-words were used. Otherwise, its format is based on a Wiccan model (which S. McNallen borrowed from). However, the Hammer Sign may have old roots. King Hakon the Good, a Christian, was thought to make a Sun Wheel over his drink - instead of a Cross - by his Heathen followers. Both the Baltic and Finno-Ugric Tribes considered the Hammer's touch a means to make "holy".

UPG: Unverified or Unsubstantiated Personal Gnosis. Any personal perceptions or experiences of one's own about the Gods, the wights, etc., that aren't directly verified by the lore. Often, so many people share the same UPG that it becomes a kind of Unwritten or Unofficial lore (which perhaps UPG could *also* stand for, alternately). For example, many people believe that computers and the internet fall under the dominion of both Odin and Loki--but obviously, you're not going to find this in the lore anywhere. Each individual Asatruar places a different emphasis on UPG and Lore study. Most ascribe to some combination of the two - each feeding into one's understanding of the other.

Fluff Bunny: I gather this refers to someone who is a dabbler in all manner of spiritual paths and never really gets into any in sufficient depth. Or a person who only sticks with things for as long as they "feel good" and are easy. It is generally a derogatory term for a lot of New Agers, hippies, ecclectics who don't research, etc. I have also heard "crystal huggers". My preferred term was coined by a friend - "Whifty-pharkle". Oh, and this term is not limited to Asatru...
http://ohmygods.timerift.net/strips/2003/08/07.php

Here's another cartoon poking fun at ecclectics...http://www.accendi.net/putf/archives/?strip=002