Hallows eve blog party...a fanciful twist

Wow its the 16th already!!!

Hello and welcome to hallows eve blog party..

What transpires in my mind of hallows eve?

Take a seat, a glass and come talk with me..

*cackles*

Let me prepare a special brew...

for old friends & new

Tis cooked & stirred like some kind of stew,

but magic is abound

and no other place can this brew be found...

There are tales of Absinthe

a green fae brew

but this potion I make is new for you

Hubble bubble

it whispers wisdom of old

it seems the message is love

Let me pour you a tipple

then see what your mind ripples

...taste the nectar of this green fae

Are you still with me?

Can you yet see a fine mist set before you?

Rays of light carrying your wishes to the source of empowerment..

Yes....tis hallows eve..

take another sip

of the bohemian potion

start all your wishes in motion

Do you see her yet?

The green bohemian fae?

She's almost ready to take you where your dreams lay..

There now ...feel her magic,

encompass her words..

sweet love & light

for you on this magical, mystical night

oxo

What else is brewing?

Visit again to find out

*hee hee*

A little lore for you

Norse Hallows Eve

álfablót

In the old Norse religion an event believed to occur around the

same time of the year as Halloween was the álfablót (elven blót).

The elves were powers connected to the ancestors,

and it can be assumed that the blót related to a cult of the ancestors.

The álfablót is also celebrated in the modern revival of Norse religion, Ásatrú.

The Álfablót or the Elven sacrifice was a pagan Scandinavian sacrifice to the elves towards the end of autumn, when the crops had been harvested and the animals were most fat.

Tthe álfablót was a local celebration at the homesteads

and they were mainly administered by the lady of the household.

Nothing is known about the particular rites because they were surrounded by secrecy and strangers were not welcome to the homesteads during the celebrations.

However, since the elves were collective powers with a close connection to ancestors and fertility,

it is possible that the álfablót concerned ancestor worship and the life force of the family.

The blót (Old Norse plural same as singular) refers to 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.

The blót element of horse sacrifice is found throughout Indo-European traditions,

including the Vedic Indian, Celtic, and Latin traditions.

The modern English language term bless likely derives from the 1225 term blessen,

which developed from the Old English blǣdsian (preserved in the Northumbrian dialect around 950).

The term also appears in other forms, such as blēdsian (before 830 and derived from *blōðisōjanan),

blētsian from around 725 and blesian from around 1000,

all meaning "to make sacred

or holy by sacrificial custom; to mark with blood"

The verb blóta meant "to worship with sacrifice",or "to strengthen".

The sacrifice usually consisted of animals, in particular pigs and horses.

The meat was boiled in large cooking pits with heated stones, either indoors or outdoors.

The blood was considered to contain special powers and it was sprinkled on the statues of the gods,

on the walls and on the participants themselves.

It was a sacred moment when the people gathered around the steaming cauldrons to have a meal together with the gods or the Elves.

The drink that was passed around was blessed and sacred as well and it was passed from participant to participant.

The drink was usually beer or mead but among the nobility it could be imported wine.

The old prayer was til árs ok friðar, "for a good year and frith (peace)"

They asked for fertility, good health,

a good life and peace and harmony between the people and the powers.

The autumn blót was performed in the middle of October,

the great Midwinter blót,

or Yule, in the middle of January.

Freyr was the most important god at the Midwinter and autumn blót,

and Christmas ham (the pig was for Freyr) is still a main Christmas course in parts of Scandinavia.

The Summer blót was undertaken in April at the vernal equinox and it was given to Odin.

Then, they drank for victory in war and this blót was the starting date for Viking expeditions and wars.

A building where the blót took place was called a hov.

Or at sacred places called Hörgr, Vé, Lund and Haug.

Horgr means altar possibly consisting of a heap of stones,

Lund means "grove" and Ve simply "sacred place".

The Christian laws forbade worshipping at the haug or haugr meaning "mound" or "barrow"

In the forest of Tiveden, Sweden,

local tradition presents a poem describing what appears to have been the last larger blót

at a mountain called Trollkyrka,

perhaps as late as the 19th century.

It also shows that the farmers in the area still knew how to perform such a rite.

Elden den "köllas" av nio slags ved,	The fire is lit by nine kinds of wood,
det är gammal sed.	that is the old custom.
Offer till andarna skänkes,	A sacrifice is offered [to the spirits],
med blodet sig alla bestänkes.	everyone is sprinkled with the blood.
Det bästa till andar föräras,	The best part is gifted to spirits,
det som blir över skall av männen förtäras.	what remains is to be consumed by the men.

The information that nine kinds of wood were used to light the fire is only found in this poem,

but it fits very well the significance of the number nine in Norse mythology,

and may simply have been overlooked by medieval sources.

Kormáks saga accounts for how a sacrifice to elves was apparently

believed able to heal a severe battle wound:

Þorvarð healed but slowly; and when he could get on his feet he went to see Þorðís,

and asked her what was best to help his healing.

"A hill there is," answered she,

"not far away from here, where elves have their haunt.

Now get you the bull that Kormák killed,

and redden the outer side of the hill with its blood,

and make a feast for the elves with its flesh. Then thou wilt be healed."

Skålgropar, a particular kind of petroglyph found in Scandinavia,

were known in older times as älvkvarnar (elven mills), pointing to their believed usage.

One could appease the elves by offering them a treat (preferably butter) placed into an elven mill

– perhaps a custom with roots in the Old Norse álfablót.

A more recent theory suggests that some skålgropar might have represented rudimentary astronomical maps.

Love & light

have fun tonight

Trace

oxo