The Basic Blót

The Blót is the most common ritual within Ásatrú. The simplest form a blót is making a sacrifice to the Gods. In the days of yore this was done by sacrificing the life of an animal that was consecrated to the Gods and then butchering and cooking the animal for the feast. As we are no longer farmers and most of us lack the skills to properly slaughter and butcher animals, the most common blót today is an offering of mead, ale, or other alcoholic beverage to the Gods.

A blót can be as simple as consecrating a horn of mead to the Gods and then pour an offering out onto the ground, or it can be a larger ritual. Basic blóts consists of three parts, the hallowing of the offering, the sharing of the offering, and the libation. Each of these is equally important. The only tools required are mead, beer or juice, a horn, a sprig of evergreen used to sprinkle the mead, and a blessing bowl known as a Hlautbowl into which the initial libation will be made.

A basic blót begins with the consecration of the offering. The Gothi officiating at the blót invokes the God or Goddess being honored. This is usually accomplished by a spoken declaration with ones arms being held above ones head in a ‘Y’ shape, in representation of the rune elhaz. This posture is used for most invocations and prayers throughout Ásatrú. After the spoken invocation an appropriate rune or other symbol of the God or Goddess may be drawn in the air with a finger or a ritual tool. Once the God is invoked, the Gothi takes up the horn, assistant pours mead, ale, or other drink from a vessel into the horn, and then Gothi then traces the hammer sign over the horn as a blessing and holds it above his head offering it to the Gods. He then speaks a request that the God or Goddess bless the offering and accept it as a sacrifice. The presence of the Gods can be felt at this point. The mead has passed the lips of the God or Goddess and is blessed with divine power. The Gothi then takes a drink of the horn and it is passed around the gathered folk.

Although this may sound like a very simple thing, it is a very powerful experience. Through consecration the mead is transformed from a simply a drink to the blessing and power of the God or Goddess being honored. When one drinks, one is taking that power into oneself. This is the essence of the rune Gebo. After the horn has made the rounds once, the Gothi again drinks from the horn and then empties the remainder into the hlautbowl. The Gothi then takes up the evergreen sprig and Hlautbowl. The Gothi sprinkles the mead onto the altar and sprinkles the gathered folk with the mead as a way of sharing it. The remainder of the offering is then poured onto the earth. This is done as an offering not only to the God invoked at the blót, but it is also traditional to remember the Earth Mother at this time. Many invocations mention the God, Goddess, or spirit being sacrificed to, and then Mother Earth, as in the Sigrdrifa Prayer Hail to the Gods and to the Goddesses as well; Hail Earth that gives to all men (Sigrdrifumal 3). With this action, the blót is ended.

In most cases a blót will at least be accompanied by a statement of intent at the beginning and some sort of conclusion at the end. It might also be interspersed with or done at the conclusion of ritual theater. Once the blót has concluded the ritual feast may begin followed by sumble. At YAC blóts we normally feast before the blót and conclude with the sumble. We have found that creates a much smoother transition and a more relaxed atmosphere.