Thor’s hammer and a curved drinking horn sit among animal pelts, candles, and bowls covered in ancient runes. Last weekend, in the back room of The Broom Closet, around the table holding these items, gathered the Fellowship of Yggdrasil. The group was celebrating yule — the winter solstice — with a Blót, a sort of party to give thanks for the year’s blessings. The group, called a kindred, first got together last summer to celebrate Norse and Germanic culture. Its summer solstice event attracted 14 people.
We talked to kindred leader Emily Geunther, who is a co-owner of the South Main metaphysical shop. She hastens to say that her group’s appreciation for Nordic culture is unlike those of alt-right groups that have tried recently to co-opt Norse ancestry and traditions to create racial boundaries.
The Fellowship of Yggdrasil, she says, simply celebrates the old ways and is open to anyone who wants to come. As for the Blót, it’s an event to celebrate, give thanks, and to drink, of course. — Toby Sells
So, it’s the Yule … You’re going to have to say that “b” word.
Yule Blót? (Pronounced “bloat.”)
Yes. So, what is it?
The Yule Blót is specifically the Norse and Germanic way of celebrating the winter solstice. We are a pagan religion. There’s lots of them. Pagans celebrate the idea of yule, which is what we call the winter solstice. Lots of traditions or pagan religious groups celebrate it differently, but at the heart of it all is the idea that “we’re going to survive winter. Come on, sun!”
What about the Blót part?
Blót is an old Norse word that means ”sacrifice.” So, we get together to do a sacrifice, which sounds very scary. It’s not. But it’s for sacrificing our time. We’re getting together as a community. We are celebrating each other and honoring the old ways. There is, depending on who’s doing it, a little bit of sacrifice involved. Usually it’s a form of alcohol.
Mead is usually what I bring. Our ancient ancestors — the Vikings, the Norse — they drank mead. They drank ale, or whatever beer they made. So, yes, part of the Blót — the sacrifice we do — is pouring out some of the mead.
Tell me more about the Fellowship of Yggdrasil.
We are a Norse, pagan group. Anyone is welcome. Anyone at all who might be curious.
Anyone is welcome.
Emily Geunther
But this is kind of a strictly Norse group. We work only with Norse deities and try to do it in a historically informed way.
I am also Wiccan, and Wiccans can really worship any deity — whoever they feel attracted to. We call them kindreds in Norse culture. It’s not a church. It’s not a coven.
How does the Blót work?
There’s the Blót, which is kind of a church service. Then, there’s a little bit of a break. Then, there’s what they call a sumbel, which is three rounds of making toasts. We’re drinking.
The first round of a sumbel, everyone will take a turn if they want to. They can pass if they want. But you can toast a god or goddess who has gifted you with something this year. Since we’re talking about yule and the holidays, there’s a lot of gift giving and thankfulness going on.
So, someone might say, “I toast so-and-so because they helped me get a new car.” Then, everyone’s like “hey” [makes an air toast]. Then, the next person goes like “hey” [makes an air toast]. Drink. We do that three times. People will say “I’m not coming if there’s not a sumbel.” That’s a required part.
It also gives people a chance ot be part of it. It’s not just sitting there watching me talk. It gives everyone a chance to have a voice or to say something.
What happens after the sumbel?
We hail the ancestors and the land spirits. Land spirits are very important to not just continental but European cultures. The idea is that there are spirits that are of the land and keep watch over it and protect it. Being on good terms with them is usually a beneficial. Then, we’ll do some readings. Kind of a “why we’re all here” kind of thing.
As we’ve been doing all of this, I’ve been slowly pouring mead into a bowl. Then, I’ll take a little bit of evergreen and go around and flick everyone with a little bit of mead to give them blessings.
That sounds awesome.
It depends on whether or not I hit you in the eyes.
Then, we wrap up and close and release all the energies that have shown up. Then, I’ll take the sacrificial mead outside to the tree and pour it out. And I have a little prayer I say while I’m pouring it out.
Do you have to trace your lineage back to be in the group? Or, is it just an appreciation of the culture?
So many alt-right, conservative crazy people have adopted this idea that ancient Norse culture was pure and idealistic.
It’s an appreciation of the culture. I’m not going to lie, because this one’s a hard one. So many alt-right, conservative crazy people have adopted this idea that ancient Norse culture was pure and idealistic. It wasn’t. They were people, too, and they were not a pure-bred race by any means. They’re not like the perfect Aryan race. They travelled. They interacted with the Moors and the Muslims. They were interbred and borrowed ideas. So, anyone is welcome. You don’t have to be Norse. You can just be curious. It’s just an appreciation of the culture.