Veneration of ancestors and the spirits of the land is central to this threshold. In days gone by, it marked the end of the harvest and the start of the long, hard road of winter survival. Most of us (myself included) have no real concept of what harvest time actually meant. Unless you live in a deeply rural setting, you probably barely notice it passing.
Imagine having to gather and store an entire season's food and fuel, then sitting back to hope you had enough to get through a potentially deadly winter. There was no post-Iron Age Tesco to rely on if the cupboards ran bare in February.
This is where Álfablót comes in. It’s a time of thanksgiving and seeking the strength to endure the dark nights ahead—thanking and honouring those who walked the path before us and acknowledging the land spirits around us.
I’ll be performing a quiet ritual over the coming nights (the 31st isn't a nailed-on date, after all). Nothing fancy or elaborate—just a few unspoken or spoken words, a quiet pause, and a simple offering.
The spirit of the Urban Viking—and the occasional absurdity of navigating the modern world—lives on in my webcomic, Northman. 
You can read the latest chapter here:
A good ritual and practice to keep marking!
ReplyDeleteIt's perhaps the most important on the wheel.
DeleteSome things run deep and I often think of Christianity as a johnny-come-lately mythology. There are much older beliefs in these isles, tattooed upon these landscapes.
ReplyDeleteSo true.
DeleteI love how you display your images with those frames!
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteI also read that animals that people wouldn't be able to feed over winter were slaughtered so it's no wonder it was time of feasting.
ReplyDeleteLife was harder than we in the modern world can imagine.
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