Winter Nights or Vetrnætr

The Winter Nights, called Vetrnætr, is a twelve-day festival that begins on a night in mid- to late-October. (The exact dates vary with the regional weather; in northern areas it tends to be held earlier.) The name Vetrnætr is Old Norse, composed of two words, vetr meaning winter, and nætr meaning nights.

Winter Nights is celebrated by the Ásatrú; Ásatrú is an Icelandic name, taken by those modern-day Norse and Germanic people who worship the old northern gods (such as Thor, Odin, and Frey) and goddesses (such as Freya and Frigg). Though its practice was interrupted, it has been reconstructed as closely as possible to the original religion of the Northern European people, based on the surviving historical records.

Winter Nights marks the end of summer, the start of the winter, and the beginning of a new year. It celebrates the bounty of the harvest, and it honors the Norse Goddess Freya- goddess of the harvest, artistic endeavors, and passion- and also the Disr, who are the ancestral mothers.

Agenda this week:
1. Ancestor Altar (Ofrenda):
This is a good time to set up an ofrenda or ancestor altar. An ofrenda is a special table for the Mexican Days of the Dead that holds offerings and decorations, such as arches, candles, incense, skeleton toys, marigolds, photographs, sugar skulls, as well as some of the ancestor’s favorite foods and things, and little gifts.

Usually I set up a separate ofrenda, but this year, my regular altar is taking that role. Though I've been collecting and making things for my ofrenda for years, this year I'm using only a few choice objects.

Today I added:

• the rune Fehu which represents "prosperity and possessions won or earned". This is Freya's rune, because of her fondness for beauty and wealth
• a list of the names of my female ancestors, back several generations
• photos of my father and grandparents
• tree of life candles, symbolic of the creation
• a dancing skeleton, to remind me that death is a part of life

2. Disr Meditation:
My female ancestors are my Disr- my family spirits and guardians of the household. They have special knowledge in matters of family luck, illness, childbirth, personal problems, and other everyday matters.

Today I light a candle and settle into meditation.

I bring a picture into my mind of my grandmothers- those strong German, Dutch, and Anglo women who traveled across the ocean and the frontier. I read their names out loud, and picture them gathering around me.

I ask my grandmothers to make themselves known to me and stand by me during the coming year, that I may face the demands of the world with the wisdom of my kin at my back.

3. Make more runes:
Runes are an ancient writing system created about 100 - 200 AD by Germanic tribes and spread all over middle and northern Europe by the migration of these tribes. The runes were used by the Germans, the Scandinavians, the Angles and Saxons. They are found inscribed onto stone, bone, and metal, and were used for poems and ornamentation, as well as divination.

I've been working on a set of runes, burned onto circles cut from a hazel branch. Today I will add to my collection.

4. Throw the runes:
Runes are used as a divination tool- I don't have a complete set yet, so I use virtual runes such as the ones at Ifate.

Today I asked "How can I best move forward this winter?" and I got a pretty great reading: 

1- Past: The inverted Raidho (Journey) shows that I am stuck in the events and injustices of the past year (my bike accident). 
2- Present: The Flowing Waters of intuition and dreams are working on me now to heal and reveal mysteries.
3- Future: The Dawn is coming. I will become clearer and more aware of how to achieve happiness.
4- In my Path: A Gift is in my path- either to me or from me to another.
5- Source of strength: Need and Desire are my source of strength and power.


5. Feast and blót:In the old days, friends and family would gather at farmstead feast halls to play ball games on the frozen lakes during the day, and eat and drink to excess during the night. Then they would have a blót, which means “to worship with sacrifice”. (It would have been a blood sacrifice of a horse, pig or cow, but the Ásatrú usually substitute mead today.) The purpose of the blót was to thank the gods for a successful end to the growing season and to ask for protection against the harshness of winter.