Mothers All!
Halloween is one night, but Winter Nights is -- always. That sense of high expectation as a child has now flowed from Halloween into Winter Nights. With the rich colors of autumn with its sights and smells, it’s easier to dip into our ancestral past and imagine the lives of our forebears. Our Gythias play a special role in this as they lead us in blot to our Mothers at Winter Nights. We enter the circle where we stand shoulder to shoulder. And yet the goal of the Disablot is the thread that connects us to the other side. With eyes closed, we call the name of one of our Mothers. We sense the veil just beyond us and feel it quiver to our words.
Mothers All! We sing to you. We sing to your sons. We kuln among the women, calling to our Folk. We honor all the Holy Powers and give our gifts. Then it is our turn to receive our gifts from you.
Excitement grew, like the anticipation of a child at Yule. At Óðinshof, each murmured-message to a Mother was answered with a rune drawn from a box… Something to guide, to comfort, to teach -- all given by the Mothers with a touch of love. My own rune, taken last in the darkness, was Ingwaz.
Ingwaz? Such a small and simple rune. And yet, I came home with a sense of fulfillment and energy I haven’t experienced in a long while.
Ingwaz? Since then, it has been like an egg cracked open. New ideas and creativity are helping me fulfill my obligations as a Gythia to the Aesir and my role in Asatru Academy and our Oðinshof District. I will make the most of this gift which arrived at a time of need.
The veil is thin, for sure, but our Ancestors are forever. We grow closer to them every day. Did you take or seek a rune at Winter Nights that has led you in the right direction? What will be your next step?
Gythia Sheila McNallen
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