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To the Reeves Hall
This is a closed, family (construed loosely) event. It is, of course, up to each of us to decide whom we consider family. We must exercise some restraint, however. Use your best judgment. It is absolutely not an open, all-comers event.
The schedule is designed so that more casual invited guests could attend the opening blot, feast, and gift-giving, then leave before the sumbel at 11. (And I assume that a certain number of "family guests" will be staying for the whole thing.)
We will have a place for the unexpected guest, of course, but we ought to know in advance who is *planning* to come, specifically, by name. If you bring a guest, you have to take responsibility for the added hospitality burden. Bring a little more food, increase your share of the kitchen costs, bring gifts for them, and so on.
Remember the Yule Rule: Everyone who is there gets gifts. So if you bring someone, you are responsible for gifts. Otherwise, we will be taking the tags off of some of our own gifts to take up the slack.
Opening blot approximately 4:30 pm (sunset) to 5:10 pm (twilight ends)
Central sumbel approximatley 11 pm to 1 am (centered on midnight)
Closing blot approximately 6:40 am (twilight begins) to 7:15 am (sunrise)
Moon: 1 day past new, so not visible.
| Noon | Arrival | Sweep, decorate Yule Log, prepare dinner, etc. Decorations should feature fruit (esp. apples), nuts, greenery, animal images. |
| Sunset (4:30) to End of Twilight (5:30) |
Opening Blot | The theme will be "The Door Opens and We Draw Inward". We welcome the alvar and disir, display and lay aside our year's work, call on the gods to protect us from the dangers of the night. If the host does not object, this will start outside and move in. Symbolically, we light a candle from the last rays of the sun. Place offering on hearth inside for guests (fire, basin, food, drink). Sword/hammer for those of ill will. We hold on to the alvar/disir offerings until morning. |
| Yule Log | Yule log (lit from sun-candle), wreath, tree, candles, etc. | |
| Feast o' Pork | Big old ham, venison, green bean casserole, red cabbage, mashed rutabaga, etc. Boar-shaped vegan cake. | |
| Tree | Light tree. Open presents. Hanging around. Crafts, games, music,
tippling, etc.
Surprise guest with cloak and eyepatch raises a ruckus at the door. Offered washbasin, food, place at hearth. In exchange, he gives us some small personal gifts. | |
| 11:00 to 1:00 |
Central Sumbel | The theme will be "We strengthen the community and listen to the sounds of silence." The toasts will not be organized into rounds. We will sit as a group and listen for the promptings of the gods and spirits, toasting as we feel led. This will include any Yule oaths (including professions). We will end when the leader senses that people are losing their focus (not past 1 am.) We hold on to the offerings until morning. |
| Vigil | One or two members should be awake (in shifts) at all times through the night, keeping the Yule fire and the sun candle burning. Others can sleep if they want. | |
| 6:00 | Wake up | Last vigilers take beverage to all those asleep (& wake them up. Perhaps modeled on chari vari). Partake in the holy ritual of caffeine. Berry crowns optional. All dress in new clothes for new year. |
| Beginning of Twilight (6:45) to Sunrise (7:15) |
Closing Blot | The theme will be "Thank the gods we survived this dangerous night." We start inside and go outside to welcome the sun, ring bells, etc., placing the accumulated offerings on the ground. Extinguish the sun candle as the sun appears. We take up our work for the next year. |
| Recovery | Breakfast, napping, clean up, departure. Eventually, collect a remnant of the Yule log for next year. |
Here are some thoughts on the blot. The only must is that it needs to encompass Mothers Night and the start of Yule traditions. Our Troth has a lot of information on traditional stuff to accomplish that.
Here are some ideas.
The first blot is scheduled to start at twilight and end at sunset. Some kind of candle-lighting would be good for that, but the host's restrictions may make that more symbolic than effective. But then we could use that to light the Yule log.
And also, if there is ever a time that a protective barrier kind of rite is called for, it is when the bogles are walking among us. It would have to be done to exclude bad things, while admitting our extended ethereal kin. OT mentions a broom in connection with Mothers Night and I always associate Syn ("who guards the door of the hall and shuts it against those who are not to enter") with a sword. And there is always the hammer, but I think that it would be good to use different symbols to suggest that we are passing into a different sphere of influence.
The sense will be of starting outside and moving inside to the hearth and the protection of the family, sort of as we put up the barrier. There also ought to be some kind of welcoming the spirits (gods, wights, disir, alvar) aspects to the blot. We want to give a sense of drawing together, family feeling, warm fuzzies and so on.
We will also have people come forward, display their year's work and then lay it down for Yule using some kind of representative object (e.g. a floppy disk). If these symbols are collected in a box or basket, we can take them up again for the next year at the closing blot.
We need to (to plug in to some later stuff) set up a place at the hearth for an unexpected guest.
Fire is needed by the newcomer,
Whose knees are frozen numb;
Meat and clean linen a man needs
Who has fared across the fells.Water, too, that he may wash before eating,
Handcloths and a hearty welcome,
Courteous words, then courteous silence
That he may tell his tale.
Maybe a ceremony with a bit of food and drink, a nice towel and water could be attached to the fire lighting.
We want to get the feeling of a Quaker Meeting for Silent Worship. The idea should be that people will speak only if they are strongly led to.
Generally, at this time of year the boundaries between the worlds are thin. Gods and wights walk among us freely. Our ancestors come to join our family observances. They speak to us, if we have the wit and opportunity to listen. What we want to do is promote listening.
It is also traditional to do soothsaying at this time of year, to try to determine what fate is on the winds. (In Sweden, this was the literal custom--go out into the fields at midnight and listen to the wind.)
We will have the horg in the middle of the room, or next to the fireplace, so people can use the fire as a meditation aid. We must have an oath ring. A goblet would be better than a horn for this, so people can come up, pour a drink, toast, and pour out a bit into the offering bowl, then put the goblet back on the horg. We will also put a teapot and cups on the horg to welcome our ancestors. It will be a nice break from martial imagery. Decorations for the horg should feature evergreen and apple.
We will start around 11 pm with nice explanation and opening prayer, then people Listening. Toast as moved. If someone wants to make an oath, the leader would offer them the oath ring and stand by as an active witness. When people start to glaze over (maybe around 1 am), the leader offers a closing prayer over the offering bowl (to be libated in the closing blot) and symbolically hands over the baton to those who will be taking the first vigil assignment.
This should be a big cycle-turning observance, emphasizing the New Year aspect. The boundaries between the worlds are firming up again, winter's back is broken, the days will be getting longer, we welcome the sun, ... and so on. We also need to bid farewell to the wights that came to visit us during Yule. We are aiming for an Odinny opening blot, a Disiry sumbel, and a Thorry closing blot.
In the opening blot, we will symbolically set aside our year's work, perhaps by putting a representative object into a basket. At the closing, we would take that work up again. Also, if the opening establishes some kind of protection against bad spirits, you would need to symbolically dismantle that. You need to coordinate the details with the person doing the opening.
We should all be wearing new clothes for the closing.
We will start inside, combine taking down the barrier and saying goodbye to the wights with going outside, then finish outside with all the accumulated libations from the opening blot and central blot/sumbel. Traditionally, we would burn a bit of the Yule greenery outside, but the host's situation may not allow that.
You can browse the Our Troth chapter on Yule for more decorative detail. One thing that looks cool: write wishes or oaths on slips of paper and tuck them into the Yule wreath; then burn the wreath (and slips) to convey the intention to the other worlds.
Last Modified 19 March 1999.
Comments to Manny Olds,
oldsma@pobox.com