TEUTONIC MAGIC - Awaken Video

SECTION III: GODS AND WIGHTS
15: TEUTONIC RELIGION
The religion of the Teutonic peoples held within itself every possible level of spiritual consciousness and
earthly practicality. All weal-working wights were honored at the proper times, from the spirits of rock,
stream, and tree on up to All-Father Odhinn. This honor however, even when paid to the highest of the
gods, never took the form of the mindless submission that some sects of Christianity have been so quick
to promote. The Teutonic belief is that humans are sib to the gods; we are literally "Heimdallr's children."
[1] Thus we honor them as the parents and elders of our house who have brought us forth, who teach us,
and who give us the wisdom and strength to follow the paths of might that they themselves walk. We are
sisters and brothers to the wights of the land, with whom we meet and work on equal terms. Teutonic
worship is for those who are proud and strong-not sheep led by a shepherd but humans who can act on
their own, though able to listen to redes of wisdom and glad of the gifts that make us more like to the
gods. Only a fool would scorn their help at need, but to gain that help you must be strong and worthy of
it, depending first of all on yourself.
The main act of worship was the blot, or blessing. The greatest blessings, and those most widely
practiced among the Germanic peoples, were the four seasonal blessings of Yule, Ostara, Midsummer's,
and Winternights. With the exception of Midsummer's, which was celebrated on the Summer Solstice, the
dates for these blessings would vary within roughly a month after the marking point of the solar year. The
Winternights blessing was called Winter-fyllith (Winter Full-Moon) among the Anglo-Saxons. This may
show that one way of choosing the exact time for the blot was by the Full Moon following the equinoxes.
The Yule feast began on the Winter Solstice and continued until January 1 or January 6.
Winternights will usually be held in the month following the Fall Equinox. This blessing is also
called Alfablot, Disablot and Freyblot. At it the ancestral wights and the Vanic powers are honored. It
was generally, though not always, the custom for a woman to carry out this rite. The most characteristic
runes for this festival are berkano, ingwaz, and jera.
All the gods and goddesses can be honored at Yule, thought it is particularly associated with
Odhinn (one of whose many names was Jol), Freyr, and perhaps Ullr. The sacrifice was a white boar
which was led around the benches. The folk would put their hands on this animal and swear oaths for the
coming year before it was slain. The oath-ring was also passed at the Yule festival. It was, and is,
traditional to decorate the hall or home with holly, ivy, pine, and mistletoe at this time of year. The
"Christmas tree" is also a pagan custom:
gifts of food and drink were left for the alfar and land-wights beneath trees in the wood, and when
hanging real animals and men on trees as sacrifices had been discouraged, the folk turned to bread images
and then to decoration in general. The burning of the Yule log is also traditional, and the last of one log
should be saved to light the next year's fire. Appropriate runes are jera, eihwaz, and sowilo.
Ostara is associated with the goddess Ostara, of whom little is known otherwise. It usually falls in
the month following the Spring Equinox, possibly on the Full Moon of that month. Processions were
made through the fields at this time to bless them. The giving of colored eggs was also a part of this ritual
and still is, Bonfires were lit at this time, and it is said that maidens in white (perhaps Ljosalfar) were
visible in the hills and wild places on Easter morning. Good runes are dagaz and berkano.
Tyr, and perhaps Forseti, would have been especially honored at Midsummer's, as it was near to
this time that the Thing took place. The lighting of the need-fire is traditional; it should, if possible, be
built of nine kinds of wood and have nine kinds of holy herbs burnt in it. Fitting runes are raidho, tiwaz,
and sowilo.
The central act of the blessing was the sacrifice of one or more animals. The blood was spilled upon the
altar and sprinkled over the folk; the flesh was seethed in a cauldron and eaten at the feast. Evidence
shows, however, that sacrifice was performed less for its own sake than as a hallowing of the slaughter,
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