Sigrblot, back in the Viking Age, was the sacrifice offered to Odin for victory. Although such a ritual was presumably appropriate whenever needed, it was sureely done in the late springtime or early summer, before the beginning of the annual raiding season.
Last weekend, at Odinshof, we held Sigrblot – not because we were going out to raid the neighbors, but for success in the battles of everyday life. We recalled our past victories, and determined to face our coming battles with courage and skill. Getting a better job, moving to a new home, having healthy children, finding the love of your life, overcoming fear – all these and so much more constitute the victories that enhance our lives; they benefit us as individuals and as families, and as a part of our holy Folk.
But we also give Sigrblot for the biggest battle of all, namely, the welfare, prosperity, success, and permanence of our Folk – our people – all men and women of our blood, wherever they may be around the world. And surely we face many struggles: In all-too-many cases we have lost our sense of identity, our love for our ancestors, and even our determination to exit as an identifiable branch of the human race. Only when we overcome these inner failings will we muster the courage and will to survive as a people!
It is natural to seek political solutions to these problems, and indeed we must do so. But at the same time, we have to understand that the battle is largely spiritual and cultural. Politics is shaped by these relatively intangible factors. We must remember who we are, and we must love that which we are. All else follows from this. Until we throw off the self-hatred with which our foes seek to fetter us, we cannot succeed. Loving ourselves, honoring ourselves, and taking our own side is our first step back to sanity and success. The battle for the very heart and soul of our Folk is fundamentally spiritual, and thus also cultural.
I give sacrifice to Odin…to the High God known as Woden to my English ancestors…he who was called Wotan by my German forebears…for this victory! I pour the mead to him and give him words of praise and honor, but the real sacrifice is “my might, my main, my troth”…My personal strength, and will, and loyalty.
I invite each of you reading these words to make a similar spiritual commitment. Use a formal ritual if you are comfortable with that. Or simply make that inner decision, and determine to live that decision in your life. You don’t even have to be a member of an Asatru organization to do this (although your membership and participation is highly encouraged)…Your birth and blood made you a member of our Folk, and that is enough for now. He – the High One, the One your ancestors knew, will know!
Hail and victory to us all, in this time of struggle!
