Offerings???

[Forgemaster]

I wish to give offerings to the gods (Norse) but am unsure of how or what what to offer. Can I have some help?

 

[Jainarayan]

You can offer beer, wine, mead, juice, good bakery bread, meat, part of your meal, fruits, especially golden apples, you can light a candle(s) and/or incense. You can say a few words or a prayer asking the God(s) to accept your offering. Intent is what counts.

 

[Forgemaster]

View attachment 11754 You can offer beer, wine, mead, juice, good bakery bread, meat, part of your meal, fruits, especially golden apples, you can light a candle(s) and/or incense. You can say a few words or a prayer asking the God(s) to accept your offering. Intent is what counts.

So do I set that on a shrine? or does that part not matter as long as I just make the offering?

 

[Jainarayan]

You can make a shrine, as simple or as elaborate as you want... a shelf, a small table, with a picture. Or no shrine. You can even use something associated with a God/dess. For example, some oak twigs to represent Thórr. If you are artistic you can try to carve or paint a representation of the God/dess(es). This is all mostly for you to feel connected.

 

[Forgemaster]

You can make a shrine, as simple or as elaborate as you want... a shelf, a small table, with a picture. Or no shrine. You can even use something associated with a God/dess. For example, some oak twigs to represent Thórr. If you are artistic you can try to carve or paint a representation of the God/dess(es). This is all mostly for you to feel connected.

Ok, thank you for your help, I really appreciate it.

 

[Jainarayan]

You're very welcome.

 

[Aupmanyav]

For Indo-Aryans, their DHL Express or Blue Dart to Gods was fire (Agni - the divine priest), they invigorated fire with fats/clarified butter, and sent their offering (Barley grains and flesh of the sacrificial animals) and the drink, Soma, through fire.

 

[GoodbyeDave]

I was very impressed by this book (not all the Llewellyn list is fluffy!)
A practical heathen's guide to Asatru, by Patricia Lafayllve
You get three chapters on rituals. She says

In its simplest form, a blot can look something like this. You can grab a bottle of beer from the fridge, pop the cap, go outside, make the hammer sign over the bottle's mouth, say "Hail [insert god's name]", drink a bit of the beer, pour the rest onto the ground, and go back inside. That's a blot.

 

[sPagan]

I wish to give offerings to the gods (Norse) but am unsure of how or what what to offer. Can I have some help?

In giving offerings there isn't a strict rule what should come after the previous as it's done for example in church. If you know the names of your gods and you can focus on your saying, that is everything you really need. Pick up a rose, collect water from the nearby river, a branch of few different trees and simply invoke the gods with your own words and burn then the branches after they're almost done extinguish the fire with the collected water and put a rose on it and there is the offering. It's really all about what you want to do, the gods will be pleased with anything.

 

[Riverwolf]

I wish to offer a suggestion. While the Gods themselves usually do accept pretty much whatever you give with a well-meaning heart, there might still be a benefit to offering the "correct" things: that being a stronger connection to the wider community of a given God's devotees.

When it comes to the Germanic/Norse Gods, we don't know a lot about what was offered to many of them (though we do know a great deal about what was offered to some of them, like Woden...). As far as I know, nothing has survived of what was generally offered to the Goddess Freya, for example. However, something that has been making the rounds in Pagan and Heathen circles is that Freya loves/is associated with strawberries. This is a purely modern thing to my knowledge, but I'm hopeful that it gains enough momentum and acceptance that it becomes standard in depictions and offerings. Sure, she'll accept anything that's not strawberries as long as it's with a good heart, but now imagine a festival dedicated to Freya where the primary associated food is strawberries. So, we have a Strawberry Festival in honor of Freya.

 

[Jainarayan]

I've been having a thought lately about how much of something to offer. I'm trying to establish a routine of making an offering on the day of the week named after the deity. For example, today being Tuesday, I made a small offering to Týr. I lit my small candles and said prayers as usual for my hammer donning. Then I poured some apple juice into a crystal goblet that belonged to my mother. The crystal is very old, and very fine, and is probably about 8 oz.; I have other sizes in the set also... wine goblets, water goblets, cordial/shot size, champagne goblets.

I offer some kind of juice most of the time, since I am refraining from alcohol due to meds (though that's no reason to deprives the gods and goddesses). However, I pour a mug of beer for Thor on Thursdays. I could have, and probably should have poured a goblet full of mead instead of the juice for Týr. I would like to pour a good liquor like a Scotch or Bourbon for Odin on Wednesdays, though I myself don't drink hard liquor at all.

So how much is an appropriate amount? Is it just as small token amount, i.e. the 8 oz. goblet is overkill, or just right?

 

[GoodbyeDave]

I always understood that a libation was a token. That seems a common approach, like a Haitian vodouisant with a drink, who pours a little on the ground, saying "Aux mysteres" (or rather "Ale misté yo").