Wyrd Designs: The Havamal ~ Offerings to the Gods, Goddesses, Ancestors and Vaettir

The mere notion that we could be overly generous in our offerings to THEM is ridiculous. The Gods and Goddesses, the Ancestors, and yes even the land Vaettir ALL make our very existence possible;  without Them or Their blessings we wouldn’t exist at all. We can NEVER offer enough to make up for the very gift of existence They’ve bestowed upon us.

If we look to antiquity, we do see examples of major sacrifices in ancient rites and we can glean other practices in the daily bits of folkloric tradition that survived to more recent times. We also see an elite priesthood mentioned in Hrimskringla whose sole function was to serve the Gods, and we can see a variety of other persons in religious roles (magicoreligious, judicioreligious & politicoreligious) throughout the breadth of the lore for these cultures as well.

Now obviously the Gods, Ancestors and Vaettir understand that we may not have the financial means to bestow upon them great and tremendous gifts as part of our regular and daily practice… in these instances sharing what you can is still of vast import, even if it’s just a bite or two from your meal, or a swallow or two of whatever you have available to drink. Nor would our Ancestors probably thank us if we go bankrupt in giving them offerings; you still need to take care of the basics of life: food and drink, warm clothes, and good shelter.  But we can honor Them not just with physical offerings, but also with heartfelt, sincere devotion—prayer and great thoughtfulness of Their impact on our lives.

But it’s impossible for us to ever be more generous than THEY when it comes to us bestowing gifts upon the Gods and Goddesses, the Ancestors, and the Vaettir.