Dagaz (Wikimedia Commons)
Today I did galdr with Dagaz.
The earplugs continue to work well alongside the ritual work and prayer I do to prepare for galdr. I initially wondered if I should do galdr with both Dagaz and Othala. As I prepared to do galdr with Dagaz, I let this go and just concentrated on the work with Dagaz.
In the first round of galdr I experienced the sun being pulled in its cart, Sunna guiding Her horses across the sky as I looked up. It was like seeing Her progression with the cart throughout the year, chased by Sköll, almost being swallowed at times. The eclipse as His jaws just start to clench over Her, and She bursts forth from them, Her horses frightened and speeding across the sky to outrun Him. The joy of being in Her glow as She beams down, lighting the World.
In the second round of galdr, I experienced a farm bathed in sunlight. Flowers opened to the sun as it beamed down on them, and life unfolded from petals as bees and others woke to the morning work of gathering pollen. Birds had already filled the air with song, and grew louder as the sun rose. Animals of all kind stirred, other rested. Eggs were laid, hatched, and chicks grew up and themselves raised more chicks, or were taken for slaughter. The compost grew as scraps were added to it, shrank and baked in the heat, and turned brown over the summer into winter, bits of it going into the farm to bring rich black soil to the land.
In the third round of galdr, the scene I saw switched slowly, until I was in a sacred grove of a forest. Light beamed down into the clearing I stood in, and arched down through the trees, and illuminated me. It was a tangible, visceral feeling of the holy as I stood there, light shining through the trees and onto the vé, the hörgr stacked high with stones as the light shined upon it. I felt a feeling of “Yes” as I laid a cup of water on it, the light shining down into it. Then, the scene suddenly shifted, and the last experience I had was of lighting a Sacred Fire with sunstone, beaming the concentrated light onto tinder and catching it. I believe I was still in the grove.
When I came out of the galdr work, I did my usual prayers of thanks to Rúnatýr and the Runevaettir. I cleansed with the candle and prayed prayers of thanks to the Eldest Ancestor. I hesitated, however. I was not sure if, given the New Year, I should simply galdr Othala and dedicated the last seven days of this work to working through each Aett, or if I should let Dagaz be the last galdr of this year and Othala to start the new one. Again, I asked the Eldest Ancestor to cleanse me, and did my Fire Prayer. I then prayed to Rúnatýr and the Runevaettir for guidance. Within a few short moments of breathing deep and communing, I knew the right thing to do was start the New Year with Othala. The symbolism there is packed, and appropriate for the things going on in my life, my family’s life, the life of the Kindred, and my allies. I cleansed again, thanking Fire, Rúnatýr, and the Runevaettir for working with me, and wrote this post.
Link to the Daily Ritual for the Challenge.
#DoMagick
Sarenth Odinsson 