Spring Time (Var) and Planting

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Spring is working its magic and I feel the need to turn outwards again after a long pandemic winter. I have quite a few things I am working on for this blog that are in some stage of editing, but I just cannot motivate myself to sit that long. The woods are calling…

Every new bud and leaf is like a song. Every dew drop captures rainbows. Birds are scurrying about the forest floor looking for things to build nests with. The deer are making themselves scarce now that there is more food, but I still see their footprints in the mud. The forest is starting to wake up.


I want to spend each sunny day outside in the woods or preparing my garden. But I am not convinced that winter has had its final say. 


Let me first say that I see Spring as a scientific designation, not a religious one. From the perspective of Heathenry I recognize only Summer and Winter as seasons, but I find myself switching in my brain between these two modalities of understanding in order to relate to people in the broader world.


I have been reading Rune Rasmussen’s book The Nordic Animist Year. He describes April as Grass Month, a time of vernal transition and fertility when the fields are prepared for the first planting. Now I don’t know much about grain, but nothing gets planted outside in April here usually, not if you want it to survive. Perhaps in Scandinavia the seeding schedule is a bit different as it seems that the first seed is sowed at the end of April. On occasion I recall my uncle planting his crops early and getting a second crop later in the season, but I am not sure if it was in April or May. 


Usually people here say either mid-May or Victoria Day weekend is when it is safe to plant outside. The same is said in Urglaawe traditions of the Pennsylvania Dutch, where it is believed that the Reifries (Frost Giants) will make a final attack on Midgard between May 12th and 15th. It is a bit farther North here, and last year I had to cover my plants in June because there was more frost. Hopefully, we will not have another blight year. 


According to the Nordic Animist Calendar, last year was marked by the Hail rune with the following meaning attributed to it in The Swedish Rune Poem:


“Hail is best when (you are) at home.

ie. Timely winter” 







This year is marked by the Need rune, with the following prediction:


“Need is the only choice. 

ie. Hard times”





I am curious to see if it plays out this way. In any case, it is time to engage with the land and build relationship, and hope for a good harvest.





Further Reading:


Hollerbeer Hof, Journal of Urglaawe, Braucherei, Hexerei, and Deitsch Wisdom. Volume 34. Spring 2017.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/12K4nw6bMxoTfi7Z9BPoCCYnW5PjSA8D1/view 


The Nordic Animist Year by Rune Hjarnø Rasmussen



Photo Source:


Photo is my own.

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