Sigrblot and Other Holidays during Var in Modern Heathenry
I have been thinking a lot about Var holidays this year, which is to say the holidays occurring in the Springtime, surrounding the planting season. There has been a lot of discussion in the heathen community about Valborg’s night (Walpurgisnacht) and the historical meaning behind it. I have not been in the habit of practicing anything for Valborg’s night in my personal hearth practice but I know plenty of heathens who do. I also don't wish to expand on it much because there is copious information on it out there right now.
I also know plenty of heathens who do some sort of charming of the plow ritual in Spring or who celebrate Summer Day by planting juniper for fertile fields. Many heathens also bring traditions from various other traditions, such as the celebration of the Vernal Equinox/Ostara. Admittedly, I recognize the Vernal Equinox in my hearth practice, although this comes more from the recognition of science than any particular tradition in my case. That said I engage in some woo for the occasion, most of which I won’t be sharing. I will say however, that I often go out to greet the dawn on the Vernal Equinox.
The other thing that I often see happening with modern heathens is that they celebrate the traditions they grew up with because of their frith-ties with (often christian) families. As a result, Easter may be a celebration within your hearth cult. Easter does take place in my hearth as we are an interfaith household. As a heathen you may celebrate Easter in your own home or in the homes of your parents or spouses’s parents, or with other friends and family. In some ways it permeates our cultural context so much it cannot be fully avoided. The important part really, is determining what this celebration’s worth is to you as a heathen. I assume most pagans or heathens are not celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. That does not mean that the celebration is without worth. It may be as simple as celebrating is respectful of the beliefs of others in your frith-web, and so honouring those individuals and their beliefs strengthens the frith of your home. Or perhaps so may see Easter as a celebration of the changing of seasons, and the transformation of landscape into a season of fertility. For me it is probably a mixture of these things, but primarily it is an excuse to consume Mini Eggs until I regret my decisions.
What is surprising to me, is how few heathens seem to actually celebrate arguably the most heathen of these holidays, Sigrblot. Interestingly, this holiday also does not fit nicely into the theme of Var because Sigrblot is the first day of summer in the historical heathen calendar. As such it doesn't have a lot to do with planting. However, my understanding of Var is that it may be more of a sub-season within the beginning part of the heathen summer season.
Sigrblot is actually attested in the sagas as a heathen holiday. If you look at Ynglinga Saga, there are three holidays stated to be celebrated by the elder heathens: Winter Nights, Midwinter (Jol), and Sigrblot. (Other sources speak of Disting and Alfablot, but those don’t really pertain to this blog entry. At least not in my reckoning. Although, when exactly Disting is unclear. Different hearths and kindreds celebrate it at different times.) Now little is known about the details of how each of these 3 holidays were celebrated. However, it is believed that traditionally each would have taken place over 3 days and included feasting, drinking, and fire. Many modern heathens celebrate Winter Nights and Jol, but do not include Sigrblot in their practice. Perhaps this is because they don’t know how to reckon when it takes place. If you are using the Icelandic lunisolar calendar for reckoning each holiday occurs on the full moon after the new moon after the solstice or equinox. As such, Sigrblot occurs in April, since it is the full moon after the new moon after the Vernal Equinox (another good reason to recognize the Equinox, since it is required for reckoning.)
This may sound confusing, but once you have done it a few times you will be less confused. It is really a good idea as a heathen to become more aware of lunar cycles anyways. And the lunisolar calendar is really just a lunar calendar that ties important dates to the solstices and equinoxes so they don’t move around too much. The reason for this is that one solar year (the year we are familiar with) is approximately 365 days, but in that time there are 12.36 lunar months. As a result, if the lunar calendar isn’t connected with the solar calendar, eventually over many years Jol would be in the summer, and that would not make a lot of sense. (As it is, many heathens who are not familiar with lunisolar reckoning celebrate Jol at the winter solstice, when it was actually in January.)
I also feel that Summer Day in Norway, which is now celebrated on a specific day on the Gregorian calendar, was probably a christian adaptation of Sigrblot rituals.
So now that you have a basis for understanding when Sigrblot is, What exactly was Sigrblot? There isn’t much written about it beyond that it existed. Our main clue is the word itself, which translates as “victory blot.” The elder heathens divided their year into only two seasons, Summer and Winter. As such, Sigrblot would have occurred close to when the beginning of their summer season was believed to commence. There has been a lot of speculation in the heathen community that it was a blot in the Viking Age to petition the gods for victory in the (summer) war season. In a modern context, however, it seems that most heathens who celebrate Sigrblot associate it with victory over winter or use it as a day to petition the gods for a fertile growing season.
If we are being realistic, most modern heathens don’t have any need for a victory blot for a good war season, and that is perfectly okay. When we are looking at what holidays we want to celebrate in the Spring in our hearths, or as a tribe, we need to pick what is livable in the modern context. Our traditions are never going to be identical to the traditions of the elder heathens, and we shouldn’t try to make them that way. Our traditions need to make sense in the modern context. They need to be livable, and hold meaning for us.
So is Valborg’s Night a heathen holiday? Or May Day? The answer is yes, if they have meaning for you. Is the Vernal Equinox a heathen holiday? Same answer. Is Sigrblot a heathen holiday? Definitely, but make sure your traditions around it are meaningful. Is Easter a heathen holiday? No, but many heathens still celebrate it in their hearth cults, and that is okay.
There are tons of other holidays I could have touched upon for this season, but those are the main ones. Really it is important that you do you. People come into heathenry because they find something there that resonates with them. Don’t be putting stuff on yourself that doesn’t resonate with what drew you to your practice. Your religion isn’t to please others; it is to create meaning in your life. So no, you aren’t doing it wrong, and if the people around you are saying that you are, you should be questioning them on that. Also, your hearth practice is not going to look identical to your group practice. You are going to have more or less or different traditions in your hearth. You don’t need to have cookie-cutter practices with members of your tribe. You just need to give each other mutual respect and freedom to practice in your own ways within your hearths.
Further Reading:
The Nordic Animist Year by Rune Rasmussen
Our Troth: Living the Troth edited by The Troth
“Ranting Recon: What Are The Heathen Holidays?” by Heathen Hof
http://www.heathenhof.com/ranting-recon-what-are-the-heathen-holidays/
The Ynglinga Saga (in Old Nordic, sorry. All the translations I found where not translating it directly, and making their own assumptions. See below for a direct translation.) http://www.heimskringla.no/wiki/Ynglinga_saga
“Þá skyldi blóta í móti vetri til árs, en at miðjum vetri blóta til gróðrar, hit þriðja at sumri, þat var sigrblót.”
“It was an obligation to have a blot at the start of winter for a good year, and one at midwinter for a good crop, and a third in summer for sigrblot/victory blot.”
Photo Source:
"Valborg’s Night" (wikicommons) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Valborgsbrasa-1.jpg
