Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Sumbel for the New Year



The only time I've done sumbel, was at my friends feasts - and usually at Yule. Since these feasts ended (since the host moved away) I've been focusing on a mini sumbel ceremony for New Year's Eve. I did some research on sumbel to write this post so people - instead of using New Year's Eve as a 'piss-up' - can use the evening as a tool for reflection (boasts) and future manageable plans (oaths).

Heathenry is a growing practice, a fellowship that is increasing in knowledge and numbers. Ásatrú and Odinism are a part of a growing community, descendents of Scandinavian countries are bring back the worship and reverence of the Norse Gods. One thing about being Heathen and being in Victoria, you actually have the pleasure of living in a landscape that feels the colder temperatures similar to Northern Europe. That’s alright when you have the right clothes to wear, a woollen tunic, dress and cloak. That's what I did with my friends feasts- being a medieval re-enactor and a pagan certainly got me used to being dressed appropriately for rituals and blots.


Yule is celebrated in the Northern Hemisphere just before Christmas, and for some Heathens, sumbel will be celebrated then. But this post is for New Years Eve (today!) - hope it's not too late to post this up - anyone reading this blog before their midnight tonight, wherever they are in the world - might have time to do this ceremony!

   Sumbel (also symbel, or sumbal) is a holy ritual conducted during a blót, a feast or meal conducted by the Norse people in days of old. Sumbel is toasting with a drinking horn – often carried out at the end of a ritual or feast. A drinking horn filled with alcohol – usually mead, but whatever you want, is passed around the room clockwise. Each person choosing to be involved in sumbel will drink and toast in three rounds (passing the horn around the room to each attendee). These rounds can vary per gathering, desires, and needs. Headed by the Gothi (goði - priest) or Gythia (gyðja - priestess) or the host of the party, the horn is passed around three times each with a different toast. 
      
      Often the rounds consist of:  
  •  Round 1: To the Gods and/or the Goddesses 
  • Round 2: To the ancestors and/or a personal hero
  • Round 3: For an Oath, Boast, or Toast

1: To toast to the Gods and Goddesses, or the Æsir, you will be raising the horn to whichever God or Goddess sits in your favour at that time. Perhaps you have felt their presence in your life, or you feel an affiliation with then, and wish to thank them. Give your reasons within your speech as to why you speak of them. If you do not like the alcohol, simply pour some onto the ground, the fire, a blessing bowl or anoint your forehead. Finish your speech with ‘Hail’ and all those in the room will echo you. 

2: Toasting to your ancestors or personal heroes – you must give reasons why you toast to them, why they are your heroes at the time. Make sure your individuals are deceased, it is believed to be ill luck to toast an ancestor not yet dead. You may even want to tell a short tale about that hero, a tale that inspires and instills motivation within you, something that might make sense or imitate your life at that moment. Again, finish you speech with a ‘Hail.’

3: In this final round, you will raise the horn in an Oath, Boast or Toast. You may choose one, two or all of these three toasts:

Oath: You may make an oath to do something or improve on something, but be prepared for it to be taken very seriously. Never oath anything you do not expect to be able to complete, the Gods would not want you to be hard on yourself.*

Boast: You may boast about something you have achieved recently, something that you are proud of yourself for.

Toast: You may toast anything or anyone that has brought you happiness in whatever form and has improved your life or well-being, or toast the hosts of the feast and ritual or the attendees.


Don’t forget to say ‘Hail!’




The people present at the feast will listen to your oath and take note of it, as sumbel is a powerful and emotional ritual, you will want to be honest and true to yourself, as this oath will be a powerful sacrament – words are very strong, the Æsir are present, and your loved ones and ancestors are there listening. You must be honourable to yourself, so make sure your oath has meaning to you, and you are capable of implementation.


       *Attending sumbel can be quite revealing, as you will hear a lot of personal feelings being expressed, have respect for what they say. You may feel the compulsion to reveal much yourself during your toasts, so be prepared to be conveying personal moods and emotions. It is a time of honesty and you should be in a space where people trust each other. If you don't feel safe, don't participate - if you can't reveal what you really need to, maybe it is not a good time to participate. Or read the next bit.


You can choose not to do all of these three things – when you receive the horn, you may simply raise the horn to the Gods, take a drink and pass it on. You are not under any obligation to push yourself to say anything at all, if you are not comfortable. Some people may not have a God or ancestor to toast to, but they may have an oath or a boast to say. If the horn begins to get quite empty when it reaches you, inform the host, goðar, or gyðja of it and it will be refilled and be blessed by the remaining liquid. Sumbel may end at any time those conducting it are ready - when the horn is finally drained, all things are said, or the ritual feels, by all those in it, to be ending. Sumbel is an open ritual, all people are able to come and go as they please, although the ritual does have a beginning and an end.


Make sure the tip of the horn points down ‘Point down and you won’t drown.’  If the point of the horn is pointing towards the ceiling as you drink, you might find yourself wet with drink, which can be quite embarrassing. If you can, when you know sumbel is going to be conducted, have a think about what you will say. There is nothing like feeling bad if you have forgotten to say something, even though you should not stress. Often other people’s toasts will remind you to say something when it is your turn. Also do not get too upset if you spill your drink or choke and think it is a bad omen. It will not be, have faith, and you will be satisfied with the sumbel.

Sumbel at Yule
I have attended Sumbel during Yule time, but there is no specific time of the year where it must be done. Our Sumbel was different to the plan above – it consisted of three rounds, but they were only the final round as mentioned above – 

  •  our first round was a boast to the 12 months past,
  • the second round was an oath made for the 12 months ahead, 
  • and our third round was a toast to whatever we wanted. 
With the dozen or so people in the room, the three rounds went for long enough, you would not want to do any more than that, people often got restless or left early. The final round mentioned in the above list, suggests that you do the oath, or the boast, or the toast, or all three in the same round, saving time.


If you do sumbel once a year at Yule for example, your boast the next time can be a result of the oath you took the previous year, and whether you have honestly fulfilled that oath. An oath in turn becomes a boast the following year. It can be a cycle, if you tend to this ritual annually, and be very satisfactory.


One person doing a boast said they had not much to boast about, when another member spoke up about how that person just became grandparent, and should not be so modest. If you are modest, people may pull you up for it and request that you be proud of what you have achieved. 



Sumbel in non-Heathen rites
You may not be Heathen, you may not have a drinking horn, but you can still invent your own sumbel ritual. You can use a goblet, toast to your preferred Gods, do three rounds or only one. You could conduct it at dawn, during a rite on midsummer, or during the Celtic New Year at Samhain if you choose. You can do anything! To conduct a small sumbel during New Year’s Eve instead of getting drunk and wildly partying is my idea of a good time these days - to have a relaxing night, and use the midnight celebration to reflect on my past year and plan for the coming one. 


You can involve the kids in your sumbel, it can be kid friendly (no alcohol, for example). Kids have boasts and goals as well, you can teach them to set goals this way, and be proud of what they have done.


Sumbel can be become quite a poignant occasion for some people, especially when they make it an annual event. However you chose to conduct it is your own choice, but do not be afraid to make a ritual of it and understand that the Gods and Ancestors will hear you.

Me at an Ásatrú Yule ritual with a drinking horn

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

My first article in the Cauldron

So I published an article in The Cauldron - an old pagan magazine that has been running quarterly since 1976. I've been convinced by friends to make a post about it - since I've been busy studying this year, I've not had as much time to devote to this blog, why not add something like this?

The issue it was published in was #153 Summer 2014 - coming out in August. I sent it in March/April and was told by Mike Howard that it would come out in August. The thing about the Cauldron is that its so successful that 3 issues are organised ahead of time. That's a sign of a good magazine. The writers may be mostly amateurs, but at least it's still running!

So anyway, my article was 'Pan in Fiction', which I have published on this blog before in this summarised version.


A favourite topic of mine, even since I read Ronald Hutton's 'Triumph of the Moon' (the 'Finding a God' Chapter) where I got the inspiration for the article, and purchasing 'The Blessing of Pan' novel by Lord Dunsany. I analysed the themes and genres of Pan's role in the short stories of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and gave a summary of each tale. 

My friend Andy Roberts, co-author of 'Twilight of the Celtic Gods' congratulated me on it, as he got his issue in Britain before I got mine, reminding me, as I had forgotten all about it...

This may not mean much to some, but having your first article published in something so widely distributed (all over the world) is something to be impressed with yourself about. Badly written, or enjoyed, it was fun to write - even though some Cauldron editors changed it a bit! (it even had missing punctuation!)

We always remember our first published piece.

http://www.the-cauldron.org.uk/








Monday, August 11, 2014

ANCIENT GODS: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

In this day and age, pagans often find they constantly have to prove or report that their Gods are not dead, that they exist on a personal, dimensional, and accessible level, and even then, they will eventually if not immediately, be less concerned whether or not anyone else believes them and their statement.

The other statement usually made by the monotheistic religions that seem to dislike the idea of other religions and other gods, will often report that the Old Gods are dead, never existed, or are simply not worth revering because they are evil and simply results of devil worship.

Upon researching the web for information about the subject of whether the Old Ones are alive or dead, I came across Hannah M G Shapero's article that answers every single question I have ever asked in regards to the belief and existence of the Old Gods. This small post is actually to promote people to read Hannah's article, where you can believe, disbelieve, or take what you want from it.


'You can worship anything – Zeus, Apollo, Thor, Isis, Elvis, but is what you are worshipping real? Is it still there? Proving God’s existence is impossible, and proving a lesser god’s existence equally impossible – but can a god die? Can something that was once worshipped disappear into oblivion? Popular legends and stories tell of ethereal beings, such as the fairy “Tinkerbell,” whose very existence depends on the belief of human beings. When people cease to believe in these sweet spirits, they disappear into non-existence, like bubbles. Are the gods the same way? If no one believes in them, as I said earlier in this essay, do gods die? If not, then what lives on?'

It is my belief that the Gods lie dormant until they are awakened. A simple, yet dreamy belief, and also harmless - what seems to worry monotheistic worshippers, positively delights those in more of an open, discovery-based spiritual life, where anything is possible. An Old God, awakened from dormancy, and revered in harmless ceremony is a pagan's right.


'To me, this is the best answer to where the old gods have gone. They are not theatrical spirits, who are only present when there’s an audience to believe in them. Nor are they necessarily Divine Beings with the all-encompassing status of the monotheists’ One True God. They are imaginal beings, who live in this middle world. And the Imaginal World is not a dreamworld dependent on the whims of one person; it is a shared multicultural universe, springing and flowering from the ground of millions of human beings and their minds and their creativity. Once the image, the poem, the character, the myth, the mathematical theorem, the story, the song, the magic, has been created, and has been set down in writing or in a computer file or in any other medium that can be communicated, it has left the confines of one person and entered the Imaginal – or the cultural world.'


Here is Hannah's article, for your full perusal - you may argue her points, or just allow it to be.