Sorry this was a little late. Last Saturday was Greg's Frey blot. He was looking forward to this for months. A couple of weeks before Greg and I dug an area in the backyard to create a garden. The flowers we planted were all perennials and they all have nectar bearing flowers to encourage bees. Greg and I are seriously considering getting a beehive for the backyard. After we dug and planted we went to a little river on the state gamelands and took out a ton of stones from the to build a cairn. Greg dug a huge hole to bury the hand made offering box he worked on all week.

At the blot people offered a toast to Frey and an offering if they had one. We sealed up the box, buried it, and then each participant placed a stone over the buried box. We all built a very nice shrine area. Greg topped it off with a flat piece of stone for a nice altar table.

The feast was magnificent. There was every type of food imaginable including a huge birthday cake for Greg. The only downer of the whole evening was poor chainsaw_larry. If anyone says you can't break a rib from coughing know that it's a lie.

We had two overnight guests. Dan and his wife Lee stayed. We were expecting the other two new guests Jessica and Nelson to say but we were a lot closer to them than they realized and were able to head home. In the morning after breakfast Greg took Dan, Lee, and hippiehoneybee up to see the bees. All in all a perfect weekend.

( pictures!! )

Saturday was the PA Pubmoot at the Allentown Brew Works (from the folks that brought you the Bethlehem Brew Works). Different menu and beers, still awesome (though I miss some of the PA Dutch inspired items on the Bethlehem menu). There were a LOT of people there. I didn't get to chat with everyone but still had a great time. Sorry about the bad pictures. I had to use Greg's Blackberry. I had drained the batteries at the Allen Choir Concert two days before and didn't change them. The pictures are a little big because I crapped out and didn't feel like making them smaller (LOL) ::facepalm::

( Crappy Cell Phone Pics Under Cut )

I found The Road to Hel online...in its entirety. I don't know if others know this, but pass it along if you think it could be useful.

http://www.runewebvitki.com/Road_To_Hel.pdf

It was a pretty long weekend. Friday was Wonder Woman night. Posted on that before. Saturday we went to the Haukafell Ostara Blot. We don't get to see The Musons or the Radcliffs as often as we'd like. The kids were adorable. I always, ALWAYS get a kick out of the rabbit sacrifice. The discussion was great. We tended to get side tracked pretty often but it was a great discussion. I learned a lot about some of the food the came after the lean times and we did a bit of comparative studies. Fantastic.

Today the ladies and gents went up to the bee yard to clean and rebuild. fuzzy1313, eretik, mannie711, flying_draugr2, evlilvxn, and chainsaw_larry were all here bright eyed and busy tailed. Mads and I hung out here while they were working and then met them for lunch afterward. For those not on Greg's LJ, one of the colonies is hanging on. Greg found brood and larvae. Cross your fingers. They cleared enough area for about 30 hives if Greg goes that far (which he eventually will). He'll also have a good area to set up the electrical fence.

While they were gone I raked up the leaves and started to clean the garden bed. We're extending it in both directions so as soon as I can we'll start marking the grass to til. We're thinking about renting a tiller instead of hand digging. I like this idea. I've also decided to put a permanent altar to Aristeaus in my garden. Some of my plants and vegetables are pollinated by honey and bumblebees. Sees like an appropriate place. I was thinking about putting small amounts of honey in an offering pot every few weeks for the bees and other insects. Not sure yet. I'll at the very least libate some honey and mead.

I am very tired. The garage door people are coming to install it tomorrow. They'll be here anywhere between 8AM and noon. ::sigh:: I'll be sitting here for X amount of hours waiting.

Eyelids drooping. Going to bed.

OK everyone...Jon's traveling altar book will pretty much be done in a few days. I'm sending it soon. I am also constructing a care package to send. I will, of course, send TOO much so that he can share with his brothers (and sisters!). Anyone who wants to contribute can. Here's a list of some of the things I'm gathering. No sunscreen please. They have that issued to them in gallons. Nothing that can melt please. If you must add chocolate, they suggest M&Ms.

# Baby Wipes - packets are better than tubs.
# Beef Jerky/Slim Jims
# Energy Bars (Power Bar, etc. - Unless a specific brand is requested, much better than standard civilian energy bars are the "HOOAH!" brand energy bar based on the U.S. military's own specially formulated bar that better meets the soliers' needs)
# Hot Sauce (Tabasco, Red Devil, etc.) - wrap glass bottle in duct tape and place in doubled zip-lock bags
# Sunflower seeds
# Peanuts
# Seasoning Salt (Lawry's, etc.)
# Atomic Fireballs / Jolly Rancher hard candy (for service member use)
# Smarties or SweetTart candies (for local children who prefer sour style candy to build relationships with community)
# Powdered Energy/Electrolyte Replacement Drink Mix (Gatorade, etc.)
# Chewing Gum
# Avon Skin So Soft - great for removing face paint and also reputed to be an effective bug repellant (the latter seems variable based on personal experience and reports)
# AA-cell Alkaline Batteries
# Personal Hygiene Gear: Disposable Razors, Toothbrush and Tooth Paste
# Eye Wash / Drops (Visine, etc.) for flushing dust and sand out of the eyes
# Zip-Lock style Plastic Storage Bags - assorted sizes, heavier freezer style are better
# Copenhagen Snuff in a tin ("Even if the service member doesn't dip snuff, they will be a hero and have more power than the Commanding Officer if they have a 'log' (10 cans) of 'Hagen.' A large percentage of infantry use this stuff and it is hard to get. The stuff they do get comes in a plastic can and tastes terrible. The 'Stateside Hagen' is the most powerful bargaining tool in a field environment!")
# Pre-paid Phone Card so service member can call home

I will be taking donations until the second week of February. If you get them to me late I'll just make another package. :)

ETA: We can add some paperback books but if you do, please be aware of the content. So as not to offend their Muslim hosts, please don't include or consider anything pornographic (even soft-core) or with overt sex scenes (such as those bodice rippers...that I'm pretty sure soldiers would be interested anyway).

Friday night eolas16 traveled from the great Connecticut north to stay with us for the weekend in preparation for Vingolf's public Yule celebration. eretik and fuzzy1313 got here a few hours after he did and we all had some pizza dinner and great company. Before everyone showed up Greg and Ben made a run to the brew supply store and made a couple of batches of mead. My spinner friend Big John came over and I managed to bully each and every one of them into firespinning in 23 degree temperatures. It was well worth it. If eolas16 had left and I didn't get to see him spin it would have been a bad day for Allentown. I videotaped everyone and it's under the cut. However, please excuse the sometime fuzzy focus. First, the camera was cold and I wonder if it had anything to do with it. Second, sometimes when it's so dark and the spinners make dramatic moves (like the leg wraps for example) the camera gets confused and doesn't know what to focus on. It usually rights itself. I posted the second half of Jesse's video because the first half was poorly taped.

( Fire goodness )


The next day was my Yoga final exam at 9AM. I had to do the Sun Salutation. We had to look straight forward and NOT look at our neighbor. The guy next to me got thrown out for cheating as he was basically watching me. I wonder what's more embarrassing...getting thrown out of a Yoga class for cheating or HAVING to cheat in a Yoga class. Professor went from Hippie to Prof in .3 seconds flat. It was weird. Anyway...I passed. It's over.

Came home to prepare for Vingolf's Public Yule. It was simply smashing. The ritual itself was wonderful. Vingolf managed to arrange for a beautiful light snow to start falling just before blot. They are sooooo good. The blot was dedicated to Sunna, Thor, and Frey though many other gods were mentioned as well. The second round was open yet almost everyone, in one way or another, hailed the Asatru community and thank the gods all their blessings. It was nice that ldyloreliranveg, ltlviking, and brainwise were finally able to join us for a blot!!! (What the hel took so long??)

The feast was wonderful from Vingolf to their guests. Fuzzy made yummy roast beast. Greg made marinated grilled chicken. Larry handled the desert and the rest of us filled in. thunderer brought his woman's awesome mac and cheese that was gone before the rest of the food was even put on the table. I filled in the starches with baked potatoes. Jesse made the most awesome jello. Seriously, I took one over to Maddie (I was bringing them one at a time to the kids) and the others looked so sad. They didn't think they were getting one. When they got them they inhaled them whipped cream and all. They were also a big hit with the bigger kids as well. It was determined that since gelatin was originally made of horse products it is indeed quite sacred and a very Heathen desert. Go Jesse! The rest sort of fell into place with guest contributions. Awesome mulled cider from mannie711, nummy breads from colmunson and fambly, and a variety of liquid happiness from others. It's nice to treat people like jinglebellz61 and llywnon who always contributes such incredible dishes.

The Viking gift exchange never disappoints. The big winner of the night was Josh and his very excellent Jean Luc Picard gift! It was very \m/. Also, the East Coast Asatru Posse was in da house last night booooiiiiiii! (although from the photographic evidence I'm not too sure if they were drunk or just dyslexic).

The night wrapped up with some Frozen Midnight Kubb. Now, playing Kubb in the bitter cold is not silly. It's training for next year's Drunken Midnight Kubb against RKN. It's the whole "frozen tundra" Rocky IV training thing. Vingolf is natural and pure.



It was a good night. Unfortunately Ben left before we got up and we were cheated out of taking him to breakfast. Ah well. He did need to get home to his beloved. Maddie spent all morning painting the penguins Uncle chainsaw_larry got her for her birthday. Meghan spent the morning snuggled on the couch reading. The Eagles did very nicely today. Greg has been out all day shooting guns with flying_draugr2 and shall be home shortly. And the coup de grass...the second last episode of Dexter season three is on in about three hours. eretik has all but the last three now and will have them all by Private Yule. After she is done...the rounds begin. Why wait until fall of next year? Put yourself on the waiting list!

Got some great pictures! Enjoy!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12225740@N03/sets/72157610789556975/

Wow. What a fabulous ECT. It's just what we needed. Things have been really tough lately and this little pick-me-up did the trick. It was so good to see everyone.

I don't think I've laughed so hard in months.

My personal highlights:

Swing Lo' Sweet Chariot has now ruined Little House on the Praire for me FO-EVAH.

Ingmar: "Does it look like I'm from around here?"

Lederhosen

Hauk giving his credit card directly to Jon when Christine was put on the auction block.

The Viking Games boat race was just incredible. While everyone did technically go in this year, from the instant replay and stills it appears that Vingolf came in dead last.

Maddie gifted Jon with a glow ring and he named her Maddie the Generous. I was told that when a Skald names you it lasts for life. Thanks Jon. :)

The fact that on the first night, Larry of all people had to walk my husband back to the tent.

A woman taking both Viking of the Year and, more importantly, The Egil Award.

My husband's archery group. Wow. I felt really good with regard to my performance. Had there been a mens and womans section, I believe Team Fink would have taken both...Just as team Golden rocked the Mead Competition.

Greg, Jesse, and Ben firespinning

The year of the Asajew. The highlight being when the Scales and Tales lady told me her office told her were were a religious Jewish group.

Josh. Just....Josh. What a darling no matter how much he hates hearing it.

Being able to see the early stages of The Muppet as opposed to seeing the end stages (Ewwww.)

OK, OK, pictures. Click on "slideshow" in the upper right corner and make sure to click in the center of the first picture for captions.

http://flickr.com/photos/12225740@N03/sets/72157606934681759/

And....video. Both are a minute long...

Relaxing right now. Doing laundry. Scrubbing off 3 pounds of dirt. Watching The Two Towers cuz it's on.

I thought I took about 150 pictures. I was pretty off.

I took 220 and 2 videos.

Please stand by. This is gonna take a while...

The next two weeks or so are going to be really busy for me. I'm really jazzed. This Friday morning Greg and I are going to be presenting for the Religious Diversity Conference at the college. We'll be representing Pagan and Reconstruction religions and on the panel dealing with Religious Stereotypes and Consequences.

Next Thursday I'll be presenting my Honor's Project at the college. For those who don't remember, it was the extended breastfeeding paper that was also submitted to a paper competition. I have no idea what the evening will hold but it includes a reception of some sort.

The Thursday after that I'm going to be honored for being one of the few chosen at LCCC for the American Who's Who in Two Year College Students. Wheee! There will be a dinner reception at the Days Inn Conference Center.

If anyone wants to attend the Honor's Presentation, let me know. It doesn't cost anything and I can have about 3 or 4 more guests.

Yesterday we had Vingolf's private Yule. It was originally scheduled for Fuzzy's but after a rather nasty water pipe explosion and subsequent basement flooding, he decided that trying to house people in his bog was probably ill advised (although now we have a dumping ground for corpses...).

Greg and I were able to get a second table and butt it up against our dining room table allowing a sit down family style dinner. There was a collasal amount of food as always. Roast, Fuzzy's deep fried wild turkey, Lorien's potato and leek soup, and Eretik's (Fuzzy's) cheese potatoes. There were other great dishes and we all rolled away from the table. The mead, wine, and beer flowed freely. Paul made a warm glogg for later in the evening. Presents were abundant and fellowship was shared. Kell came to visit with us and stayed the night. The guests shared the fire and a sumbel (I went to bed and crashed). I believe they gave up the RKN challenge of staying up to welcome Sunna. It was an unrealistic goal. hehe Everyone crashed (as Larry guesstimated) around 3AM.

Christine made muffins the next morning and Greg was breakfast chef making eggs and bacon for everyone. Jesse's new puppy came for a visit. He doesn't have a name yet but because his breed was a Roman war dog everyone was giving her suggestions. Nero. Maximus. Claudius. Caligula (she 86'd this one right away). Titus. Jove (when he steals food, Jesse can say "By Jove!!) I was partial to Caesar Titus Maximus. We'll see. He was a little nervous but quickly got used to all the nice people.

( On to the pictures...warning...silly drunk cheeseshead shots )

What a wonderful event. All hail Vingolf for a spectacular time! It was definately hot and humid this weekend, but it didn't detract from the fun and spirituality of the event. I enjoyed helping Greg run the archery and was satisfied to know that the three people I taught to shoot (who had never picked up a bow in their lives) were able to hit the target on their first series. I decided to step out of the competition because I had an pretty big advantage with my equipment and experience. I thought it would be more fair.

The Thor blot was quite incredible. The heat of the weekend was broken just before the event as it began to drizzle. It's really hard to believe there was a coincidence when the thunderstorm began just as we invited Thor to his party. thunderer's offering was (I believe) accepted quite emphatically with a large rumble of thunder as he layed it into the chest. Then shortly after, man_of_thor's offering was accepted with the sky being lit up with lightning. Beautiful. The blot itself was silent. One by one people walked up to the chest, held their offering up to Thor, and layed it within the chest while the rain gently fell on everyone. I was trying to describe my thoughts and it wasn't really clear, but I'll try to clarify here. It was dark and we could only see faces in the flicker of the light from the fire. There were only one or two umbrellas (over a few of the really little children). Most people stood in the rain unshielded or with blankets or hood over thier heads. As people walked up to put in their offerings, there was almost a feeling that we were acting exactly as our ancestor's did. It was if time had been forgotten. I have been to a lot of rituals in my life and this was one of the most extraordinary experiences I've ever had.

The children's crafts were a hit. Kudos to pzoet for her scultptey hammer idea!
That was the best. idea. ever. We were pretty organized and clean up was great. The animal masks were adorable as well. I had a blast helping Maddie make a macaroni penguin mask. Cats, snakes, and other animals but only my kid would insist on not just a penguin, but a macaroni penguin... It was great being the Mead Competition "gopher" cuz I was able to "unofficially" sip the entries. hehe The staff was fantastic, of course, and I had a great time talking to some of the ladies. They really enjoyed the gift basket I made and gave them the last day. The Heathen Hold'Em tournament was a fan-fucking-tastic idea even though I sucked badly and was the second out. I need to re-read a couple of sections on "tournament stategy." ::sigh:: I'll do better next year. Oh, and I won the art contest! YAY! My next post today will be a copy of the photos so those who weren't able to come will get to see. My only regret was missing the Hidey Hidey Ho. Oh well. I heard bits and pieces of verses (what could be reconstructed the next morning through hangover fog...hehe) and it sounded like you folks had a blast.

Alrighty...picture time! Since this program is so highly endorsed by man_of_thor (and the fact that there were about 70 pictures), I used flickr this time. Click on the tiny URL below and behold the ECT goodness!

http://tinyurl.com/2qf7y3

Would someone be so kind as to explain the nature of this festival? What exactly are they celebrating? Are they honoring the Northmen or are they symbolically continuing hostilities? There is a long story attached to this that pretty much includes a person who has been burning a Viking ship on New Year's for the last 30 odd years and I'm not sure he understands why he's doing it. He is the type of person who makes up their own associations and stories despite tradition and definitions so that he can impress people with his vast knowledge. Only problem is sometimes people call him on it. I was reading something about this and decided to find out if he was talking out his ass as usual. Sometimes you just never think to question people's information. Well, I'm questioning it.

EDIT: I'm adding this so that I make clear my interest in this subject and why I'm curious. OK, the meat of this story is that this person claims Scottish ancestry and says that burning the Viking ship at New Years is the Scottish way of displaying their hatred for the Vikings. He's been making this claim for the last 30 years or so.

man_of_thor??

vitnirulf??

colmunson??

Thank you!

Got back from FreeSpirit Gathering at about 11 AM today. We all had a great time. Greg was on fire crew Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Tuesday he came in around 2AM. Thursday it was 5AM and Sunday morning he just didn't go to sleep. I think he came in around 7AM. We were packed and ready to leave and left around 9AM. He drove about 1/3 of the way out of camp until we got on to a major highway and then I took over. Came home...he slept, I unloaded. :)

I gave two workshops that I think went really well. The first was on grieving the loss of children and the second was on Hera. I was a little irritated with a Hellenic Recon there. I was drummed out of the Recon corps. because they were all too snooty and I wasn't as "learned" as they were. They were really jerks. Anyway, she comes up to tell me not all Recons are jerks. Throughout the 2 hour conversation she basically told me all my information was wrong according to her research, she knew much more than I did, and asked if I spoke Greek (which is probably why I sucks because I don't). But other than that, it's obvious Hellenic Recons aren't jerks ::eyerolls:: Despite her (and I told her not to come) the workshop rocked. I was happy with the info I presented (which is accurate, thank you very much) and the responses from the attendees. ::sticks tongue out at recon lady::

The fire circles were awesome (hail the fire crew) and the camping experience were fantastic. Everytime we go camping we refine our system and what we bring. We were very comfortable and I stayed fairly organized. The weather held out with the exception of a wicked thunderstorm (the tornado siren system went off). It was hot the first day, cool the next three, and warm the last two. Our meal plan went off without a hitch and there was simply so much food most of us rolled away from camp. Pork, chicken, tacos, cold cuts...it was fantastic.

I was very happy to be introduced to Andrew, sweeetelisa and to her lovely boyfriend Serge. I am absolutely in love with valmont_god despite the fact that she thinks Rome was better than Greece. ;) We got to see radiantswan and her three boys which was fantastic as well. oldsma brought a huge bag of yarn for autumnleaf77. I've never seen Brandy "squee" before!

Here are some of the highlights...and then PICTURES! Yeah!

1. Greg's befoulment of the Dianic Wiccan's cabin. hehe He had to go and accidentally picked the cabin that had a big sign that said "WOMYN ONLY." He wondered why he was given such nasty looks. They were probably scrubbing that toilet for the remainder of weekend.

2. There were a group of newbie SCA people playing with foam weapons near our camp. Serge decided that if we took the long aluminum poles that were holding up the tarp and took the tops of the camp tables off we could form a nice Phalanx and just destroy them. Most of us seriously considered it.

3. Glitter.

4. My BIG MOUTH and more importantly Greg's BIGGER FUCKING MOUTH. hehe eretik would kill me if I told that story on LJ so move along, move along...nothing to see here.

5. eretik is now a fire spinner!!! WHoo HOO! I didn't get to see it, but she entertained the people at the fire circle Saturday night. Hobbit chose students to show off. :) She needs to keep spinning because I think I'm going to hire her for the Halloween party.

6. immortallunaris running down the hill toward the Wizarding Classes as the school bell rings (because she overslept). Her robes flowing and mom yelling "TARDY! TARDY!"

7. thunderer saying quite emphatically that he was angry that "nature was ruining his natural camping experience."

8. thunderer hatching an ingenius plan to swipe Irish Mike's drinking horn from the lost and found and leaving a note that explained that it was plundered by a Viking, since, of course the Vikings are rather fond of plundering the Irish.

9. autumnleaf77 frolicking! I didn't get to see it, but all said it was awesome.

10. Serge, his red bandana, the cigarette pack tucked within, the butt hanging from his mouth, and looking like he just got back from 'Nam, man!

OK, pictures and a video of Hobbit and some of his student fire spinners.

( Pictures!! )

We were invited to, and attended the Naming Ceremony of colmunson's newborn son. It was wonderful and very spiritual. I told The Colonel that he did a fantastic job because he got me all misty toward the end. ;) The ceremony was in the style of blot. colmunson hallowed the space with a Hammer Rite, he inspected the child and accepted him into his fold (a tradition for those who think he might have rejected him...sillys!), he was blessed by his mommy with the well water, and four women (ldyloreliranveg and I as well as two other friends) who represented the Norns gifted him with things such as wisdom and compassion. There was round of toasting, gifting, and hailing the baby with immortallunaris serving as Valkyrie. The moment that made me misty is when colmunson put the big Thor's Hammer in the baby's hand with hopes that he would wield it to the gods one day. We were outside so to conclude the Rite, several bottles of beer were libated to Thor (who the baby was named for), a bottle of mead to Frigga, and the remainder of the toasting mead as a gift for a gift. The day was beautiful and the sound of children playing in the background was a lovely soundtrack.

The party afterwards was WONDERFUL! There was excellent company and excellent food. No one left hungry, I can tell you that. I have to say, for the record that I am now officially unhappy with my house (not the decorating, but the actual house). colmunson's house is exquisite. If I didn't think it would have been rude, I would have walked around the house taking pictures. LOL Don't worry, I have a good memory. hehe It's a gorgeous late Victorian. The Munson's are awesome decorators and I'll be stealing several ideas over the course of the next few months.

I was thrilled to have met ldyloreliranveg and her family in person, FINALLY, and look forward to trying to hang out with them socially and religiously in the future. What fantastic people.

Yes, I got pictures...

( Pictures! )