Calendar of the Sun
23 Lithemonath
Baldur's Day
Color: Gold and white
Element: Air
Altar: Upon a gold and white cloth lay a long row of white candles, incense of cedar and bay left
over from the Solstice the day before, an amber stone with the rune Sigil upon it, and a horn of
mead. A black cloth should be laid nearby.
Offerings: Sacrifice something beautiful in a way that gives benefit to others.
Daily Meal: Soup or stew dyed with saffron or curry.
Invocation to Baldur
Long, long ago, Baldur was the favored of the gods.
Of all the Aesir the most beautiful, golden and fine
As the Sun, and everywhere that he went, he shone.
All loved him on sight,
And all agreed that Baldur was to be the next King.
In his home, nothing impure was allowed,
That it might not dim his glory.
Yet it was Loki plotted his downfall,
Tricked a blind man into killing him,
And it was Hel who took him in,
Took his soul to her breast.
And so it was that all of Asgard wept
And there was sorrow flowing everywhere,
For Baldur the bright had been taken from the living
And hidden away in the twilit world.
So it was that Hermod the brave rode to Helheim
And asked for Baldur's return, but Hel would not
Be moved unless every living thing wept for him.
So it was that Frigga his mother went to every living thing
And begged them to weep for her lost son, and all wept
Save one old woman in a cave who said, "Let Hel keep her own."
And we would think this story only a tragedy,
Was it not know that at the end of days,
When the Aesir would fall, if Baldur the bright
Were present, he too would be sought out and slain.
There was only one safe place in the Nine Worlds
For the King of the Next World to wait for his throne,
And that was Helheim. Think on that mystery as he sleeps in peace.
(The candles are put out one by one, and the altar draped in black cloth. Leave in silence.)
[Pagan Book of Hours]