Calendar of the Sun
9 Winterfyllith
Day of Tuonela
Color: Black
Element: Earth
Altar: Upon cloth of black lay five black candles, a tankard of beer and a tankard of river-water,
and many figures of toads, frogs, and serpents.
Offerings: Fears
Daily Meal: Poultry.
Tuonela Invocation
(One who has been chosen to do the work of the ritual steps forward with the tankard of beer,
raises it, and says:)
Hail to the Island of the Dead!
Hail to the Land of Tuonela!
Hail to Lord Tuoni, who waits at the center!
Hail to Lady Tuonetar, who waits at the hearth!
Hail to Surma who guards the borders,
Along the river with its rushing waters
And its black swans, the harbingers of Death!
Hail to Kalma who brings plague,
May she forever pass us by!
Vanamoinen came to your shores
Searching for words of power,
But found all words silent in the Land of Death.
He was served beer laden with frogs and serpents,
Which were only the fears that he brought
Unbidden to the hearth of Tuonela!
Will you drink now of your fears,
And leave them in the Deathlands?
(They carry the tankard about, and folk may drink of their fears, if they feel that now is a good
time to face them, or they may refuse. Then another steps forward with the tankard of river-water, lifts it high, and says:)
Will you drink, then, of the River of Death?
If it is not time for fears, will you face loss?
Or, if you are brave, will you take both
And so honor the Gods with your courage?
(They carry the tankard about, and those who have not drunk of the beer must drink of the water,
although some may choose to have both. The remaining beer and water are poured out as a
libation to Tuonela.)
[Pagan Book of Hours]