Calendar of the Sun
30 Eostremonath
Walpurgisnacht Day VIII - May Eve
Color: Black
Element: Air
Altar: Upon a black cloth lay eight candles, with a ninth one for Odhinn's nine days, a figure of
the World Tree, two nails, sterile needles, a sterile blade, a marker, and all the runes.
Offerings: Pain. Blood.
Daily Meal: Fasting again, from the night before to this day's Hesperis.
Walpurgisnacht Invocation VIII
Great Odhinn, half-blind and limping,
Worn through by his travels,
Came before the Norns, the three Fates,
Urd the elder, grey and wrinkled as stone,
Pulling the threads of life from her long white hair
And spinning them fine and strong,
Verdandi the weaver, fair and brilliant,
On her loom of many colors,
And Skuld the dark maiden in armor
On her great black horse,
With her blade that slashes life away.
And Odhinn said to them, Give me magic,
That I may have understanding of all things,
That I may work great wights of power,
That my knowledge shall grow.
The Norns said unto him, What price
Shall you pay for this knowledge, O Odhinn,
Once King of Asgard, once keeper of Valhalla,
Once Lord of the Aesir, All-Father of the Gods,
Now a one-eyed, limping beggar on the road
With no home before you and no home behind you,
With dirt on your hands and dust in your mouth,
And the birds of ill omen flying about you,
What price will you pay for this wisdom?
Would you be wounded even unto the death?
And Odhinn said, I will pay any price you ask,
O givers of Fate whom all must obey.
I do surrender myself into your hands.
And so the Norns took Odhinn's body,
And brought it to the great World Tree,
Yggdrasil, on which lie all the Nine Worlds,
And they nailed him to the tree,
Crucified him onto the great ash
And left him there to live or die.
And Odhinn's blood ran down the tree
In rivers, and they gathered it
Like fine red thread, and spun his Wyrd,
And wove it into tapestry, and stood ready to cut it
Should he fail in his quest.
Odhinn hung on that windswept tree
For nine days and nine nights,
And the worlds whirled by him
And the blood ran down him
And the hail pelted him like knives.
And in the moment before he died,
His vision cleared, and he saw before him
All the runes, their magic, their wisdom,
And he seized them, crying out,
And fell from Yggdrasil's arms
Back onto Midgard's hands,
And opened his eyes into a new dawn,
And it was Spring in the world,
And the time of renewal was upon it,
So Odhinn rose to his weary feet
And found that the path before him
Led him in only one direction,
And that was home.
Chant:
Cauldron of Changes
Blossom of Bone
Arc of Eternity
Hole in the Stone
(Each member comes forth one at a time, and one who has been chosen to do the work of the
ritual takes a sterile needle and pricks their finger, and each leaves blood upon the figure of the
World Tree as a sacrifice. Then each closes their eyes and takes blindly a rune from the altar,
and a message from Odhinn shall be seen therein. That rune should be then drawn upon their
flesh, in marker for those who have not the courage to bleed more, and cut lightly with a blade
for those who would know more of Odhinn's sacrifice. Great care should be taken that the cuts
do not get infected, as that would be a poor omen. There should be silence until Hesperis, and
then release from silence, as the time of Beltane will begin.)
[Pagan Book of Hours]