Solitary Rite for Baldur and Nanna

by Ingeborg
This ritual is to be done in the dark house before sunrise on a day when there will be fair
weather. It is to be done when there is despair in your heart, and you feel that you cannot go
on, that your sun will never rise. Make an altar inside your home and place upon it one large
candle, a good-sized mirror covered with a cloth, matches or a lighter, a cup of water and a
teabag of chamomile tea, and a small bottle of oil of heliotrope. While heliotrope is not a
plant of northern Europe it came north from the Mediterranean in medieval times I have
claimed it as Nannas plant, because its face follows the light.
Cover all windows and cracks in doors, making the room as pitch black as possible. Find your
way to the altar and sit in front of it, and say:
In darkness I fall
With no light inside me.
Light is dead, and Baldur is fallen,
And he walked the Hel Road,
And never returned.
In darkness I fall
With no light around me.
Light is dead and Baldur is fallen,
And Hermod went to Hel
And returned without him.
In darkness I fall
With no light inside me.
Light is dead and Baldur is fallen,
And all were to weep for him,
And some refused.
In darkness I fall
With no light around me.
Light is dead and Baldur is fallen,
And Nanna followed him down,
And never returned.
Find the matches or lighter, and light the candle, saying: I light the pyre. Then sit for a
moment and watch the candle, and say, The light has not vanished, it still dwells in the
depths, and I can part the veil and see His glow. Repeat this to yourself, over and over, while
looking at the candle and visualizing seeing Baldur as a single bright spot in the darkness of
the Underworld. When you can visualize this, say:

Hail Baldur, Odins brightest son,

Golden One of Asgard,
Bless me, O light in darkness.
Help me to find my own light
Within the darkness that rises around me.
Take the oil of heliotrope, and anoint your forehead with it, and say:
Hail Nanna, child of dwarves and Valkyries,
You who came up out of the darkness
And followed love and light back down,
Following with perfect faithfulness,
Show me the way down to the depths
Where the light still glows,
And give me unyielding faith
Like your own unyielding faith.
Anoint your heart chakra with it, and say:
There is Light in the darkest place,
And there is Love that shows the way.
Stay in the darkness, meditating on the flame, until you know that the Sun has come up. Then
get up and go outside into the sunlight, and go for a walk or just generally be in the sunlight
for a while. Try to keep your mind off of negative things, if only for that small piece of time.
Try to look for things to enjoy and beauty to appreciate. Remember the promise of Baldur and
Nanna, and they will help you to find a way.

or the Lovers of the Depressed

by Shannon Graves
For my Love has gone down into the darkness
Where my footsteps dare not follow
And I can only pray for their return.

Dearest Baldur, hear me in my sorrow!

Bring your golden light into my Loves eyes
And show that there is hope in darkness,
And a way back to the glorious world.

Light-bearer, extend your hand

And drive the shadows from my Loves soul,
Give them wholeness and joy,
Even though they believe it is not possible.

For my Love has gone down into the darkness

Where my footsteps dare not follow
And I can only pray for their return.

Dearest Nanna, hear me in my sorrow!

If my Love cannot see your husbands light,
If my love cannot reach my husbands hand,
If my love cannot find hope in their heart,
Let them know at least that they are loved
As strong as you loved, and if my devotion
Cannot be a beacon, let it be a thread to grasp,
Warm arms around them in the darkness.

For my Love has gone down into the darkness

Where my footsteps dare not follow
And I can only pray for their return.

Dearest Hoder, hear me in my sorrow!

If my love cannot see your brothers light,
If my love cannot feel my heart beating,
If there is nothing but darkness and cold,

Coax my Loves feet onto the shadowed path

Even if they cannot see the way,
And guide them, even if it must be all unknowing,
Safely to the next step out of the darkness.

For my Love has gone down into the darkness

Where my footsteps dare not follow
And I can only pray for their return,
And so I pray, O Gods in darkness,
Bring them safe home to my sunrise.

Hail, Baldur, the Brightest God

Hail to Friggas darling
Hail, Baldur, Odin's golden boy
All hail the shining Morning.

O, Light sent down to shadowland

Lord who did not return
O, blazing beacon of beauty
O, Rarity, ever burn!

O, may we find you

Yea, when shadows close
Just one beacon of light
In the dark Enclose.

Join us, Baldur.

By Steve Wilson
(Adapted from RITUALS OF ASATRU; Volumes One and Two, by
Stephen A. McNallen; published by World Tree Publications,
copyright 1990, and also from the generalized style of the blots
performed by the Hammerstead Kindred of Lexington, KY; 19971998.)
Harrow should be set up with sword, drekkjahom, vessel of mead
or apple cider, recels-pot with recels, blessing-bowl and
evergreen tine.
HALLOWING: Godi should circle three times in a sunwise
direction around the stead with the receispot and burning recels.
The godi then picks up the sheathed sword from the harrow and
unsheathes it in the view of all present. Starting in the north, the
four directions are hallowed in sunwise order by drawing with the
sword and declaring, ," SVERD, HELGA VE THETTA OK HINDRA
ALLA ILSKA!" Holding the sword overhead, the Godhi declares,
while facing north: "I HALLOW AND MAKE HOLY THIS HARROW
AND STEAD TO THE JUST SERVICE OF BALDER, BANISHING
ALL POWERS UNHOLY OR IMPURE. MAY OUR MINDS LII(EWISE
BE HALLOWED TO THE JUST SERVICE OF BALDER. AS
HEIMDALL BRIGHT WARDS BIFROST BRIDGE, MAY THIS STEAD
BE WARDED AGAINST ALL WIGHTS BANEFUL TO OUR WORK
HERE TONIGHT!" The Godhi then places the sword, still
unsheathed, on the harrow.
INVOCATION:
"BALDER, NOBLE WARRIOR, HAIL! STRONG LIKE THE
OAK AND
BRILLIANT AS THE SUN, YOU INSPIRE US TO BOLDNESS
AND WARM OUR SPIRITS
AS THE YEAR PROGRESSES. ODIN'S MOST BELOVED
HEIR, BRAVE IN BATTLE
AND SHINING OF PRESENCE, YOU SPEAK TO US DURING
TIMES OF HARDSHIP

WHEN THE NEED FOR BOLDNESS IS GREATEST. WE CALL

TO YOU TO HELP US
FIND STRENGTH WITHIN OURSELVES AND TO TEACH US
YOUR WISDOM OF THE
MYSTERIES OF REBIRTH."
As the godi proclaims each kenning, the gathered folk will reply:
Godi: "SON OF ODIN AND FRIGGA!"
Folk: "WE MAKE YOU WELCOME!"
Godi: "FORTSETI'S FATHER!"
Folk: "WE MAKE YOU WELCOME!"
Godi: "WHITE BROWED GOD!"
Folk: "WE MAKE YOU WELCOME!"
Godi: "NANNA'S LOVER!"
Folk: "WE MAKE YOU WELCOME!"
Godi: "BEAUTIFUL GOD!"
Folk: "WE MAKE YOU WELCOME!"
Godi: "WARRIOR OF THE LIGHT!"
Folk: "WE MAKE YOU WELCOME!"
Godi: "MASTER OF REBIRTH!"
Folk: "WE MAKE YOU WELCOME!"

Greeting: Godi and the gathered folk then greet Balder together:
"AS TIME GOES BY, THE DAYS BECOME LONGER
SUNNA BLAZES HER LONG COURSE

THE AIR GROWS WARM, WE ALL GROW STRONGER

WE FEEL THINGS CHANGE WITH A MIGHTY FORCE
WITH SHINING FACE AND JOYOUS LAUGH
WE FEEL BALDER GROWING NEAR
WITH DEEDS WELL DONE NOT TOLD BY HALF
WITH VOICES WE SPEAK AND WITH EARS WE HEAR
HAIL BALDER! HAlL BALDER! HAIL BALDER!"
Rede: The godi then performs a reading or gives personal insight
about the Balder myth.
Godi then fills up horn with drink from vessel:
"BALDER, WE WELCOME YOU, AND WE OFFER YOU
SACRIFICE! NOT OF BLOOD,
BUT OF THE FREE GIVING OF OUR HUMAN EFFORTS,
OUR STRUGGLES, AND OUR
DEVOTION! MAY IT AID US, GODS AND HUMANKIND
ALIKE, IN OUR STRUGGLES
AGAINST THOSE WHO WOULD WAR AGAINST ASGARD
OR SEEK GREY SLAVERY
IN MIDGARD! BALDER, ACCEPT OUR GIFTS, NOT AS
FROM SLAVES, FOR WE HAVE
NO MASTERS, NOR AS A SIGN OF APPEASEMENT FOR WE
STAND IN IN GOOD
STEAD WITH YOU; BUT RATHER AS A SIGN OF OUR
KINSHIP AND FELLOWSHIP!"
When godi feels the offering has been accepted, he will pour a
libation onto the ground. Godi then refills the horn with liquid
from the vessel and holds the horn in his hands:

"BALDER, YOU HAVE RECEIVED OUR SACRIFICE AS

SYMBOLIZED BY THIS DRINK.
POUR NOW INTO IT YOUR MIGHT AND BLESSINGS, SO
THAT WE GROW CLOSER
TO YOU AND TO EACH OTHER BY SHARING IT AMONG
US."
BLESSING: When godi feels that the drink is charged with
Balder's might, a small libation is then poured into the blessingbowl over the tine. The harrow is then sprinkled on all four sides
by the tine, in the shape of a Gebo rune. Then each of the folk are
sprinkled with the tine, one at a time:
"I GIVE YOU THE BLESSINGS OF BALDER!"
Godi then sets the blessing bowl back onto the harrow. The
drinking horn, which is still filled with blessed liquid is passed
around to each of the folk, and offered a drink:
"DRINK TO THE MIGHT OF BALDER!"
CLOSING: After a moment of silence, the godi speaks:
"THIS BLOT IS DONE. MAY IT STRENGTHEN OUR BOND OF
KINSHIP BETWEEN THE AESIR, THE VANIR, AND OURSELVES."
The godi then salutes the four directions, in reverse order,
starting in the west, while dissolving the sun wheel:
"HAIL BALDER, AND FAREWELL."
Sword is resheathed.
Godi then circles with recels counterclockwise three times.