The Wild Hunt (https://wildhunt.org/tag/blot)
Of the two divisions of deities in Norse mythology and religion, the Æsir are – largely thanks to Jack Kirby and Stan Lee – the better known in today’s popular culture. The Vanir, however, are just as complex and worthy of veneration as their Æsir counterparts.
Just as sane people don’t need to embrace the insanity of the Trumpies, Heathens of positive intent don’t need to take on any of the awfulness of the neo-völkisch haters and their ilk. We can make empathy a central point of what we believe and what we practice.
Like the followers of Odin in the long-ago time, we must be strategic. We must form the wedge that can break through the shield-wall that the richest of the rich have trumped up for themselves, a barricade built with filthy lucre and made of men willing to be bought.
Like a “Sunday Catholic” who is extremely devout on Sunday mornings but lives a decidedly un-Christian life for the rest of the week, we can all too easily make grand speeches over the drinking horn at blót but neglect to put intention into action when we step out into the wider world. Are we honoring the ancestors in our lives? Or are we dishonoring them?
Týr guides us, keeps faith with us, stays the course us, and never fails us. In the sometimes-wild world of the Norse deities, that stability and faithfulness can bring great comfort to those who seek it.