Upcoming Holy Days
Ingeborg S. Nordén
>What, if anything are you doing on/around 01 Feb. and why?
Well, not all parts of the world (or even all Germanic countries) had a
celebration at that time of year--and for those who did, the significance of
the festival would depend on what the land was like at the time.
For someone who *lives* where February means thawing and preparation for the
growing season, a "Charming of the Plow" type ceremony makes sense--and of
course, non-farming types would be right to bless the tools of whatever job
does put food on the table. (I have no problem with that interpretation at
all; it makes a lot more sense than asking the gods to bless a field 500
miles away, and crops we don't "harvest" till they end up in the grocery
store.)
Here in Wisconsin, though, February is nowhere NEAR the right time to
prepare for the growing season. All I can expect is more snow, temperatures
barely rising above thirty, and the ground staying frosty until late March
or early April. A tool-blessing ceremony--whether your work involved
farming or not--really wouldn't be appropriate here until MUCH later. If
people this far north are preparing for anything now, it sure isn't growth
or fertility...although a die-hard purist might pray over his snow-thrower
in a couple of weeks! *LOL*
I'm aware that the heathen Swedes celebrated something called
Dísthing--which didn't seem to center on preparing for a growing season,
either!-- in early February; from what I've seen of Sweden, I know that
planting time starts fairly late there too. I'd appreciate it if any
Scandinavians out there could give me more information on customs or
folklore associated with Dísthing.
>How do you celebrate Ostara and which Goddess/es do you honor? Idunna?
>Ostara, btw is known from A-S England and Germany, not Scandinavia.
I pick up a few hard-boiled eggs from a deli nearby, some flowers from a
sidewalk stand and a chocolate bunny from the drugstore. (A big-city
Heathen has got to manage somehow; nature still affects me, even if I think
in terms of "no slush on the street" and "warm enough to stay outside for
half an hour without my coat"!)
As far as which deity gets center stage then, I do focus on Idunna at
Ostara; then again, I tend to favor "strictly Norse" traditions year-round,
as you might expect from a devotee of Sweden's Warder...<g>
Gods Bless!
Ingeborg S. Nordén
(rune...@msn.com)
KS
>I'm aware that the heathen Swedes celebrated something called
>Dísthing--which didn't seem to center on preparing for a growing season,
>either!-- in early February; from what I've seen of Sweden, I know that
>planting time starts fairly late there too. I'd appreciate it if any
>Scandinavians out there could give me more information on customs or
>folklore associated with Dísthing.
The Disating was a blot as well as market for people living in the region
close to Uppsala, in Svealand (Götaland (Gautaland), south of Svealand and
other regions probably had similar feasts in this time of the year).
The Disablot or Disating was held in honour of the diser, female godlike
beings, such as the valkyries and norns. Diser could also be a sort of
"guardian spirits" and closely linked to a person.
It was a feast deeply rooted in the local tradition and somewhat of a more
private nature than feasts like Jul or Midsommar. There are place names that
indicate where Disating was celebrated, both here in Sweden and in Norway,
such as Disevi or Diseberg.
Regards
Karl Schultz, Sweden
Visit the Swedish AsatruSociety:
http://www.asatro.a.se
L. M.
Swedish Asatro/tru. It's almost all in Swedish, but if you know the language
and are interested, check it out. Not to be confused with the "hedensk" honkoid
rabble.
In Frith and Troth
Lavrans RM