I was told today that Odinists are a bunch of tree huggers........... Well, I don't think I've actually hugged a tree but I do like them! In the past, people have even suggested we worship nature because they don't understand why we hold blot etc in sacred places out in the wild.
Most Odinsts today do hold blot in the forest, in a clearing and if possible near to water. I like to add large rocks and places where our ancestors have been buried to that list as well.
Firstly water is considered to be a doorway to the other worlds, specifically a world where the dead go. Our ancestors used to lay weapons, treasure and sometimes bodies in water ceremoniously. All along the rivers of northern Europe cashes of swords and spears etc are often found, it was so folk could use them when they died. Water was also a place where we could be close to our ancestors and venerate them. Think about the ancient ship burials and even further back the rock art depicting a spirit ship with a solar symbol above it.
A common place to hold blot was a clearing in the middle of a dense woods. If you live in a town ending with 'ley' or 'leigh' e.g. Eastleigh (near Southampton) It is likely that your town started off as one of these clearings in the woods, or possibly a village nearby which sprung up to service the folk that came to the sacred place.
Yggdrasil was a sacred ancient tree with deep roots that acted as an antenna sending energy and words to the other worlds. (see previous blog about Yggdrasil) Gods could even travel along Yggdrasil's branches to the other worlds. In the southwest of England on the coast, next to the sea - near to Bristol, archaeologists have found a 3000-year-old wood henge (a ring of wooden posts). In the middle of this wood henge, a truly huge tree was buried upside down. It must have been a grand undertaking to bury such a huge tree upside down like this. It is thought that our ancestors did this to represent the otherworld and to venerate our ancestors who had died. "For a tree to reach with its cup the sky, its roots must go down to hell." F. Nietzsche.
Lots of us feel spiritual when close to nature or looking out over the sea. We feel at peace somehow. I suspect it's because we as a people have ignored the natural order for so long that our spirits are broken. Our spirits are almost separate to our earthly bodies. In contrast, the trees, fields, forests, rivers and sea are more in balance with their spirit. It could be said that the spirit of a forest is very close to the surface and is almost indistinguishable from the forest. This is something we can sense when we walk among the trees. We feel at peace in the forest because we long to have a similar relationship with our own broken spirits.
Odinism leads us to the natural order so we as a people might repair our broken spirits again, be more in balance with the world around us, our own natures and start to rise up and evolve as a people through our own efforts. For the last 1000 years, only our minds and knowledge has evolved, whilst our spirits remain stunted, held back by fake foreign religions and universalist (anti-tribal) ideas.
