Winifred Hodge Rose
Preparation
Here are the items you will need.
– Soul-token(s) or materials for making soul-token(s), if you are planning to use this.
– Your altar.
– Candle in a candlestick that you can hold. If it is a votive or tea-light, place it on a dish so you can carry it without burning yourself. Matches or lighter.
– Thor’s Hammer, or other item that you use for Hallowing.
– ‘Needfire’: incense or aromatic herbs or twigs that will provide a wisp of smoke when burned, along with a suitable container (fire-pot) and charcoal if needed. I like to use a small, burning twig or stalk; if you use loose leaves, then you will need charcoal for burning them. Only a small amount is needed, for a brief time. If you don’t want to use any of these, you can use your candle, or simply imagine a Needfire in front of you. If you are using a little fire-pot with twigs or dried herbs, have a cup of water handy to put it out when you are ready.
– Whatever kind of ceremonial drink you wish to use, and your drinking horn, goblet, or other vessel. This is referred to as the ‘horn’ in the ceremony guidelines.
– A bowl with a little water in it for the blessing-bowl, and a leafy twig for sprinkling. You can use your fingers to sprinkle with, if you don’t have a twig.
– Have your Daybook handy to write any notes, questions, experiences, ideas that occur to you during your meditation and at the end of the ceremony.
Hallowing
Circle the sacred space, or turn around in place, with a lighted candle in one hand and holding a Thor’s Hammer in your other hand. Speak these words, or your own preferred words, and raise the Hammer when you say “Thor hallow”.
Fire I bear around this frithyard,
And bid all here keep frith;
Flame I bear to enclose,
Bidding bale-wights flee away.
Thor hallow, Thor hallow, Thor hallow this holy stead.
Set candle and Thor’s Hammer on your altar.
Calling
Hear me, all you hallowed folk,
Both high and low of Heimdall’s kin!
I hail you, Holy Ones of all the Worlds that are!
Ever shall frith and faith hold firm
Between myself and you:
The wellsprings of my souls.
Raise horn and drink; pour a little into the blessing-bowl.
Eldfathers, eldmothers, kindred of old,
Rooted in might, holding troth with your own,
Behold the new roots, the green shoots from your boughs,
And bless me: the fruit of your branches.
Raise horn and drink; pour a little into the blessing-bowl.
Landwights blessed, land’s life-givers,
Holy hold this stead, all harm withstand.
Be welcome here, all good wights,
And share the blessings with me.
Raise horn and drink; pour a little into the blessing-bowl.
The Needfire
If you have a Mod token to initiate and bless, have it ready in front of you. If you are not using tokens, that is fine: your souls are all here with you anyway! Light your incense, herbs or twigs if you are using them. If you are not, imagine, feel, smell, or sense a smoking Needfire before you, aromatic with sacred herbs. Use the smoke, physical or imaginary, to cleanse yourself, your tokens, and the space you are in, by passing your token through the smoke, and waving the smoke around as you recite three times:
Hallowed herbs, all ill dispel,
As fuel on the fire, as smoke on the wind.
If you wish or need to, you can extinguish the Needfire when you are done.
If you have a Mod token, keep it with you for the following meditation.
Uruz, Tiwaz, Sowilo: Mod Initiation
Mod likes practical, tangible things, so for this initiatory meditation we’ll use the Mod bindrune as our focus. If you have your own Mod bindrune, you’re welcome to use that one instead, and pursue your own meditation.
Look at the primary runes in this bindrune, one by one as I discuss them below: Uruz, Tiwaz, Sowilo. Meditate on how the runic meanings are related to your Mod soul. The rune-poems here are my renditions of the Anglo-Frisian Futhorc rune poems. I offer some thoughts about the rune meanings and how they relate to Mod, but follow your own thoughts wherever they take you.
Uruz: The mighty Aurochs, the “mody wight.”
Ur is an-mod (has great Mod) and superbly horned;
A courageous beast, it fights with its horns,
Famed moor-strider: that is a mody wight.
Uruz / aurochs is famed for defending its territory, its life and well-being. Uruz is a rune valued by healers, as it says in the Havamal. In my understanding of runic healing, the power of Uruz / Aurochs represents your immune system which defends the health and life contained in your Ealdoryard, the container of Aldr and lifespan, chasing away all unhale invaders with its mighty horns. In your life generally, Uruz and Mod are courage, action, and determination, standing up for yourself, your needs, and your Will.
Tiwaz: Tiw / Tyr and the Pole-Star, which sets our true direction.
Tiw is a token and a sign, holding troth well
With æthelings (nobles); always shows the true path,
Over the mists of night; never fails, deceives, nor betrays.
The powers of Uruz and Mod can be wild, scattered, uncontrolled and undirected. Tyr / Tiw and his sign of the North / Pole Star offers a disciplined and trusty path where the might and mægen of your Mod soul can be guided into worthwhile expressions of Will, courage, and energy.
Sowilo / Sigel: Sun, orientation, hope.
Sun is always the hope of seamen,
As they fare over the fishes’ bath
Until the sea-stallion brings them to land.
Like the North or Pole-Star, the Sun helps you orient yourself as you fare across the wide, confusing, and sometimes perilous pathways of your life. Mod soul can apply its strategic wisdom and the power of its Will to ensure you can follow your hope and make it to the goals you seek. Sowilo also celebrates victory and triumph, overcoming the challenges of life to achieve your worthiest goals. Mod can shine like the Sun itself, and offer its true orientation, its hope, courage, and direction, to the service of your other souls and to your works and deeds in Midgard.
Meditate as long as you wish on Mod, the bindrune, and their interfaces.
Finish by raising up your Mod token, and naming it if you wish. If it is something you wear, then you may wear it now. If you have no token, you can raise your cupped palms or put your hands to your heart to honor your Mod.
Hail your Quest.
Raise your ‘drinking horn’ and offer good words to your own souls as you begin this mighty quest. Offer prayers to whichever Holy Ones you wish, for their help and Gods-speed on your journey. Sip from your ‘horn’ after each speaking. When you are finished, pour the rest of the drink into the blessing-bowl.
Blessing
Use the twig or your fingers to sprinkle liquid from the blessing-bowl around your altar, yourself, and your soul-token(s) if you have any.
Thanks-Giving and Closing Prayer
All-holy Gods and Goddesses, ancestors, good wights of this place, I offer thanks for your blessing and help with this new adventure I am undertaking: the exploration of my souls, and exploration of my soul-connections with the souls and spirits of other beings, including yourselves.
I take joy in my kinship with you, and with the Feorhcynn: with all that lives. May the frith among us all strengthen and deepen day by day, as I pursue the wisdom of my own souls, and share in the wisdom of others.
This rite is ended. I go forth now in frith, and bear gifts of wisdom and blessing with me, always!
If possible, pour the remaining liquid in the blessing-bowl out in a suitable place outside. If that’s not possible, you could pour it into the pot of a house-plant, or drink it all. If you must pour it down the drain, first say a prayer to the Earth-mother, asking her to accept this offering however it reaches her, and saying that you mean no disrespect to her by pouring it down the drain.
If you have a Mod token, have a suitable container to store it in when you are not wearing or using it: a cloth bag or wrapper, a small bowl, jar, or box. Keep the container on your altar or other meaningful place.