What is HaustaBlot?
Hausta blot is the end of summer season blot. Hausta itself means “Autumn” and some have equated this blot with an equinoxal rite that corresponds to the autumn equinox and perform blot at this time. However, this timing for blot was adopted via the Wiccan calendar (this calendar was invented in the 1960’s) and has been erroneously incorporated by many pagans for decades now.
The Wiccan calendar is problematic for several reasons, but the biggest reason is the fact that our most ancient ancestors originally calculated the yearly cycles based on a lunar fixation with time. Though not widely known by many modern pagans, time was measured by nights and not days. We see this documented within modern english usage with terms such as “fortnight” (The word derives from the Old English term fēowertyne niht, meaning “fourteen nights”). More importantly, there is historically documented attestation to a lunar calendar. The most commonly cited example was made by Bede when writing about yule in his anglo saxon history wherein he wrote how the dates of some holidays (Holy Days) were changed to correspond to the xtian events i.e. xmas. However, we also have a surviving Icelandic calendar that is entirely based on the lunar cycle. This calendar is called the Misseri calendar. This calendar contained precise dating of festivals and blots.
There were three major festivals a year. In the Inglinga saga Odin set a law for the folk, he specifically states that we will have three festivals (or Viezla’s) in the year. These festivals are winter finding also called hausta, yule, and sigr/sumri (also called sumersdag. This is not the midsummer. Mid Summer was also a collective gathering for the folk but this gathering was the AlThing). These festivals were three day events in each cycle of the year. For our ancestors the year consisted of three cycles. The numbers 3 and 9 was and is the very fabric of how all things worked in the cosmology and worldview of our ancestors and also extended into our holy days and ritual formula’s.
Each 3 day festival consisted of 3 blots for a total of 9 blots that were performed in the course of a year. Without going into a deep dive into the history of these dates for all of the festivals (if you’re interested in knowing more, you can email me) the proper placing of the Haustablot corresponds to the ending of the yearly cycle which falls normally around the end of October and beginning of November. Bede mentions this would take place after the first full moon during Winterfylleth, or the “winter full moon,” because, as Bede explained, winter was said to begin on the first full moon in October (the dates change each year based on the lunar cycle).
There were three blots performed during the Hausta Blot. The first rite was Freyrs blot which was the chief blot for the festival and is often specifically called the HaustaBlot. This was a public ceremony and was performed to thank freyr for the bounties of the harvest and pray for protection against poverty for the coming year. The second blot was the “disablot”. This was the “goddesses” blot and was considered the catalyst of the deliverance of the aid to the folk. This was a private rite, each family would retire to their residences or lodging and connect with the disir and honor them and pray for healing and fertility for the coming year. Frigga and especially Freya and her handmaidens would be the goddesses one would focus on during these private rites along with ones female ancestors and the fylgia. The third blot during the festival is called Alfarblot. Freyr is again the host of this blot and ones male ancestors and especially the alfar would be the focus of this rite. This blot would be a public ritual wherein the folk would seek protection and healing from sickness and plagues in the coming year.
I hope this explains for all that had questions about what hausta Blot is. I invite all to come to the Winnili kindreds HaustaBlot event on October 23rd and partake in this ancient rite with our kindred.
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