GVK Quarterly News Letter
1st quarter, 2014
Hail!
It was a rough winter. Not only was it as bitter cold as could be remembered in the last decade, but various members of the kindred have been dealing with personal issues. While I won’t devote this space to people’s personal lives, let us just say it has been a season of loss, transition and reassessments for many of our good folk.
What I will devote this space to is what we as a kindred actually did with ourselves. And on that note, we have much we owe to our Luck Givers
We opened January by meeting Heath and his wife, Melissa. Everyone got along just swell. Since then Heath has become a promising prospective member, and his 12 year old daughter has taken up an interest in Heathenry. Oh, did we mention that Heath is a cook?
Our first holiday was held in January. “The Creation of the World” is our invented celebration where we pay homage to Woden and his brothers for the sacrifice of Ymir, and the formation of the world that followed. The All-Father’s omen that night was that this year was going to be a slippery one, but holding true to ourselves would see us safely across. As always, his words have proven true thus far!
In February we celebrated “Charming of the Plow.” We honored Ing the harvest god, and we did, in fact, charm a plow at the Groves farm. The runes that night reminded us of the bonds of giftgiving within home and community.
Also in February, we visited a Catholic Mass, in the interests of interfaith education. Interesting ritual, but none of us saw the need to convert! We also met Brynna, Heath’s coworker from Valhalla Catering. Oh, did we mention Brynna is a cook? This kindred does not want for good food.
In March we inaugurated our first quarterly pub moot in Gettysburg. Despite waiting on our tables for a while, everyone enjoyed the mix of informal conversation and good food. In the same month we also attended a blot at our good neighbors in Gladsheim. There we met Paulie, a Heathen from Gettysburg! Paulie broke the pattern of prospective new members being cooks, but Paulie seems to be adept at photography and we are glad to have him.
March also saw the celebration of Hretha, a little known Anglo-Saxon goddess. The All-Father’s runic omens told us to be flexible and strong, and promised good tidings from unexpected places. These runes help alleviate the somber notes of the harsh message we received back in January.
Amanda and Melissa, the better halves of Nick and Heath (respectively) have also expressed interest in becoming oathed members. Are we going to double our ranks in a few months? Time will tell.
Finally, this quarter saw the launch of our website. While it is still in development, it holds much promise as the focal point of our online presence. An important business meeting was conducted at the end of the quarter, and the Kindred has ambitious plans for the future. Changes are in the works.
As individuals we sometimes fall to life’s vicissitudes and the encroaching cold of the outside world. As friends, as family – as a kindred – we gather ’round the hearth to bask in the warmth of one another’s fellowship. We weather the storm. We survive. We prosper.
We thank our deities and our ancestors for the Luck they bestow on us. We thank our friends and allies for mixing their Wyrd to ours. We thank our prospective new members for lending their talents and energies to our own. And we in GVK are glad to have each other. Trying though it was, the first quarter saw growth and maturation, with a solid foundation for the future.
See you next quarter. Hail!
Jeremy Baer
GVK scribe
