Great Valley Kindred

2014 q4 Newsletter

Happy Yuletide!

In October we attended Winter Nights at Thor’s Hollow, and had a great time despite the cold. We led a workshop on the differences between Anglo-Saxon Heathenry and Asatru, which seemed to go over well. And we led a rite to Woden and the Wild Hunt which was well-received despite some severe runes. Also in October we had our own Winter Nights in Gettysburg to celebrate the final harvest. Ing, Woden and Hama were honored.

In November we had a truly moving rite to Woden. We saluted our veterans and the fallen dead. I (Jeremy) dedicated myself to the All-Father, and we toasted Josh’s 31st birthday. Crystal also had a workshop on butchering rabbits, and two of us learned from her valuable experience in this most practical skill.

We just closed the year in December with a blot to The Mothers, the Idesa, cognate to the Disir.

So much for the 4th quarter! We honored the gods, we ate good food, and we enjoyed the companionship of fine people, as always. We met some new faces at out blot, like Kumar and his friend Allyson, and Kim and Amy. We are happy to have them.

At this time I would like to offer a brief year-in-review. What a year it was….

At the beginning of the year, we asked Woden what was in store for us. The runes were:

Rad (Journey)

Is (Ice)

Aesc (Spear).

There is a journey ahead. Parts may be slippery, parts may be deceptively appealing, but the journey is a bridge that needs to be crossed. Hunker down in defense, and stay true to what we know and cherish.

 

And the runes kept on coming the rest of the year. They spoke of sudden endings and new beginnings, of painful transitions, of the obligations of relationships.

All of these things have come to pass. I have watched the other kindred members traverse the crucible of experience in their secular lives, as foretold by the runes. I myself feel as if I have entered into a new spiritual phase of my life with my dedication to Woden.

This is not the same kindred we had in January. We went on the journey, and we crossed the bridge of ice. To hold true to what we cherish– to the gods, to each other, to the ways of the ancestors – is what defines us. What sustains us.

Things change. People change. Wyrd flows. The gods move us where they will. People come and go.

But GVK is still here. See you in 2015.

— Jeremy
GVK notwritere