Invocation to Skadi
from the Pagan Book of Hours
Color: White
Element: Air
Altar:
Upon cloth of white set snowflakes, frosted branches, a horn of mead,
the figure of a white wolf, a pair of skis, a pair of snowshoes, a bow
and arrows, and a bowl of meat.
Offerings: Meat left to the forest spirits.
Daily Meal: Hoofed animal meat.
Invocation to Skadi
Hail, Huntress of the snow and ice!
Hail, wife of Njord the sea-god
Who would not compromise with anyone,
Nor live on the shore near the sea-birds
Rather than your beloved snowy mountains.
We who struggle between the tracks
Left by Your winter sleigh,
We whose bloody marks You track,
Skillful in your cold eye,
We hail you, Mistress of Survival!
Etin-bride of winter, Your cloak
Spreads white over the fields,
The icy wind Your breath,
White wolf in the snow,
Lady of the crisp clean starry sky
Over the frozen tundra.
Teach us of the narrow edge between
Living and dying, and of that struggle,
And the cold, naked truth that it reveals.
Catch us naked in the snow, Lady,
We shall bare our throats to your wisdom
And count ourselves lucky.
(The mead is poured out as a libation. The meat is taken to a wild place and left for the animals to eat in their time.)
Artwork by Indigo.