Solitary Thorrablot Ritual

The day that is popularly celebrated as Thor’s day by Heathens is January 19^th. This is because modern Icelandic people have a celebration called Thorrablot on that day. It’s not a Thor celebration for them so much as a festival of cultural Icelandic customs, but non-Icelandics have claimed the day for Thor. This is in the middle of the winter when the weather is terrible. It is during long winter days like this that Thor’s might – and also his optimism and good humor – can carry us through. Traditionally, a Thor blot would feature roast goat – though never with the long bones broken – and a great deal of beer and mead, as Thor is hearty and loves to celebrate. If your situation is such that you cannot feast him properly, start by cutting small goats from paper and laying them out in the four directions. Cut a hammer out of paper; draw on it the runes Thurisaz (for Thor’s name) and Sowelu (for lightning and victory) and lay it in the middle. Set out a cup of water, if you have it. Then turn to the east and say:

Great Thunderer, we hail you on this day!

Friend of Man, and friend of us all,

We raise our voices in your praise!

Lightning striking, light our paths!

Thunder rolling, seize our attention

And never let us succumb to apathy.

Teach us how to seize the day with passion

And laugh our way through the storm.

Then turn to the south and say this prayer, written by Michaela Macha of Frankfurt, Germany:

Son of Fury, Father of Strength,

Child of the all-bearing Earth,

Mjollnir’s master, Midgard’s shield,

Warding all wights of worth;

Courage your hammer, confidence-gloved,

Valor the staff you wield;

Bravery your belt, thundering Thor

Fiercely holding the field.

Greatest of gods, grant us your grit,

Vingnir, wielder of power,

That we meet life and all its strife

Head-on in every hour.

Then turn to the west, and say this prayer:

O Thor who gives us so much,

Remind us of the day when you faced down

The Lord of Utgard, who tested you.

You thought you were doing only small things –

Lifting a cat too heavy to lift,

Drinking from a horn too large to drain,

Wrestling an old woman who would not yield.

Later you found that the cat was the Midgard Serpent,

The horn the ocean, the grandmother Old Age,

And that of the first two, you made with your efforts

A perceptible difference, and with the third

You performed respectably. You teach us that our efforts,

Even if they may seem small, may go further than we believe,

And that we may never know the end results of our actions.

Then turn to the north, and read the Seawalker prayer. After this has been done, pour out the cup of water and say:

If I had power, O Thor,

I would make this good beer

Or finest mead for your offering.

Instead, I offer the drink of my heart,

And my intent, given to you in your praise.

May you ever be hailed!

Touch the hammer to your brow and your heart, and it is done.