Solitary Rite for Baldur and Nanna
by Ingeborg
This ritual is to be done in the dark house before sunrise on a day when
there will be fair weather. It is to be done when there is despair in your
heart, and you feel that you cannot go on, that your sun will never rise. Make
an altar inside your home and place upon it one large candle, a good-sized
mirror covered with a cloth, matches or a lighter, a cup of water and a teabag
of chamomile tea, and a small bottle of oil of heliotrope. While heliotrope is
not a plant of northern Europe – it came north from the Mediterranean in
medieval times – I have claimed it as Nanna’s plant, because its face follows
the light.
Cover all windows and cracks in doors, making the room as pitch black as possible. Find your way to the altar and sit in front of it, and say:
In darkness I fall
With no light inside me.
Light is dead, and Baldur is fallen,
And he walked the Hel Road,
And never returned.
In darkness I fall
With no light around me.
Light is dead and Baldur is fallen,
And Hermod went to Hel
And returned without him.
In darkness I fall
With no light inside me.
Light is dead and Baldur is fallen,
And all were to weep for him,
And some refused.
In darkness I fall
With no light around me.
Light is dead and Baldur is fallen,
And Nanna followed him down,
And never returned.
Find the matches or lighter, and light the candle, saying: “I light the pyre.” Then sit for a moment and watch the candle, and say, “The light has not vanished, it still dwells in the depths, and I can part the veil and see His glow.” Repeat this to yourself, over and over, while looking at the candle and visualizing seeing Baldur as a single bright spot in the darkness of the Underworld. When you can visualize this, say:
Hail Baldur, Odin’s brightest son,
Golden One of Asgard,
Bless me, O light in darkness.
Help me to find my own light
Within the darkness that rises around me.
Take the oil of heliotrope, and anoint your forehead with it, and say:
Hail Nanna, child of dwarves and Valkyries,
You who came up out of the darkness
And followed love and light back down,
Following with perfect faithfulness,
Show me the way down to the depths
Where the light still glows,
And give me unyielding faith
Like your own unyielding faith.
Anoint your heart chakra with it, and say:
There is Light in the darkest place,
And there is Love that shows the way.
Stay in the darkness, meditating on the flame, until you know that the Sun has come up. Then get up and go outside into the sunlight, and go for a walk or just generally be in the sunlight for a while. Try to keep your mind off of negative things, if only for that small piece of time. Try to look for things to enjoy and beauty to appreciate. Remember the promise of Baldur and Nanna, and they will help you to find a way.
Artwork by Order In The Quartz.