Monday 8 July 2019

Months and Festivals of the Gutiska Þiudisk Galaubeins

Aftuma Jiuleis ('After Yule'). January.

Sulaménóþs ('Plough Month'). On the second day of February, charms (saggweis) are sung over farming implements to ward off crop-disease and to celebrate the planting of the first seeds. Cakes are buried in the mud of the fields as an offering to the earth-goddess Airþa for a plentiful harvest in the forthcoming year. February.

Hroþaménóþs ('Glorious Month'). The celebration of the very beginning of spring and it's glorious triumph over winter. March.


Áustróménóþs ('Month of Áustró'). In celebration of the returning spring and of the daylight drawing out, a great feast (dulþs) - specifically including baked pastries and cakes - and a bonfire (andáikan) is held on the Spring Equinox in reverence of the dawn-goddess Áustró. April.


Winjaménóþs ('Pasture Month'). Due to the abundance of fresh spring grass in the pastures, the livestock were fed so well that this month was also called Þrimilukeis or 'three-milkings'. May.

Fruma Leiþa ('Before Midsummer'). The festival of Leiþa, the Summer Solstice, is held at the end of the month when large bonfires (andáikan) are lit on hilltops in reverence of the sun-goddess Sáuil to bring her blessing for the coming winter. Great dances around the bonfires were performed and young men would often leap between them. The young women dressed in white would burn sprigs of herbs, the smoke of which carries the prayers (bidjan) of the worshippers directly to Sáuil herself. June.
Aftuma Leiþa ('After Midsummer'). July.

Asanaménóþs ('Harvest Month'). The celebration of Hláifáiws occurs on the first of this month whereby a beer sacrifice (alublótan) is offered to the anseis as a display of gratitude for the wheat harvest. August.

Hailagaménóþs ('Holy Month'). Numerous feasts (dulþeis) and sacrifices (hunslam) are held to celebrate the successful harvests (asaneis). September.

Wintrufulleiþs ('Winter Full-Moon'). The first full moon of this month is considered to be the beginning of winter and as such, blóteis (sacrificial rites) would be offered to at the end of the month to the albeis (nature-spirits) and airizans (ancestral spirits) who were believed to leave the spirit-world of Albahaims for a while to freely wander amongst mortals in Midjungards. As he is the ruler of Albahaims and lord-protector of the ancestral spirits, the god Iggws is also offered blótan to strengthen the fortunes of the clan group (kuni) and protect those ancestral spirits (airizans) who dwell with him in the hereafter. October.

Blótaménóþs ('Sacrifice Month'). Older livestock who were unlikely to live through until the next year were sacrificed to assure a safe and mild winter. November.

Fruma Jiuleis ('Before Yule'). The festival of Jiuleis, the Winter Solstice, begins at the end of this month. This is a time especially sacred to the god of death, Wódans, and a great hunsl (celebratory feast) is held in honour of him and his daughter, the goddess Hulþó. Wreaths of evergreen are woven and hung on the walls of dwellings, and a temple (alhs) made of timber would be constructed in which sacrifices would be offered and the meat boiled in a unique sacrificial cauldron (sáudhs) which would then be distributed amongst the congregation (gamainþs). December.



Months and Festivals of the Gutiska Þiudisk Galaubeins

Aftuma Jiuleis ('After Yule'). January . Sulamén óþs ('Plough Month'). On the second day of February, charms ( saggweis ...