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Hail To the Aesir! Hail to the Vanir!
Hail to the Disir, and to all our Ancestors, stretching back to the beginning of our lines!
Hail to the Alfar of our homes and lands, and to the Alfar of the homes and lands of those we love!
Hail to the Alfar that guard the roads we travel between Kith and Kin!
May our worthy words wend the Way of Wyrd, carried on the wind to the Well and to the ears of the Elder Kin, to manifest justly in our lives!

How swiftly it seems the Wheel turns, and Spring has come again to Huginn Hearth and the fine Kettlewald Folk. While we have been lax in our posts here, it is only because our lives in real-world-Midgard have been so full! Just this weekend past, we hosted a fine gathering that included a small but vigorous Kubb tournament, laughter and lively debate, thoughtful reflection around a grand night fire, wonderful grilled pork steaks... buttery, crusty bread stuffed with onions, mushrooms and melted cheese... tantalizing vegetable salads... and heathen fudge cake!

Wishing our Worthy Readers lives as full and satisfying and proudly Heathen as our own!
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Spring again at Huginn Hearth!

Hail, generous Vanir,

nurturing the return of all tender young green and growing

and blossoming things!

Hail winsome Freyja!

Hail faithful Idunna!

Hail nimble Ostara!

Welcome, bright Sunna!


Hail our beloved Ancestors!
Hail wise and watchful Elder Kin!



Hail Spring!

Hail you bubbling spirits of ponds and creeks,

rivers and lakes and life-sustaining waters!

Hail you Wights of rich and fertile earth!

Hail industrious Alfar of field and forest, meadow and hillside!

Celebrate the warming of the earth with us,

wealful Wights of field stone and bedrock!

Hail to the reawakening of the Vanic Season!

May the Kith and Kin of Huginn Hearth, Kettlewald Kindred and all honorable Heathen Folk enjoy abundance and prosperity as the air grows warm and the days grow long!

Twelfth Night at Huginn Hearth - Jan 1, 2009

Icy winds and drifting snow could not daunt the hearty and determined travelers who made their way to Huginn Hearth for Kettlewald's Twelfth Night Feast, Sumbel, and New Year Blot. There is nothing better to prepare one's hearth and heart for a New Year full of prosperity and comfort than a gathering of good folk.

Eash new arrival on the doorstep all day Wednesday heralded yet more delectables added to the feast table... brimming bowls of roasted cashews, pecans, almonds, oranges, apples and pears; all variety of cheeses, from aged sharp cheddar to fine smoked Gouda, to Brie en croute; delicate pinwheel appetizers layered with savory herbed spread, herring pickled in wine; Thurvin's wonderful moist and chunky Apple Loaf, good Wisconsin summer sausage with toasted onion and fire roasted tomato crackers; barbequed smoked sausage; onion, mustard, and brown sugar glazed pork loins, fresh crunchy vegetable trays to offer a bit of relief to the vegetarians and our arteries both.... for this feast showcased the Pride of the Dairy State: sour cream, cream cheese, fresh creamery butter whipping cream, swiss and cheddar cheeses combined into Spinach dip with toasted pita bites, Hot Ruben dip with chunks of toasted french bread, and Dill dip (to decorate those healthy vegetables!). Then there were decadent peanut butter bars; double fudge walnut brownies; chocolate crumb crust raspberry swirled cheesecake, caramel pecan praline bars, and buttercream-filled almond macaroons enrobed in bittersweet chocolate.

We set the course indeed, for a generous and bountiful (and potentially chubby) New Year!

Of course, we needed comforting libation to ward off the winter's chill, and met the need with hot spiced cider, sweet green tea, several notable bottles of shiraz and chardonnay, some fine brown ale and reliably delicious mead from Rick Norman, and an appreciable volume of Huginn Hearth's own Dangerous Cyser, Freya's Kiss strawberry melomel, and Sweet Bramble raspberry melomel.

Huginn Hearth's evergreen Sun Wheel was brought front and center-- the quartered wreath of balsam branches and lichen-clad lilac branches, twined together with bright ribbons--and the Folk were provided with strips of colorful paper on which to write their own Yule blessings and plans for the New Year. Many dozens of strips were interwoven in those branches, for once each of us got to thinking about the many blessings of the year past, and plans to be started upon in the year ahead, we did not run short of thanks to offer, nor requests for advice and guidance to the Elder Kin and Ancestors.

When the Sun Wheel was filled to bristling with the goals, thanks, resolutions and best wishes of all gathered... and the feasting slowed to occasional meandering laps around the buffet table.... and the hubub of high energy and laughter had leveled off into thoughtful discussion and relating favorite stories.... we opened Sumbel. With the Aesir, Vanir, Ancestors and Alfar as witness, we raised horn to the many fine Heathen Folk who we knew were gathered that night just as we were, with beloved family, cherished friends, the spirits of their Ancestors and the Unseen Folk of their hearth and lands. We wished health and wealth to each other, and to the other fine Asastru folk throughout Vinland. We spoke words of honor and thanks to our Elder Kin and Warriors, as well as to all those Kith and Kin whose names deserve to be heard at every gathering of Northern Folk when a horn is passed. Our true words, spoken from true hearts with honorable and generous intent, wove threads of power and weight into Wyrd that night, setting a wealful pattern for the weaving in days to come.

~~*~~*~~*~~*~~

Thursday morning was greeted with dark, strong coffee, fruit, and muffins to tide over the early risers. Brunch was assembled and left warming in the oven while we donned boots, scarves, mittens, caps, gloves, sweaters, cloaks and coats, and proceeded out to the fire circle for New Year's Blot. The sky was bright and clear; our treeline of tall Kettlewald pines stood at ease in the brisk January air. Dan had cleared a path of good footing through the knee deep snow. Our message-laden Sun Wheel was carried ceremoniusly, as was our Blot Bowl of accumulated toasts and well wishes that had been offered at Huginn Hearth since Yule has opened on Mothersnight, twelve nights earlier.

We Stood Blot to our Elder Kin, our Ancestors and the Alfar who enrich our lives, sharing with them a bottle of good sweet cyser. The Blot Bowl was emptied in a wide circle surrounding the fire and the assembled Folk, to surround us with good wishes and good furtune for the coming year. The Sun Wheel was laid on the fire and the flames shot high and hot, consuming all visible traces in seconds, assuring us that our words had been delivered swiftly and truly to Asgard, as intended.

Back inside, more pots of coffee were brewed and emptied, and we set to the determined conquest of the feast table yet again: hearty oat and barley porridge with honey, maple syrup, butter, raisins and cream; smoked sausage and pork sausages; slabs of Apple Pie bread; not to mention endless platters of cheese, dips, and baked goods unconsumed the night before. Alas, the food held out longer than our appetites could... and each of us eventually slumped full and groaning into a chair, admitting satisfied defeat.

Much gratitude and love to all those Kettlewald folks who defiantly braved our Wisconsin Winter roads to join our Twelfth Night celebration. Each time we gather as a Folk, we honor our Ancestors, renew our commitment to our Elder Kin and build upon it. When the Folk reserve time together in this way, we strengthen our bond so that it becomes unshakable, unassailable, our haven in troubled times, and the guiding force behind every worthy thought, word, and action.

All the Best to you for 2009!

Huginn Hearth's Yule Harrow 2008

Yule Begins for Kettlewald and Huginn Hearth!

Despite the rumble and bluster of the Frost Giants, Yule opened joyfully at Huginn Hearth with Mothersnight Blot and Feast on December 20, 2008. Several fine bottles of ale and sweet mead by Hearth Brother and Masterbrewer Rick Norman graced the horn, as well as Freya's Kiss Strawberry Melomel, crafted by Huginn Hearth's own Christine. Frigga, our beloved Disir and all the cherished Ancestral Mothers of our Folk were honored in turn, as we sent our toasts to resonate deep into the winter night and across the ages.

At Feast, we slathered planks of crusty, warm bread with good Wisconsin butter and dipped them in thick, rich, Cream of Mixed Vegetable Soup. Huginn Hearth is proud to carry forth the traditions of our Germanic grandmothers by setting to a maelstrom of baking in December, and our Mothersnight dessert selection showed proof, with Cherry Butter Bon Bons, Pecan Praline Bars, Double Fudge Brownie Bites, Frosted Lemon bars, and Cream Cheese Frosted Butter Cookies. We ate, and groaned, and laughed... then ate more.

Kettlewald guests stayed overnight, as planned, to insure improved driving conditions (having traveled from as far south as Rockford, IL and as far north as West Bend, WI). We extended our Yule gemutlichheit to Brunch, with eggs, fried potatoes with onions, ham and cheese, and a fine pecan carmel coffee cake. We talked and laughed and played games into that afternoon, and our Ancestors were gathered close around, sharing the fun.

Hail to all our fine Northern Folk, and please accept Kettlewald's heartiest warmth and good cheer for the opening of Yule!