August 12-14
Cauldron Farm, Hubbardston, Massachusetts
(This account was written by IWK member Galina Krasskova. Elizabeth’s comments are in brackets.)
I have just returned home from another EtinMoot, the yearly gathering hosted by Iron Wood Kindred in honor of our Jotun Deities. This year’s moot was amazing, exhausting, and incredibly productive.
The moot lasted for three days, beginning late in the day on Friday. I dropped off my crew and several bags of fireworks so they could enjoy the annual “Loki party,” a celebration in honor of Loki, usually including a ritual to Him. This year, it included a very colorful piñata for the guests. [It was shaped like a platform shoe!] Heh. It’s always a lot of fun. I didn’t attend this year, because I had a lot of work ahead of me Saturday and wanted to get a good night’s sleep.
The next day began bright and way too early, with a class on honoring the ancestors. I taught this class and, with the help of Laura Patsouris and E. Laufeyson, talked in depth about how to begin honoring one’s dead, and the importance of making this vital connection. Then we held an ancestor rite that I think was a far more powerful ritual than any of us, myself included, expected. I drummed so hard for the rite, though, that my hands still hurt! It was a joy, however, to see people getting down on the ground and calling to their dead, making offerings, and most of all, making that connection of heart and spirit so essential to proper ancestor work. [I personally found this ritual to be very moving as well, and am thankful to Galina, Laura, and E. for facilitating it.]
Afterwards, there were some preparations and at mid-day, six glorious god-poles were raised to the House of Mundilfari: Mundilfari Himself, Nott, Dagr, Sinthgunt, Sunna, and Mani. We were preparing for a Mani ‘horsing’ (deity possession in which a person with the requisite training and gift makes him- or herself available to be possessed by the God or Goddess in question) but, not unexpectedly, He came down early. Apparently, He wanted to be part of honoring His father and family. It was very sweet actually. He inspected all the accoutrements that were to be hung on the poles, and helped carry the poles (lifting one of them by Himself), sink them, and decorate them. With very little time in between, the ground crew managed to get the human ‘horse,’ now mostly possessed by Mani, into ritual garb, and people gathered to celebrate His presence.
Mani always seems so fascinated by our sensorium, by incarnation and physical sensation, and takes delight in the feel of things we take for granted: the feel of water poured over the hands, moss under the feet, light glistening off beads that formed part of His regalia. He danced this year, more than any other year. He gathered His attendants and many of those waiting to meet Him, and danced before speaking with each person in turn. As always, many came away besotted with this glorious God, and He left much comfort and healing in His wake.
This year, we were graced with Sunna’s presence, too. A devotee new to horsing had offered to carry Sunna (should Sunna agree) and to our great delight, we were able to celebrate Sunna and Mani together. It was a particular grace, not only experiencing the feel of Sunna’s presence through the medium of Her horse, but seeing the interaction between Her and Her brother. It was very clear that They have a close and joyous relationship.
After this ritual, the respective ‘horses’ were given time to recover, and the day’s public events concluded. [We hung out, had another bonfire, and generally enjoyed each other's company for the rest of the evening.]
Sunday morning began with a workshop on fire work, the “medicine,” if you will, of this element, our eldest ancestor. I taught that one too, and spoke about the importance of fire to our Ancestors, its role in the creation of the worlds, our various Deities associated with fire, and the proper way to engage with it ritually. This workshop was well attended, and several of those gathered brought up many good points. It was a nice sharing of knowledge, and though it was the first time I spoke about fire work, I found myself having to navigate around my own ritual taboos with fire, I think this workshop went very well indeed. I learned a lot myself just from the interactions and questions of those gathered.
After this, there was a lovely, truly lovely faining to Sleipnir. Of all of Loki’s children, my adopted mom used to say that Sleipnir alone as a colt contained joy. I so rarely see Him honored. It was a particular pleasure when Jalkr facilitated this rite, and we were all given a chance to hail Him in ritual, and lay out offerings to this most magical of Beings.
Finally, there was a very moving memorial to my adopted mom [who was an elder of Iron Wood Kindred, as well as a friend to many of us present.] We set up a memorial stone for her and held a ritual that I think would have pleased her very much. She never wanted any type of service, but I think even she would have been okay with this one. People talked about how much her friendship had meant to them, and how knowing her transformed their lives for the better. I spoke about the tremendous impact she had on me personally, and how much I love and miss her. We told stories and shared funny little anecdotes. People talked about how even in death, her example continues to inspire them to more mindful devotion, lifting them up when all they want to do is curl up and stop. Then a beautiful stone with the words “We Remember Fuensanta,” carved in runes by Bella Kaldera, was raised near the shrine to Narvi and Vali. This was particularly fitting since my adopted mom loved those children dearly, and wanted nothing more than to see Them honored. We laughed and cried and my adopted mom was rightly honored.
That concluded EtinMoot, and amidst many goodbyes and much laughter we all parted, heading for our respective homes late that afternoon.
A big thank you to the gythia of Ironwood Kindred, Elizabeth Vongvisith, for making all of this possible and for hosting yet another successful and joyous gathering. Well done, Elizabeth!
[Thanks to you, too, Galina, as well as to Nicole, Jalkr, Raven, Bella, Anya, Jon the Gong Boy, and everyone else who attended and made this year's EtinMoot so meaningful and so much fun! See you next year!]
