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Bl?t is the historical Norse term for sacrifice or ritual slaughter. In Germanic Neopaganism, blots are often celebrated outdoors in nature. A blot may be highly formalized, but the underlying intent resembles inviting and having an honored guest or family member in for dinner. Food and drink may be offered. Most of this will be consumed by the participants, and some of the drink will be poured out onto the soil as a libation. Home-brewed mead as the "Germanic" drink par excellence is popular.
Offerings during a blot usually involve mead or other alcohol, sometimes food, sometimes song or poetry, specially written for the occasion or for a particular deity, is delivered as an offering. The blot ritual may be based on historical example, scripted for the occasion or may be spontaneous. Certain Germanic Neopagan groups, most notably the Theodish, strictly adhere to historical formulaic ritual, while other groups may use modernized variants. Usual dress for a blot is whatever suits the seasons ? many blots are outdoors, sometimes at sacred sites. Some Germanic Neopagans, most notably the Theodish, wear clothing modeled on those of the Anglo-Saxon or Norse 'Viking' during ritual, while others eschew this practice.
Symbel (OE) and sumbel (ON) are terms for "feast, banquet, (social) gathering", occasionally used to refer to a special type of solemn drinking ritual attested in more or less comparable forms among various Germanic warrior elites. In such instances, symbel involved a formulaic ritual which was more solemn and serious than mere drinking or celebration. The primary elements of symbel are drinking ale or mead from a horn, speech making (which often included formulaic boasting and oaths), and gift giving.
According to the reconstruction by Bauschatz (1983), eating and feasting were specifically excluded from symbel, and no alcohol was set aside for the gods or other deities in the form of a sacrifice.[19]
The host of the symbel was called the symbelgifa. One of the officiants of symbel was the thyle (ON ?ulr), who challenged and questioned those who made boasts (gielp) or oaths (b?ot, bregofull), if necessary with taunts or mockery (flyting). Oaths said over the symbel-horn were seen as binding and affecting the luck and wyrd of all in attendance. The alcoholic drink was served by women or alekeepers (ealu bora "ale bearer"), the first round usually poured by the lady of the house.
The bragarfull "promise-cup" or bragafull "best cup" or "chieftain's cup" was in Norse culture a particular drinking from a cup or drinking horn on ceremonial occasions, often involving the swearing of oaths when the cup or horn was drunk by a chieftain or passed around and drunk by those assembled.
In American ?satr? as developed by McNallen and Stine, the sumbel is a drinking-ritual in which a drinking horn full of mead or ale is passed around and a series of toasts are made, first to the Aesir, then to other supernatural beings, then to heroes or ancestors, and then to others. Participants may also make boasts of their own deeds, or oaths or promises of future actions. Words spoken during the sumbel are considered and consecrated, becoming part of the destiny of those assembled. The name sumbel (or symbel) is mainly derived from Anglo-Saxon sources. For this reason, the ritual is not know by this name among Icelandic Nordic pagans, who nevertheless practice a similar ritual as part of their blot.
In Theodism or Anglo-Saxon neopaganism in particular, the symbel has a particularly high importance, considered "perhaps the highest rite" or "amongst the most holy rites" celebrated.
Sei?r and Spae are forms of "sorcery" or "witchcraft", the latter having aspects of prophecy and shamanism. Seid and spae are not common rituals, and are not engaged in by many adherents of Germanic Neopaganism. Usually seid or spae rituals are modeled after the ritual detailed in the Saga of Eric the Red: a sei?kona dressed in traditional garb will sit on a high-seat or platform and prophesy in a formulaic manner as women sing or chant galdr around her. In the UK, seidr relies less on formal ritual and more informal practices of healing (Blain, 2002b), protection, and for developing links with land and ancestors. It may be related ? in past and present ? to alterations of consciousness and negotiations with otherworld beings.
The berserkergangr may be described as a sort of religious ecstasy, associated with Odin, and thus a masculine variant of the 'effeminate' ecstasy of Seid.
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