Northwoods Kindred April 16th Gathering Report

Day before gathering finally arrived with a flurry of kinsmen ready to work hard and play even harder.  Sindri had actually arrived Thorsday to help Bodvarr and I with any last minute plans before the rest of our kin and our invited guests were to arrive.  Frejyasday dawned and with it came our tribe rolling in from as far away as Montana & the rest from Washington.  Stig and his friend Erik were the first to arrive and Stig's truck was laden with provisions for the weekend.

Anthony was up next followed closely by Leif & Aurie.  Nicodemus was the next to arrive along with our kids Egil & Sasha both of whom were picked up at school by Nic. Last but not least Vidarr arrived and we were finally all back together again.  

Once everyone got settled in and dropped their gear in their chosen spots they all got quickly to work preparing for gathering day.  Later in the afternoon Sindri began grilling a stack of bacon jalapeno popper grilled cheese sandwiches while Anthony whipped up a tater tot casserole to accompany it.  

While the casserole was baking, Anthony ran back out to the Ve to continue it’s “Spring” cleaning and seasonal beautification.  Sindri tirelessly made sandwich after sandwich with Vidarr hanging out and keeping him company.  

After a very delicious dinner, which I had no part in, I wrangled up the kids and set them to the task of dyeing our Ostara eggs, and then I gave a brief instruction to Erik on how to make & sew a quest hood  for himself. 

While I was running around giving everyone jobs, Bodvarr was making a strawberry rhubarb crisp in his dutch oven for dessert.  While the crisp was baking we gathered the oathed members and began our monthly kindred meeting. 

Once that business was taken care of we all grabbed a warm bowl of steamy strawberry rhubarb goodness and sat down to study the Havamal with as many translations as we could find ( I think we had eight)  and really go in depth with the meanings of each stanza and our interpretations of it, thus ending day 1 of Ostara gathering weekend.

Day 2 began with gallons of fresh brewed coffee, 5 dozen eggs and a couple pounds of bacon and sausage links  Stig cooked up breakfast for everyone with a quick assist by Bodvarr to help cook the eggs on the blackstone and to keep them from running down the back of the grill and into the grease trap.  This lesson was learned at a previous gathering. 

After breakfast was over the guys went back outside to continue the cleanup of the Ve and to begin building up, repairing and decorating our ve fence now that the winter season was over.  I set the girls to preparing & decorating the Ostara offering basket with colored raw eggs and sharpies for the upcoming ritual.  

Soon after breakfast our final 3 guests arrived, they are a local heathen family looking to learn the ways and build their own kindred.  They reached out to Bodvarr and I through social media and after a first meet & greet at a coffee house, we put the vote to our kinsmen as to whether or not they would be invited to Ostara.   Of course we have the most generous kinsmen and they graciously agreed to share Ostara with folk they had not yet met and based solely on mine and  Bodvarr opinions.  Due to being all over social media from Facebook, to YouTube to TikTok among other platforms our kindred is not actively looking for new members although we are never opposed to meeting up for coffee cause you never know where or who the Norns might lead you too. 

Our guests came loaded with an assortment of yummy foods to add to the feast and after a quick introduction to the rest of the kindred and a quick tour of the land, the brothers jumped right in to help us return our beloved Ve back to her previous glory before the harsh winter had beat her down.

  As soon as all  the wood was stacked & chopped and lit on fire and the fence was built up strong again and decorated with evergreen, Sindri did a final rake on the ground before we all headed back to the house to prepare for Sigrblot, a ritual dedicated to Odin & to Victory.

After  brief instructions to our kin & our guests about the purpose of the procession, we all fell in line behind our Gothi as he led us out to the Ve.  

Once offerings were given to Odin and his blessings were shared among the folk, we began the ritual of personally decorating the colored Ostara eggs with runes.  Once everyone drew the runes on their eggs, we buried them in the Ve to plant the seeds of our hopes and desires for the coming year so that they may grow and blossom throughout the year.  Once the eggs were buried and we each threw a handful of dirt on them we got back into the circle to continue on with ritual.

  Sindi had other business than needed attending to and asked Bodvarr to bless his favorite blade so that he may gift it to Nicodemus in gratitude for services provided and in the hopes that it will serve him well in his new and upcoming travels.

 

Now that all the work had been finished Bodvarr closed out the Sigrblot and we all filed back inside the house to anxiously await our 2nd annual Ostara Quest.

This year's quest is currently in the editor and will be released soon but in the meantime….here is last year's (2021) Ostara Quest for you to enjoy. 

 While waiting for Bodvarr and I to tie up some last minute secret quest loose ends, Stig began making his lunch board for everyone to enjoy while waiting for the much anticipated Ostara Quest to begin .  Piled high was pepperoni, summer sausage, prosciutto, pepper jack cheese, smoked cheddar, goat cheese, spinach artichoke dip, green olives, habanero huckleberry jam, and assorted crackers.

I don’t want to go into much detail about the Quest and spoil it for you, all I can say is, it was a most epic Ostara Quest!  Here’s a few pictures for you to enjoy and to get your imagination going.  

Once the quest was won and the MVP of the Quest was announced and awarded the coveted 2022 Ostara Quest map, we all shared in the spoils on our way back to reality.  Now that we were all back in the house, we began setting up for a “build your own kabob” feast.  We had 3 different types of unseasoned beef cubes, another bowl with marinated beef, sriracha venison, cajun shrimp, meatballs, smoked sausage and veggies galore.  There were sweet peppers, onions, garlic, tomatoes, mushrooms, potatoes, pineapple, mandarin oranges and that was just the food we put on sticks. 

 Also on the table was Mediterranean bean sprout salad, homemade canned baked beans, colored deviled Ostara eggs, cottage cheese, green grapes and farmhouse rolls.  Bodvarr fired up both the Weber & the Blackstone and while the gods' food was being cooked everyone else got busy building their kabobs and waiting for the grills to become available. 

Once that feeding frenzy was over we all got ready for our three rounds of Sumble to begin, both Vidarr and Leif generously brought mead that they had recently bottled, to offer in Sumble. 

Shortly after Sumble ended our guests took their leave as the gathering had come to a close, the rest of us on the other hand devoured the beautiful & delicious apple cupcakes with honeycomb candy for dessert made by Leif & Aurie and then we all finished off the night just being kin.

Happy Ostara,

Skogul Allensdatter 

Gydia of Northwoods Kindred