My Haustblót

The ancient calendar only recognized two seasons. There was summer, and there was winter. Just as Sumarmál was their first day of Summer, Haustblót was their first day of winter. The temperature slowly begins to fall, the days get shorter. Those who grow their food begin preparations for the final harvests. The larders are growing full with the fruit of earlier efforts. Now it’s time to begin the hunt, to kill enough game to finish winter’s preparations.

For me, preparations for this time started late last winter. Once the sun started growing stronger and the days once again were getting longer, I started planning out my harvest season. Haustblót for me is the start of archery hunting season for white tail deer in Minnesota. While there is still snow and the ground is still frozen, I begin by walking through the woods and marsh land on family property, scouting for well used game trails in relation to current tree stand locations. I will set up cameras to monitor movement, making adjustments as needed until the ground completely thaws. As deer patterns largely remain the same, they do vary only slightly unless something throws them off, such as predators, downed trees, or food supply. Once the frost is released from the Earth and new growth is beginning, it is time to plant some nutrient rich crops in small areas that will be left to grow basically wild. I plant perennial chicory, rapeseed, and a variety of clover which I will monitor with camera overwatch.

As the Earth greens and you see the young fawns out exploring for the first time, it is a welcome and grounding sight to see those that survived the cold dark winter with their young out soaking up Sól's warmth. Harvesting from nature is about balance and having a positive relationship with the Vættr of the land and so I also give thanks to those spirits and the Goddess Austra. Over the next few months, I am observing movement patterns and start clearing the best likely areas to hunt from. That means clearing a few trails, moving cameras accordingly (which happens a few times), putting down mineral for early nutrition, and maintenance of areas. Once Freyfaxi is upon us I have spent countless hours refining and making adjustments, only to be out of time and what is set will be the way it is for the upcoming harvest season tree stands are in place. Here to the hunt, it will be checking my equipment and gear, resighting my bow, checking weather forecast, getting tags, and the tension begins and builds. Until that opportunity where all of the preparation pays off and tension is released as the smell of blood in the air is noticed just after hearing the sound of my arrow passing through the deer and knowing by the sound that my aim was true and I hit in just the right spot.

My Haustblót, I engage in the gift cycle with Ullr and the land Vættr, and with luck, I will be gifted with a freezer full of food for to help sustain my family during the cold and dark months that surely will test us again. Take some time and think about what your Haustblót looks like. What do you reap this time of year that was planted or started in the Spring? What projects have come to completion? What do you do to prepare for the coming colder months in your area? Whether you hunt, farm, or otherwise, this is a time of year where seasonal plans and projects come to an end, and we start turning inward to persevere with our kin through the change in season from warm and sunny to cold and dark. This is where we find out if our preparations were enough and we make adjustments for the survival of our family and Folk.

Goði Nathan Erlandson

nerlandson@runestone.org

~ From The Runestone, September 2025 ~