Winternights 2018 report

*This report was originally written by Sorn during his long tenure as Ritari. It has been reposted here in an effort to collect all our resources on our new site.

On October 28, 2018 Keeper of Seasons Hall met to celebrate its twenty-first Winternights. We met at the Pueblo Montaño trailhead in the afternoon. Unlike the weather of the previous weeks, the weather for the day was relatively mild and sunny. As we made our way to our blot site by the river, we met a number of other individuals enjoying the warm weather, and we heard and saw a number of birds, including crows, cranes, ravens, and ducks.

For most celebrations, Keeper of Seasons Hall employs a sumble format to allow members ample opportunity to hail as they see fit. We observe Winternights as both a disablot and a recognition of the changing of the seasons. Accordingly, as we worked our way through the rounds of sumble, we hailed goddesses and gods of harvest and hard work, powers of victory and fertility, female ancestors and heroes, and our own accomplishments in past seasons as well as those to come. Members boasted of great deeds in work, in school, and in their personal lives. One of our members had recently returned after completing an impressive journey, hiking from the Mexican border into Canada, and she recited a poem of thanks she had composed as an offering to those powers who lent her aid during her travels. Following everyone’s personal hails, I gave the Keeper of Seasons Hall hail for 2018, formally marking the twenty-first anniversary of the founding of the Hall. Our by-laws call for the annual election for Ritari to be held during Winternights as well, and I was honored to be reelected to the position. After our business was concluded, the remainder of the mead was poured in libation. I made personal offerings to the river and to local wights, and we made our way back to the trailhead, making plans to continue spending time together later in the evening.

#alfar, #Ancestors, #blot, #bosque, #Disir, #KoSH, #RioGrande, #sumble, #winternights