The Vættir & Gifting Cycle
Hello everyone! Today I thought I would give a quick lesson on the vættir and their importance in Norse Heathenry. The gifting cycle is a central part of heathenry, and thus establishing such a cycle with the vættir is important to keep relations up. This will be a two-part lesson, the first part will be on the vættir and the second part will be on the gifting cycle and selecting offerings.
Now, lets discuss the vættir; what they are, the different classes, and the purpose they serve. The term vættir refers to supernatural beings, including deities (Æsir and Vanir), giants (Jötnar), dwarves (Dvergar), elves (Álfar), and most commonly, spirits. The spirits can be broken into two distinct classes, nature spirits (Landvættir) and house spirits (Húsvættir). We will be focusing on these two types of spirits today.
The landvættir protect the specific places they inhabit. They can make these places flourish, or they can cause the land to wither if they have been dishonored. From this, we can see that the landvættir would be extremely important to the Norse farmers who need their crops to flourish.
The húsvættir protect the home. They can make the home a warm, inviting place, or they can make the home chaotic and unrest by either being ignored or feeding off of negative energy in the home. The way to a happy home is through happy húsvættir, thus honoring them is extremely important.
For many of us, the húsvættir are more accessible and more prominent in our lives than the landvættir might be, but it is important that we give our respect and offerings to both classes, as to not dishonor either. Even if you do not have much of a yard, the landvættir inhabit all natural things — rocks, trees, streams, and so on.
Both spirit types play a huge role in the heathen lifestyle, thus honoring them, being respectful towards them, and simply being mindful of them is important to incorporate into your daily life.
Part 2: The Gifting Cycle
This is the second part of the vættir-gifting cycle lesson. In this part, we will be focusing on what the gifting cycle is, its importance in Norse Heathenry, and how to establish such a cycle. Specifically, we will be focusing on establishing a gifting cycle with the vættir.
A regular gifting cycle is critical to keeping relations up with the vættir. Sporadically giving offerings, then ignoring the vættir for a few months, will lead to negative consequences and a damaged relationship between yourself and the spirits. By honoring the vættir regularly, you are prioritizing a positive relationship with the spirits and fostering good tidings.
Now, lets discuss establishing a gifting cycle with the vættir and how to give offerings to them. In practice, you may find what I suggest doesn’t work for the vættir around you. It’s important to pay attention to how the spirits react to your offerings, and from there you can adjust as needed to keep the spirits happy.
When it comes to offerings the vættir like, you will likely end up doing trial and error until you figure out what the spirits near you enjoy. To give you a starting point, you could try giving offerings of coffee beans, milk, wine, spices or herbs, or grains.
When it comes to actually giving the offerings, you don’t need to do anything extravagant. It helps to give offerings in the same spot every time, however, and it may be helpful to put the offerings in bowls or on a plate. After setting your offering out, it’s vital that you explicitly make it known that the offering is for the vættir — either by saying so out loud, or meditating on the thought. Be sure to give your thanks and respect, then repeat during the next cycle.
In all, it is a fairly simple process, however it is important that your intent is on building a positive relationship and being respectful. Simply giving the vættir an offering once a week without being mindful will not get you far, and you’ll possibly upset the spirits.