While I have been very quiet here on our kindred’s blog, life has actually been very busy. We are expecting a new member to our family in just a few short weeks. We happily are expecting Karl Edward Ellis to be born sometime mid-March of 2008. I suppose, that’s one way of growing the kindred! LOL

However, the pregnancy has led me to seek out more solitary passtimes to relax and collect my thoughts. This is why we have not attended many community events or hosted any public events in recent months. One cannot hibernate indefinately, so please check back soon for updates on upcoming events.

Wassail,
Cat

Amber-Wolf Kindred held it’s June lore night yesterday, 6/6/07. We were joined by our good friend Tim Ingersol. The topic for the evening was Voluspa. It is amazing how much information was squeezed into just a couple of hours.

The conversation covered:
~how much effort went into the volva proving her abilities before giving the prophesy and, was this a standard practice for those giving prophesies?
~the fundamental differences between the Gods and the giants
~the perserverance Odin shows by preparing for battle even though he knows he and certain gods will die
~how much of our fate can we actually influence?
~what responsibility do we have as heathens to prepare for Ragnarok-like emergencies (natural disasters, climate change, etc.)?
~How would things have been different if someone other than Odin (Freyja, for instance), had received this prophesy?
~Since Freyja is also preparing in some way for something (which is admittedly unknown and unaddressed in the lore) as shown by the fact that the first half of the battle slain go to her, is it possible that Freyja also sought out the Volva (or in some other way gained this wisdom) and knew something that Odin didn’t, or was Freyja’s actions part of a joint plan with Odin that is now missing from the lore?

There was plenty of humor as well. In fact, we actually found a valid corrolation between Odin and Bill Engvall!

A good time was had by all, and $15 dollars was raised for Wolf Hollow.

Wassail,
Cat

Hello, this is actually a rewrite of the original blog entry describing our recent camp moot at Camp Yomechas in Middleboro, MA. The original entry seems to have been deleted.

Amber-Wolf Kindred hosted its first camp moot was held on 4/21/04, which turned out to be a beautiful, warm Saturday filled with the promise of Summer in the air. This was the perfect backdrop for our first public blot held in honor of Freyja. This was also a very welcome change from the preceeding week which brought mostly rain and gale force winds.

Eddie, myself, and the boys arrived at Camp Yomechas a week prior to kick off April vacation and clean up the area around our site. We were joined that first weekend by Tim Ingersol and son at a neighboring site. That weekend was nice, but quickly took a turn for the rainy, wet worse on Sunday. We secured our camper, took the boys’ 3 tents down, weighted the flattened tents down with heavy logs, and returned home to have hot chocolates all around!

Each day, the boys insisted, “We want to go back! We want to go back!” Since this is a welcome respite from pleas for video games and the idiot box, we tried. Tuesday was the first almost reasonable day to go back and check the site. It ended up being a clean-up-the-fallen-trees-day for Eddie and another seasonal camper (not associated with the moot) with a chainsaw and bobcat. Thankfully, the land wights were kind to us, and none of the trees fell on our camper! The wind was still whipping around so much so that the boys had no chance of setting up their tents, and there were white caps on the normally glassy pond. The rain was coming down almost horizontally. We had no choice but to postpone our return for one more day.

Wednesday, the rain had turned to a mere drizzle, with a few rays of sun poking through. The wind, however, was still whipping around a bit. Eddie, the boys, and I made a team effort to set up the tents in a new location- behind the camper, and set up a tarp to block their one semi-open side. Eddie’s fire-making skills, which are beyond proficient, provided us with a comfy fire (with some help from our vehicles blocking the wind). The boys went to bed early, good and tired. Eddie and I stayed about the fire to have a little whiskey in spite of the drizzle. By the way, it really doesn’t take much rain to make a woolen garment smell like a wet sheep… but I was warm!

That is, I was warm around the fire. After Eddie and I went to sleep, the door to our camper, which was not properly closed, flung open with the wind. When you’re cold and sleeping, you will do just about anything to not give up the little bit of comfort that you do have. So, instead of getting up and trying to figure out why a heated camper was so damn cold, Eddie and I just threw the blanket up and over our faces and curled up with each other as close as possible. This went on for probably a couple of hours as we struggled to stay asleep, until a call of nature finally forced me to wake up. I sat up only to see our door wide open. Eddie, the gentleman that he is, jumped up and over me to close the door so I wouldn’t have to get out from under the covers. What a man!

Thursday, some of our neighbors, including Tim and his son, came back. Tim was kind enough to give our boys their first lessons in handling swords. More clean up took place, and then finally the camp moot weekend! Rob Hewitt was the first to arrive on Saturday morning, with Victoria Clare of Osprey Kindred and her husband arriving a few hours later. There were some games of horseshoes while others set up up their sites and prepared for the Freyja blot.

Our Freyja blot started with a discussion about Freyja’s different attributes: a powerful, beautiful, magical goddess of both life and the afterlife, in many ways a being as powerful and influential as Odin, though quite different in approach and purpose. Freyja was gifted with full, ripe stawberries and a truly decadent blueberry wine. We had three rounds of toasts which included more of the same blueberry wine, cranberry mead, and a Cayuga wine, all of which came from a local winery. Toasts were made to Freyja, Thor, Tyr, Forsetti, ancestors, and land wights, along with boasts for self-improvement and in celebration of deserved victories.

The feast, and “feast” is truly the only word to describe it, was absolutely to die for! We had lamb chops, shish-kabobs, salads, burgers, hot dogs, Portuguese chourico, reindeer stew, cheesecake (to celebrate Tim’s birthday), more wine and mead, and I’m sure a few other dozen things I cannot recall at the moment. What I do remember is how covered with food the table was, and how full my stomach was! Anna Bucci was able to join us for the feast and to enjoy the fire for a while, but was unable to stay. Rob gifted me with a framed Anglo-Saxon bee charm, so appropriate for new beekeepers like us! It is a gift we will treasure. The only question is where to hang it… in the office, at home… hmmm. Some turned in early, while others talked into the night.

Sunday was even warmer than Saturday, and we hated to pack up and leave. We had such a great time, and we are very grateful to have been able to share such a special place with such special people. This worked out very well, and we will definately plan another camp moot for later in the season!

Hail the folk!

Wassail,
Cat Ellis

Pictures from our April Campmoot!
Camp Yomechas
Viking Invasion of Camp Yomechas
Cat in blot
Eddie honors Thor
Rob
Victoria
Victoria Raises the Horn
We needed TWO grills…
…AND the fire pit!
Plus, Victoria’s kitchen-to-go!
The Harrow
Hail Freyja!
Offering to Freyja
Rob and Horn
Tim Raises the Horn

On March 17, 2007 Amber-Wolf Kindred celebrated Summer-Finding with a blot to Idunna. Our blot was originally planned for two days earlier, but it was delayed due to a nasty flu. We called upon Idunna for renewal of the year and asked her to feed and continue the renewal of the Heathen Spirit, that our community (both the kindred and the larger Asatru community) may continue to grow in number, strength and prosperity.

The next day, we offered a gift of apples to Idunna which we brought to a place called East Look, along the Tattapanum Nature Trail in Fall River, MA. The trail was completely covered in snow and ice, and the normally 10 minute walk to the site more like 40 each way, but we got the apples there as we promised Idunna that we would!

Hail Idunna! Hail the Renewer!

Wassail,
Cat

Here are some photos from our Summer-Finding!