The Steaks Rite

Every year, on the weekend following Veterans Day, the group I am part of does a special rite to pay homage to:

1: male energy
2: warrior energy
3: hunter energy

We called it "Steaks for the Lord of the Underworld". OK no, it's not really a "Heathen" type of name, but we chose that as a counter to the "Cakes for the Queen of Heaven" ceremony that some people in the pagan world have done.

I sort of got the ball rolling and the idea planted into the minds of three of the men in our group, two of whom are military veterans (Joe and our friend Windsinger). Admittedly the results of this are eclectic, but there were reasons for doing it that way. Joe is actually deeply Asatru and fulltrui to Odin specifically. He normally wouldn't have created an eclectic rite such as this, but it seemed to work out ok in the long run.

In this photo, Joe sounds the horn to begin the first annual Steaks for the Lord of the Underworld rite, November 2007:



Here he is again (in what is admittedly a very blurry picture that I took) leading the rite:



This photo shows the altar setup, three swords to represent the Gaels, the Romans and the Vikings, and our blessing bowl:



In this photo, our friend Windsinger (one of the co-creators of this rite) smiles approvingly at the altar:



The Hand of Tyr presiding over the assembled people (ok so it's a welding glove; we didn't have access at the time to a gauntlet):



Three veterans drink a toast (Joe, US Army; Windsinger, US Air Force; Steve C, USMC):



In this photo, Joe demonstrates the stabbing motion that was typically used with that style of sword:



And of course, there's a reason we call this STEAKS for the Lord of the Underworld:



Dead animal flesh, roasted over hot coals! This is not a feast for vegetarians; part of what this little ceremony does is honor the hunter and the prey.

It's kind of a darkish, somewhat somber ceremony, but we do want to keep it dignified and respectful and of course we always have a good time at the feast afterwards.

Update

Aha, this blog is still here! Good.

I've been a little distracted with life of late, but here I am.

Quickie rundown: Joe bought a "new" bike at a pawn shop recently. A 1985 Suzuki somethingorother. I forget what model it is; when he wakes up I'll ask him. He also tried to convince me to buy a little Honda Rebel for $1600. Nice little bike, only had 26K miles on it and was a mid-1980s model. One problem - I can't drive a standard transmission vehicle! Never had to. Ma and Dad both tried to teach me, but I seem to have a mental block when it comes to letting up on the clutch and depressing the accelerator pedal when starting to move from a standstill. I was told "you'll feel it give" and I have no idea what they were talking about. I never felt it "give". Joe thinks I was not taught properly, and if I were to buy that little Honda, he could explain it to me in a way that makes sense. Hah!

Not that I can spare $1600 for a motorcycle! Times are tough, man!

Been watching the ping-pong match that is the health care debate. Suffice to say that while I did vote for Obama:

1: it was under severe duress (the man I really wanted to see in office was Dennis Kucinich of Ohio)

2: I don't agree with everything he does, and one of the disagreements I have with him is over the mandate that all Americans must buy health insurance

Myself personally, I favor HR676 - Medicare for All. I think one of the WORST things that has happened to health care in this country was the way it has been dominated by unrestricted, for-profit private businesses.

Gad zooks. And even if we can't have Medicare for All, we could at least get some control over crap like "you have a pre-existing condition so we won't cover you/are going to drop you" etc. The health care industry is even exempt from the same anti-trust laws that Bill Gates got nailed on, and that's just not right.

:sigh:

The idea of a mandate is a scary thing. If they start there, where will it end??

Meh. It's late, I've got to get to bed because I have to work tomorrow, and it's a short week this week. Huzzah!