The last day of Trothmoot was yesterday (Sunday the 9th). I missed all but the closing on the last day because I was so in need of rest. I figured this Trothmoot would be more low key. Other than presenting a workshop on some of the hows and whys of working with landvaettir (land spirits), it didn’t seem like it would be too taxing. It was online, so I still had all the amenities of home. I was wrong, LoL.
It started on Thursday. We had great weather here in southeast Michigan all weekend. On Friday I mentioned to Sarenth a few times how it was perfect weather for a sacred fire. I didn’t think it was logistically possible to do the fire while participating in Trothmoot, but I was wrong. Sarenth got the fire lit just before the Hel blót. I set up a vé (shrine) for Hel, and brought out a few extra pieces to convert it to a Loki vé for the later Loki blót. Sarenth was initially going to add things, but the spirits told him to let me do it as he already had enough to do. We kept the fire going for around 5 or so hours, sharing it with Trothmoot over Zoom. I helped tend the fire and was even able to wear my bear pelt during some of it.
Hel’s vé included some dirt that was needed for her ritual. Loki’s vé included representations of some of his children, including horse and wolf bones as well as snake skin. We had a large table out of shot that held drink offerings and other odds and ends.
I assumed Saturday would be more low key because we’d already done the sacred fire on Friday. Sarenth taught Heathen Mouth Magic and a class on trolls. Both went amazing well, as expected. The trolls class was followed up by break time in the Trothmoot schedule. Sarenth and I both felt a pull to go to the forest. We grabbed staffs, camping chairs, and offerings. We spent the break with the trolls, giving offerings and doing our own work. We ended up dialing back into Trothmoot to listen in to the next section through our phones while we were still out in the woods. It was quality time out there that we sorely needed, but it was also another day of heavier work than I’d anticipated.
My biggest mistake this Trothmoot was not signing out more during the breaks. I had a bit of FOMO and didn’t want to miss anything, even when I was already worn down. I didn’t allow myself proper rest and recoup time. The result of this was that I missed most of the last day of Trothmoot on Sunday. My body was in need of intense rest and recovery that I couldn’t handle being logged in. I spent a good portion of Sunday sleeping and resting, though Sarenth dropped off appropriate offerings in my room for each of the blóts. I was upset that I missed so much of Sunday, but I knew that I couldn’t push myself any farther. I might try to catch the recordings when they are up. How best to manage my energy during multi-day gathering is something that I’ve been trying to problem solve for a while. Next time I need to pre-plan my aftercare a bit better.
This is just a small blip of my experience of this year’s Trothmoot, but I never seem to finish posts when I try to fit in everything at once. Thanks for reading.
Streaking Fate 