Let’s Spell it Out
Boudicca Andarta November 1st, 2008
Valley of the Yews November 22nd
Ydalir (yew-dale) is a Norse holiday is under the ruler-ship of the god Ullr (pronounced “ool”). Also known as the “The Magnificent”, the “bow God” and sometimes the “Death God”; he is the god of skiing, archery, hunting, sports, combat, contests, sky, fertility, magick, sea, beauty and enchantment. He was thrown out of Asgard by Odhinn because the All-Father was jealous. His parentage differs on whom you ask, but he is said to be the brother of Ullin, son of Sif and the Step-son of Thor. He is responsible for justice and oaths were sworn on his ring, called the “ring of Ull”. He carries a bow, wears snowshoes and his shield is also used as a boat.
The Yew in Celtic mythology holds wisdom in its fruit, which is eaten by the salmon. Whoever eats the salmon, gains the knowledge of all the answers they seek. The Druids used the Yew to make wands for divination.
This spell is designed to ask Ullr to guide your path, offer up to him a sacrifice (of bread) and to swear on his ring to the old gods.
SUPPLIES: Stylis (something to carve a symbol into a candle; like a pin), candle, loaf of bread
THE SPELL:
Carve the Sowilo 
rune onto the candle and say:
“God of sky and of sea,
Justice and fertility;
Son of Sif, Step-son of Thor,
Guide my boat and be the oar.”
Lay the bread upon the altar and say:
“Ullr,
On Your ring, I swear an oath,
And offer up to You this loaf.”
Light the candle and say:
“To the old gods I swear,
Held in my heart everywhere.
In the Valley of the yews
To share the knowledge with the few.
To speak Their truth and defend Their ways,
Until the end of our days.”
Spend some time in mediation to receive any guiding message or take note of anything in your environment in the next few days that may “steer” you on your path.
AFTER THE SPELL:
Leave some of the bread on the altar overnight but be sure to place the reminder outside for the animals and nature spirits. If at all possible, leave the candle to burn out, but if you cannot, burn it everyday until it burns down and then bury the remaining wax off your property.
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- Comments(1)
Some much of “our” craft is being muddied by excatly what I have just read. I have to protest to some of the assumptions made here…Ullr is not the Norse god of all of the following: Justice, Sky, Fertility, Magick, Sea, Beauty or Enchantment. He has never been mentioned as the Death God. For those that read this who want to hear some truth Ullr… Ullr is known for his beauty but it is not an aspect normally associated with him. In fact very little is known of the old understanding of Ullr and most of what is said today is conjured from assumptions of assumptions. What is actually told in the old epics is that he lives in a place called Ydalir (from which the celebration got it’s name as it is a holiday to celebrate Ullr.) Ydalir is a glade of yew-trees (from which bows have been made for a long time.) There are numerous mentions in the epics of the strength of making a swear by Ullr’s ring. There is also mention of him being able to cross the sea on a magickal bone. The stories say that he ruled in Odin’s place for ten years during Odin’s exile. Well, maybe you are gathering the truth from this that Ullr is “believed” by scholars to have been a very important God but information on him is fragmented…Also, no stories say anything about him being God-like in anyway with his skis, he is just always depicted that way but the Norse have other Gods to whom transportation is considered a important aspect.
To conclude I will properly attribute the things mentioned earlier and implore this website to require the author of this article to re-research and re-submit a corrected article.
Justice – Forseti – The name actually means “Chairman” and is the god of Justice
Sky – Here I will tell the TRUTH and say I have found no Norse God or Goddess of the sky. But I can site sources to Ullr never being known as such.
Fertility – Freyr…This is so obvious and without question
Magick – Odin. To have to explain that Odin, not Ullr, is the Norse God of Magick is saying that you have no idea what you are talking about…at all.
Sea – Njörðr…Again, no question here he is the god of sea and seafaring.
Beauty – Baldr – Odin’s son who was slain by Hoor is considered the Norse God of Beauty although I will admit that Ullr is known for his beauty
Enchantment – There is no specific God/dess of enchantment in the Norse pantheon and I suspect that this is a word that does not appear in any credible translation of the epics. As I can find no source, I challenge the author of this article to source that Ullr is indeed the God of enchantment as claimed.
…I would like to mention that this sort of disinformation is excatly what drives most people from the faith. A lot of one person says this and another says that. They start to think “I might as well be Christian because at least they agree on who is God and who is not.” You have not honored anyone with this poorly researched article. I implore you..please correct it.
For your interest perhaps, I find that a hand-made arrow made of natural items is a fitting tribute to Ullr. I do also agree that bread is appropriate for tribute to any deity.