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She shows up in Irish mythology more than almost any other figure. She’s at the gates of kingship in one story. She’s a hag who becomes a beautiful woman in another. She’s a queen who demands that her husband prove himself capable. She’s a goddess standing in a river…

Two ritual forms sit at the center of historical and modern Heathen practice. The blot is a sacrificial offering. The sumbel is a drinking ceremony where words spoken carry binding weight. Here is what the sources actually say about both, and what modern practitioners do with them.

Odin gouged out his own eye and threw it into a well. Then he hung himself on a tree for nine days. He did both voluntarily, in exchange for knowledge. The mythology about Odin is consistent on one point: he pays for what he wants. Here is what that actually means.