IV. A Libation for the Land-Powers

The veneration of the spirits of the land is a crucial part of the Old Ways. When I say “veneration”, I don’t mean simple “one way worship”- I’m speaking of a spiritual ecology, an ecology of recognition, relationship, and partnership. The powers of the dead that become merged in the earth are one aspect of the complex idea of “land spirits”; even the darker fomorian or giantish powers are likewise in overlap with the "land spirits".

We are discussing the collective of powers that coalesce in the land itself, which can be many, but specifically the local sentient, non-human persons that “dwell” in places like backyards, woods, hills, graveyards, plowed fields, old sacred sites, meadows, and the like. I am also discussing the powers in streams and waters, too, though they can be a more dangerous lot, at least traditionally.

Offerings of bread or fruit, and ale, milk, honey, or mead are traditionally given to these powers. These offerings are important when “constructing” an outdoors ritual area, as the powers of the land upon which the nemeton is built must be befriended.

Let’s say you brought a whole grain bread-loaf and some mead to give to the land-spirits, at a cairn of stones you constructed specifically to serve as their offering table or place of worship. This rite can be thought of as “minor” compared to others, but it is certainly not “minor” in its implications- of human friendship with non-human kindred beings who inhabit the world with us. I bring my forked hazel rod and the bread in a wooden bowl, and the mead in a horn-cup, and I place the victuals before the cairn.

I take my nine breaths; I enter into sovereign union with the Land, and the ubiquitous presence of unifying spirit. Then I say

The storied wanderer speaks to this land, as sea spoke to sky:
An enchanter's song to name mighty powers, creating himself anew.
So with himself, all things are made again as before…

Dark and light, fire and water, summer and winter ice:
World; Ocean; Land and Rivers; the Ancient White Entity;
Waters and lands made different;
Waters overcoming; waters receding,
Conquerors crossing water; contests fought; songs of naming.

The naming of sky and earth,
Sun, moon and lake;
Rivers, many fruits,
Soaking rain,
Much wealth of sea,
Mouths, ears,
Eyes, treasures,
Feet, hands,
Warriors and storytellers,
Horses, swords,
Bright chariots,
Barbed spears,
Embossed shields,
Men's faces, women's faces,
Children running,
Dew, mist on rivers,
Stones on plains, sheen on leaves,
Day and night,
Ebb and flow,
Grain made holy for the people in the land,
Honey-wine made holy for the people in the land;
Grain blessed by the Ancient White One,
Grain blessed by the Woman of earth and rivers,
Honey-wine blessed by the Ancient White One,
Honey-wine blessed by the Woman of earth and rivers,
And given to this cairn for the feastfulness of those there.
A furrow made for their feast-table,
A furrow of sacredness made for their feast.


As I speak of the furrow, I draw, with my hazel-rod, a circle around the bowl of bread and the cup of mead. I then lift the offerings out, and put the bread between the stones (it could just as easily be left at the foot of the cairn) and I pour the mead into the stones. And it is done. This is a libation to the powers of the land. A more full sacrificial offering could be done, in which the bread and mead was divided with my bronze knife, with a portion being given to the cairn, and the other portion consumed by me- but that would require a sacred fire, which could easily enough have been worked into the charm, before the blessing of the grain and honey-wine.

Note that the bread and mead were blessed by the power of the Ancient White One and the Woman of Earth and Rivers. I find that these two most primal and essential powers are the most powerful and universally appropriate for blessing foods for such uses, and many other uses. This libation, like all libations in my work, should be blessed before it is offered, just as sacrificial foods are blessed before being divided and consumed.


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