In general, what we offer has to be something that is of value to us both personally and socially.

“Social Value” means that I could give this item to someone else in a transaction and get some kind of equal value in exchange. It’s easy to imagine I could sell someone a bag of grain for some money in exchange and we can both feel like that’s fair. But if it’s a piece of very special string that has been in my family for generations, it’s harder to imagine I might get a fair value for it in trade with something else.

For Heathens in the pre-Christian times, things of social value were usually livestock or other products of agriculture (dairy, grain, fruits, etc) and we see those things being used as offerings. We also find offerings of jewelry, coins and other precious objects cast into lakes or bogs and other holy places.

Today, any number of items could be used for Blot, and we follow the same principle as did our pre-christian predecessors.

Typically, these items are food offerings. That is because these items can be easily consumed whole by burning or libation (preferably) or by later disposal after having been set out for a given period.

Common Heathen Sacrificial Offerings

• Whole grains (barley, wheat, oats, rye…) either raw or cooked in porridge
• Baked goods (Breads)
• Fruits (Dried or fresh)
• Flowers
• Nuts
• Cheese and butter
• Wine
• Beer
• Mead
• Spirits
• Animal Effigies (could be made of food or of wood)

These need not all be made at home. While Heathens like to participate in hobbies that produce these kinds of crafts, it’s not necessary that they all be home-made. It is perfectly acceptable to buy them from somewhere else and offer them.

Most of these sacrifices as well are appropriate for ancestor worship or as offerings to the land-spirits.

The important thing isn’t necessarily how valuable the ordinary thing is, because the important part comes when you perform the ritual. It’s the ritual that gives the item its special meaning and significance.

Can I use my own blood for Blot?

There are a few reasons why your own blood might not be a good gift for the Gods. Some Heathens choose to safely use small amounts of their own blood in rituals. But we aren’t going to endorse that as a practice for those safety reasons.

If you’re looking to donate blood, you might want to seek out the Red Cross. Other people will probably get more use out of it than the Gods will.

Does Asatru practice human sacrifice?

Absolutely not. Human sacrifice was an inhumane and inhuman practice like slavery and concubinage. All of these practices, while part of the history of our religion, have no place in its present. Human beings are not an appropriate gift because people are not a resource to be given away.

What if I’m a vegan or against animal sacrifice?

Animal sacrifice is still practiced by some groups of Heathens. Since animals are considered by most to be still a valid resource or commodity that we trade and eat, this is still regarded as valid practice. However, there are some who object to it. In our opinion, this is also valid. If someone considers other animals in a similar ethical category as human beings, then they are under no obligation to offer an animal in sacrifice.

You are under no obligation to offer any animal in Blot.

Non-Animal offerings are valid, worthy and acceptable to the Gods.

Are some offerings better than other offerings?

Heathens are understandably divided on this issue because some will answer this question with another “better for whom?” and others will simply say “No.” Instead of telling you who is right and who is wrong, let’s look at the reasoning for both answers, and you can make up your mind.

One thing that’s important to understand for both points of view is that neither point of view sees more expensive gifts in themselves as being of particular preference to the Gods. For example, if you give a loaf of bread that cost $1.99 and your friend gives a loaf of bread that costs $10.00, there is general consensus among Heathens that they’re both just loaves of bread.

Nor do Heathens in general seem to think that a sacrifice of expensive jewelry or weapons are inherently more valuable than a sacrifice of some less expensive food items. In short, most modern Ásatrúar agree: you don’t need to break the bank or give above your means to please the Gods.

Better for whom?

This is an answer provided by people who believe some Gods and related powers have preferences as to the items they want to receive in sacrifice. They’ll insist that Odin must only have wine, Thor must get stout beer, and Loki gets cinnamon flavored whiskey.

There are some interpretations of the literature that lend themselves to this bit of inductive reasoning. For example in Saxo Grammaticus’ Gesta Danorum, he describes the sacrifices demanded by Frø (Freyr Yngve) as having to be “dark colored”:

Siquidem propitiandorum numinum gratia Frø deo rem divinam furvis hostiis fecit. Quem litationis morem annuo feriarum circuitu repetitum posteris imitandum reliquit. Frøblot Sueones vocant.

Saxo Grammaticus, Gesta Danorum

In order to mollify the divinities he did indeed make a holy sacrifice of dark-coloured victims to the god Frø. He repeated this mode of propitiation at an annual festival and left it to be imitated by his descendants. The Swedes call it Frøblot.

Trans. Fisher, 2015

Leaving aside the obvious horrors of human sacrifice for a moment, this statement gives some modern Heathens cause to think that the Gods do indeed have some preference for their offerings.

No, there are no sacrifices better than any other

According to the sources we have, there doesn’t appear to have been a widespread belief in pre-Christian times that certain Gods required or preferred certain kinds of offerings over others.

These Heathens will dismiss the attestations here and there that certain Gods preferred certain colors of offering because it’s hard to separate fact from fantasy in these accounts. Especially in the case of someone like Saxo Grammaticus, who wore his anti-Pagan biases on his sleeve.

There is also the influence from other modern Pagan religions from observation of religions like Voodoo where specific deities have offerings that are associated with them.

Heathens who don’t believe that the kind of offering matters generally accept that the offerings we produce for the Gods are a product of how individuals feel about their Gods and how they choose to express those feelings. But there isn’t some kind of magical formula for getting the offering right.