Calender of the Sun 2 Winterfyllith Gerda's Blot Colours: Brown and green Element: Earth Altar: Upon cloth of brown, bury a sword in bunches of herbs from the garden, and a cup of ale. Offerings: Give aid to those who have lost children, through choice or no. Daily Meal: Root vegetables and herbs. Invocation to Gerda Hail, Lady of the Walled Garden, Hallowed in hedgerive and hammerwort, Sacred in stonecrop and sowthistle, Gifted and gifting in gladden and dragonwort, You help us build the still, safe place In which we can grow tender hopes to blossoming. Hail, Lady of the forest paths, Hallowed in hillwort and hindberry, Sacred in cock's spur grass and sicklewort, Gifted and gifting in gale and libcorn, You help us bring those hopes into the world To test and turn them into manifestation. Hail, Lady of the quiet endings, Hallowed in hulwort and whortleberry, Sacred in ramsons and raven's leek, Gifted and giving in viper's bugloss and boarfern, You teach us to cull out what cannot be While still keeping hope alive in the dark. Hail, Lady of the hidden treasures, Hallowed in mallow and meadowwort, Sacred in sundcorn and stitchwort, Gifted and giving in groundsel and sedge, Cleansed in river-mint and lamb's cress, You bring us deeper than we thought possible Into the earth on which we depend. Hail, Gerda, etin-bride of Frey, Shadow to light, night to day, All things balanced in your keen dark glance. (All shall come forward and silently take a bit of herb, and taste it, and ask Gerda for her wisdom in what to keep and what to give up. The ale is poured silently as a libation.) [source:paganbookofhours.org]