This ritual is dedicated to the oldest living being in the Nine Worlds, Surt the Lord of Muspellheim. It is to be done at night during the dark time of the year, when all is cold and frozen. We tend to use it for Imbolc, but it can also be used at Yule or any other winter ritual. Many candles are placed around the room, including four large ones in the four directions, and an altar in the center of the room is draped in red with a hibachi or other small firepot on it. Very strong liquor – the sort that will easily catch on fire – should be available for a libation. The officiant holds a candle in a holder, and a wand or large knife decorated with glittering ribbons in flaming colors – red, orange, gold, etc.
The room is placed in darkness, and the officiant begins by saying: Welcome to the darkness that we name Ginnungagap, the cosmic void before there was light and heat in the Universe of the World Tree. Below us in the darkness is stone and ice, but nothing moves or breathes. Then the darkness was split but Surt, Lord of Fire, who cut his way into Ginnungagap with his flaming sword.
The officiant lights their candle, and waves the wand close enough to it that people can see the flash of glitter. Then the officiant goes to the four directions and lights a candle in each one, starting in the South, and saying the following four invocations:
Hail, Fires of the South, home of Fire, Bright Sun and heat that devours, Bring the light of Flame to the darkness. Hail, Fires of the West, Fire of the Hearth, Flame beneath the bubbling cauldron, Melt the ice and free the waters to rise.
Hail, Fires of the North, Fire beneath the Earth, Volcano that cracks the cold stone,
Hail, Fires of the East, Fire in the Sky,
Send the warm winds across the face of the land, Awaken the first souls in the shadow.
The officiant then turns to the people and says:
This is the story of creation in our cosmology: the meeting of Fire and Ice. Surt touched his sword to the most barren of rocky lands and it burst into flame, and became Muspellheim, the Land of Fire. The darkness was lit for the first time with the red glow of that world, and its heat began to melt the ice that gripped the realm next to it – Niflheim, the Land of Ice. Surt’s flames turned it into a land of mists and icy waters, and once its mountains had thawed, Ymir – the first ancestor of the frost-giants – was revealed. His children, and Surt’s, would one day mingle their bloodlines and create many races throughout the Nine Worlds. Hail Surt the Black, who sparked life in the Universe!
The people reply, “Hail Surt!” and the officiant lights the firepot on the altar. Then the officiant says:
However, first Surt drew forth his other half from the fire of creation, and she came dancing. Her name was Sinmora, the Lady of Fire, and with him she bore all the first fire-spirits of Muspellheim. Here we gift them both! The officiant pours strong spirits into the firepot, and says:
Hail Sinmora, Mother of Muspellheim, Bright dancer in the wasteland,
Creativity of a woman’s heart, Teach us to make our hopes manifest In a shower of sparks!
Hail Sinmora!
All reply, “Hail Sinmora!” The officiant waves the fire wand, and then says:
Fire is creativity, the bright spark that kindles the flame. Come forward, each of you, and find a flame.
Whisper to it what creative power you would have, and ask it to nest inside of you and help you to find that power.
The people come forth, one by one, and whisper their desires into the candle flames. If a flame accidentally goes out, it is a signal that this desire was not possible, and the person should find another candle and name something else. (It is probably wise to have significantly more candles than people.) Then the officiant says:
The other side of creative fire is anger. Go back to your candle and whisper the name of that which makes you the most angry, that which you fear will crack your self-control. Then blow out the candle and we will leave in darkness and silence again – but we will be grateful for the light and warmth that we will walk into. Never shall we take that light and heat for granted again!
The people go to their candles and whisper their secret rages, and blow the candles out one by one. In the meantime, the officiant galdrs the runes Kenaz and Cweorth, until the final candle is blown out, and then stops short. There is a moment of silence in the darkness, and then a slow procession is led out of the area, and the rite is over.