Baldr
Intention: Reflect on innocence, loss and what cannot be undone
Offerings & Symbols
- A white candle
- Mistletoe (as decoration only, never ingested)
- Something precious kept safe
Culture: Norse Also called: Baldur
Baldr, son of Odin and Frigg, is beloved by nearly all beings and famous chiefly for his death: after Frigg secured oaths from everything in the world not to harm him, except the seemingly harmless mistletoe, Loki tricked the blind god Höðr into killing him with a mistletoe dart. His death is one of the events foretelling Ragnarök.
Associations
Light, purity, being genuinely beloved, grief, the fragility of what seems safest.
Ways people honor him (modern)
- Sit with grief as a legitimate, unavoidable part of love
- Reflect on overlooked risks, even small ones, with humility
- Keep a white candle lit in his memory
- Read his death and the failed attempt to retrieve him from the underworld in the Prose Edda
Approach any deity with respect and do your own research. Practices vary widely between traditions, and modern devotional practice often goes beyond what survives in ancient sources.
