Children's "Hails"
Our children are developing, with gentle encouragement, a habit of hailing different Gods and Goddesses for things in their lives. This list will, of course, grow longer as they discover more and more things they wish to acknowledge.
At Night
Hail
Freyja!
Hail Thorr!
Thank you for watching over
me
Thank you for watching over
Kara (her sister)
(and usually she puts
several of her other friends at the end)
In The Morning (usually waiting for the school bus)
Hail
Sunna!
Morning bright
Share with me
Your warmth and light
Obviously, the oldest girl is the best at these, with the other two participating as well as they can.
Why have our children do these things? There are a lot of reasons. It teaches them to recognize the gifts of the Gods and Goddesses. It gives them a chance to show thier respect and gratitude for the things the Gods and Goddesses do for us. It makes "being Asatru" more real to them, as it is a part of everyday life. It gives them a chance to have thier own time with the Gods and Goddesses, even if only for a moment, right now - and gives them a background of always having stood up and spoken with the Gods and Goddesses as friends and family.