Other Practices 1. In order to connect yourself with the sun’s rhythm, track sunrise and sunset in your area. This is easily done by searching the Internet. Try your best to be awake at sunrise, and hail Sunna as she rises in the skies. Thank Sunna at sunset, as she fades into the west. This can be done even in bad weather, where the sun is not evident—Sunna is there, above the clouds. 2. A simple prayer to the sun can be made out of the Valkyrie Sigdriffa’s words to the hero Sigurd in the Saga of the Volsungs: “Hail Day, and Hail the Sons of Day” begins the prayer; you can add “Hail Sunna on her travels” as well, making the prayer: Hail Day! Hail the Sons of Day! Hail to Sunna on her travels! You can recite this at any time you see the sun, from the moment you wake up until sundown. 3. Simple votive offerings are signs of the relationship you are developing with the sun and the natural order of daylight and darkness. Offerings of grains, liquids, or portions of your meals are always appropriate. Place the items out in the sunlight—in a sunny window, perhaps, or outside in the sun—and hail Sunna, thanking her for her presence in our lives. The “typical” time to leave these out is twenty-four hours, or one full solar cycle; after that time they may be discarded.
A Brief History 19