Dark beerWaterIncenseAn admission of what you did without knowingA mourning for the harm you caused
Invocation Approach
Tone
Grave and compassionate
Address
HöðrThe Blind GodBrother of Baldr
Relationship
The one who did it and did not mean it
Warning
He is not a villain and not a safe ally he is the hand that was guided
Resonance
Those who have harmed by accident those carrying guilt
Symbols
MistletoeBlindfoldDark hallThe guiding hand
Mythology Summary
Höðr is Baldr's brother and the blind god who, guided by Loki, throws the mistletoe dart that kills him; Váli, Odin's son by Rindr, kills Höðr in turn (Gylfaginning 49). In Völuspá he is one of the two who come back after Ragnarok, dwelling with Baldr in the hall of the high one — the slayer and the slain reconciled at the end of the world. The blindness is Snorri's detail; the older poem knows the killing but does not explain the hand. Saxo's Hotherus is a euhemerised Danish hero, a different figure with the same name.
Modern Practice
Höðr is the god to speak to about harm done without intent — the accident, the careless word, the thing done because someone else's hand was on yours. The practice is confession without self-pity, and the offering is the admission itself.