In Scandinavia, as well as in many other cultures, the burial mound was an important aspect of death. Used since the Stone Age, they continue to show up well into the Viking Age, along with the better-known cremation rituals. Many sagas and other lore depict scenes where a person would lie or sit on a grave mound and there commune with the dead and sometimes receive gifts from them. Drink offerings were sometimes poured on the clan's mound to honor the ancestors at certain times of year.

In these modern times, not many of us have a family grave mound on our property where we can make such observances. My mother's family is buried in a Lutheran cemetery which is on land originally given to the local church by my great-grandfather--since about 2/3 of the people there are related to me, it's about as close as I can get to a real mound. However, sitting out overnight on one of the graves would probably be frowned on (especially since some teenaged vandals tried doing some weird stuff a few years back--it's now illegal to be there after dark, and if I got caught, it would get back to great-great Aunt Someone once removed and third cousin What's-His-Name, and I just don't want to go there...)

So, my alternative for the mobile 21st century--I have a a little earth from each of the graves of my significant relatives on both sides of the family--parents, grandparents, great-grandparents--as well as small rocks from Norway and from Yorkshire, England--in a small antique glass medicine bottle that belonged to my father. I have it on a dresser where I keep pictures of my departed relatives and the rocks I make drink offerings to the álfar and dísir. 

That is my portable "mound." I can't lie down on it, but it functions pretty well for family rites and for magical workings. It also makes me feel connected to my family when I look at it. And some days, when things are getting me down, it makes me happy and comforted to see it while getting ready for bed.

The Generations of the Clan

What follows is a part of a longer ritual for the dead and the gods and goddesses of death. Close to the beginning of the rite, light a large, long-burning candle, preferably putting it in a glass container so it can burn down safely. In the candle, you can carve (in rune staves, if you know them) the initials of those kinfolk who have died during the past year, and the names of the major family groups on both sides of your family. After the rite is ended, share the two libations with your kin, and then end the ritual by bidding them farewell. You can then leave their candle burning all night, if you have a safe place (the bathtub can work, if it's made of metal), or at least throughout the feast that follows.

The "Cup of Mortality" and the "Cup of Rebirth" included in the ritual were intended to represent the two sides of death. To be born, to live in this world carries with it the ultimate destiny of death--and yet, isn't life worth it? The drink representing death is usually contained in a dark cup or a rough drinking horn, which contains a dark, yet sweet, beverage--a sweet red wine to represent blood, or a mellow, dark ale, for example (you can also use nonalcoholic drinks, if desired, fruit juices being best).

The drink representing life, on the other hand, is held in a beautiful, bright metal or glass cup, or a decorated horn. Despite its lovely appearance, it is a clear but sharp or bitter drink--a dry white wine, very dry mead, or a sharp beer. This represents the fact that death, which we usually fear and loathe, often contains comfort and beauty, while life, although we love it, has a touch of bitterness to it.

Here, then, is the text of the ritual:

(The candle for the dead is lit)

The generations of the clan

Are like waves on the ocean.

For a moment they touch the Earth,

Then return to their beginning,

To be followed by the next,

Each separate, yet part of the whole.

Oh mighty dead, 

Who are with us always,

You whose names

Still live in our hearts,

We call you now

From beneath that sun

That shone on you,

That shines on us,

That will shine on the children yet to come.

Be with us here

Within this circle;

Share our rite

And share our feast.

We light this candle (these candles) in your honor;

Know that you are still remembered.

(Pick up the cup of death)

This is the Cup of Mortality

Which all on the earth must taste.

This is the caesura of life,

The end and the beginning;

For as life is the passage to death,

So death is the passage to life.

Let us drink to death;

Let us drink to the passage. (all repeat)

(All share the "Cup of Death" and pour a libation)

(Pick up the cup of life)

This is the Cup of Rebirth,

Which all who are mortal will drink.

This is life's motion and meaning,

The destination of all journeys;

Each cycle returns to where it started;

The wheel continues to turn.

Let us drink to life;

Let us drink to the beginning. (all repeat)

(All share the "Cup of Life" and pour a libation)

(at the end of the rite)

Oh mighty friends and kinsmen,

We big you farewell now.

Return to the realms from which you came,

But know that you are forever here,

Living in our memories.

The ritual may be followed by a feast and, if desired, a sumble to honor the dead. In that case, the last stanza would be performed at the end of all activities.