Saturday, November 14, 2015

Stanza 96


daiy 96 featuredThe Hávamál is one of the poems of the Poetic Edda.  It sets out a set of guidelines for wise living and survival.  The Hávamál consists of a number of poems, which shift in tone and tenor and narrative position.  Numerous English translations exist of the text.
 
 
Stanza 96


Original -
Þat ek þá reynda
er ek í reyri sat
ok vættak míns munar
hold ok hjarta
var mér in horska mær
þeygi ek hana at heldr hefik

Translation -
I concealed myself in the bushes,
hoping my love would notice me.
For I loved her, both body and soul,
yet so concealed, I never earned her love.
-Hávamál: Stanza 96


 

Many of us wear a mask when we want to impress those we love. Stanza 96 is about those very masks. We can put on the facade, and act like the person we think others will love, but it’s impossible to win someone’s heart if they don’t know who you are.

Love may be understood as part of the survival instinct, a function to keep human beings together against menaces and to facilitate the continuation of the species.  It is an emotion of strong affection and personal attachment.  In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. Love is central to many religions, as in the Christian phrase, God is love.  Love may also be described as actions towards others (or oneself) based on compassion or as actions towards others based on affection. 

When most people hear love they assume it to mean the romantic love between two people, or maybe the love of an adult for their child. And while these are beautiful and worthy things, the love referred to here is the vitality and lust for life embodied in Freyr and Freya. It is the erotic thrill of life itself, the lust of passion and the senses, the enjoyment of pleasure. This is natural to our people and right for us to enjoy.

Frigg, Goddess of romance, marriage, sex and reproduction, married women, household duty, and divination.  She has a chapter in my new book, "Your Divine Friends", in Lulu Publishing.  She is said to be the wife of Odin, and the Queen of Asgard.  Frigg appears primarily in Norse mythological stories as a wife and a mother. 

Freya, Goddess associated with magic, shamanism, sacrifice, war, death, and sexuality.  She has a chapter in my new book, "Your Divine Friends", in Lulu Publishing.  Freya is the daughter of Njord and Nerthus, as well as the sister of Freyr. She was once married to Odr, but he disappeared. She is the principle female fertility Goddess of the native Germanic religion.

Freyr, worshipped as a phallic fertility God, he was said to bestow peace and pleasure on mortals.  He has a chapter in my new book, "Your Divine Friends", in Lulu Publishing.  Freyr is a leading member of the Vanir, the Lord of the Earth and a God of fertility.  Freyr gives up his sword for love.

Sjofn, Goddess associated with love. Sjofn is the Goddess of marital bliss, she stops fights between husbands and wives. Sjofn is one of Frigg's attendants.

Step out of the bushes. Take off the mask. If they are worth your love, then they are worthy of knowing who you really are. Tell someone today you love them!

 




 



 

 

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