Freyja (Freya, Frouwa, Frøya) of the Vanir:
She is the Great Goddess, second only to Frigg. She
has a chapter in my new book, 'Who are your Divine
Friends?', in Lulu Publishing. Her name means “The Lady.” The Goddess of the magic known as Seidhr
(German Seith) which she taught to Odin, eroticism, physical well-being; She is
the Queen of the Valkyries who choose those to be slain in battle and carry
them to Valhalla. She is daughter of
Njord, and twin sister to Freyr.
Freya was a Norse Goddess of abundance,
fertility, sex and war. She is appealed
to for love, dating service, beauty, death, hand fasting, runes, jewelry, war,
and death. She liked romantic love songs
and bunches of fresh flowers. And she is
still honored today by some Pagans and is often associated with sexual
freedom. Freya could also be called upon
for assistance in childbirth and conception, to aid with marital problems, or
to bestow fruitfulness upon the land and sea.
She is a warrior
Goddess of great wisdom and magick. She wears the sacred necklace Brisingamen,
which she paid for by spending the night with the dwarves. She is married to
Odr and her children are Hnoos and Gersemi. Hers is the magic of reading runes, trance
& astral travel, and casting spells. She owns a falcon cloak, takes dove form,
rides in a chariot drawn by two cats, or rides a boar. She weeps tears of gold, which become amber,
called "Freya's Tears".
One of Freya's lessons is knowing one's
worth. Help another young woman learn to
value herself or to learn about themselves would be a way to honor her
friendship. Be careful not to do the
opposite. Try donating time to a rape
crisis center or give money to a contraception program to honor her.
Correspondences:
Altar: upon cloth place gilded sheaves of
wheat, gilded and silvered flowers, gilded nuts, sugared fruits, corn dollies
and straw ornaments, a chalice of mead and a horn of beer, and figures of Frey
and Freya
Color: black, green, red, gold
Day: Friday
Incense: mint, rose, strawberry
Offerings: love, ritual sex as appropriate
Plant: alder, apple, birch, bramble, elder,
mugwort, rose, tansy, mistletoe, yarrow
Pronunciation: 'Fray-ya' (Freyja)
Rulership: beauty, cats, love, magic, passion,
romance, sex, trance, wealth, witchcraft
Runes: Fehu, Kaunaz, Jera, Uruz
Symbol: boar, cat, Full Moon, necklace,
spider, falcon, Earth
Wheel
of Year: Beltane, Lughnasadh
Song
for Freyja
To the tune
of "Todd'lin Hame".
A tale of the War of the Aesir and Vanir.
A tale of the War of the Aesir and Vanir.
Chorus:
Battle-worn Freyja, the warmth in the cold
Calls half of the Einherjar into her fold.
Sweet, loving Freyja, who sheds tears of gold
For she cannot find her husband, Oð.
Long, long ago, in a far-away land
Lived the bane of the Ases, who called themselves “Van.”
They knew how to work with the earth, sun and sky,
And they made it rain when their fields had run dry.
Chorus
One day came the Æsir unto the Van’s glade,
Each bore in his hand a spear or a blade.
As they crept through the forest, no sound had they heard
‘Til the sound of The Lady in the form a bird
Chorus
As the Æsir and Vanir moistened the ground
A peaceful solution needed be found
An exchange for the folk of the other side’s kin
Let the two become one and let both the sides win
Chorus
Together in Asgard did both the clans live
Each one to the other their strength did they give
With no single king or a queen on a throne
With the strength of sweet Freyja and the luck of her Stone
Battle-worn Freyja, the warmth in the cold
Calls half of the Einherjar into her fold.
Sweet, loving Freyja, who sheds tears of gold
For she cannot find her husband, Oð.
Long, long ago, in a far-away land
Lived the bane of the Ases, who called themselves “Van.”
They knew how to work with the earth, sun and sky,
And they made it rain when their fields had run dry.
Chorus
One day came the Æsir unto the Van’s glade,
Each bore in his hand a spear or a blade.
As they crept through the forest, no sound had they heard
‘Til the sound of The Lady in the form a bird
Chorus
As the Æsir and Vanir moistened the ground
A peaceful solution needed be found
An exchange for the folk of the other side’s kin
Let the two become one and let both the sides win
Chorus
Together in Asgard did both the clans live
Each one to the other their strength did they give
With no single king or a queen on a throne
With the strength of sweet Freyja and the luck of her Stone
~ Karl
Donaldsson
Old
Love
Bury my love deep and hidden,
No marker, and tell me not where,
That once I may pass it unknowing
That part of me lies there.
No marker, and tell me not where,
That once I may pass it unknowing
That part of me lies there.
~ Michaela
Macha
Lady
of Cats
Greater than
goodness, those granted glory
of beauty beyond mere fairness of form.
So shall I speak of she like the moonlight --
as pale as the ash, as pale as the moon.
Ship-giver is she, a deep minded seeress,
the Lady of Cats, her hair gold as corn.
The poppy is placed by her feet, pure flowers,
But bested by far its beauty by hers.
On fist the falcon, fair as the frost is,
Ice by a diamond, its beauty is dimmed.
Hers is the herb-craft, knows her hands healing.
Swift fly her fingers on bronze strings' bright songs:
High over harp strings sounds out her singing.
Fair are all these, still she is more fair.
of beauty beyond mere fairness of form.
So shall I speak of she like the moonlight --
as pale as the ash, as pale as the moon.
Ship-giver is she, a deep minded seeress,
the Lady of Cats, her hair gold as corn.
The poppy is placed by her feet, pure flowers,
But bested by far its beauty by hers.
On fist the falcon, fair as the frost is,
Ice by a diamond, its beauty is dimmed.
Hers is the herb-craft, knows her hands healing.
Swift fly her fingers on bronze strings' bright songs:
High over harp strings sounds out her singing.
Fair are all these, still she is more fair.
~ Christie L. Ward
Your Face
The shout
of passion
The comfort
in deep sorrow
The joy
kindled by beauty
show me your face,
Freya
of passion
The comfort
in deep sorrow
The joy
kindled by beauty
show me your face,
Freya
~ German Original "Dein
Gesicht": Kolag Hraban
A
Morning Prayer for Freya
(light a
candle)
Freya,
Goddess of gold,
inspire me today.
Teach me to walk through my day
with pride in my own being,
with confidence,
with power.
Goddess of fiery passion,
bless me with the insight
to the marrow of my bones
that I am a person of worth
in the eyes of the Gods
the eyes of the ancestors
and of myself.
May I radiate this
and transforms all I meet.
That is my prayer for this day, oh great and powerful Goddess,
that I may mirror Your presence throughout my day.
In return, I shall praise You always,
and lay amber before Your image,
consigning it to the sacred fires that burn
when the day is at its longest.
Hail Freya, shining Goddess of gold.
I praise You.
inspire me today.
Teach me to walk through my day
with pride in my own being,
with confidence,
with power.
Goddess of fiery passion,
bless me with the insight
to the marrow of my bones
that I am a person of worth
in the eyes of the Gods
the eyes of the ancestors
and of myself.
May I radiate this
and transforms all I meet.
That is my prayer for this day, oh great and powerful Goddess,
that I may mirror Your presence throughout my day.
In return, I shall praise You always,
and lay amber before Your image,
consigning it to the sacred fires that burn
when the day is at its longest.
Hail Freya, shining Goddess of gold.
I praise You.
~ Kira R.
Devotional
Poem to Freya
I hear Your
Whisper
In the moments between time
Where my heart has beaten and presses
The blood running hot
I hear You in the darkness
Alone
In my thoughts
Your words caress my mind
Gentle
Firm
Searing
When I put my fingers to keys
I feel your hand
Caressing
Urging
Your whisper in my heart
“Write without shame”
So I will write
Of your glory
Your luscious curves
Your eyes that stab the heart
Your iron will set in soft flesh
Your firm hands that hold lover or spear with grace
Your heart that gives solace and joy
Your soul that enflames the tinder of so many dried hearts
How could I praise you higher
Than by saying I have come to love myself
Through Your hands, Your fire, Your love?
That by your patience and demands
I have seen the face of love? Looked upon its glorious face?
That I know the difference between love and lust
That both have their holy place in my life
That I have discernment to tell one from other?
That you have kindled true love in my Being
That I might give it to another
That I may give it wholly
Expecting nothing, but truly open
To its warm return?
In the moments between time
Where my heart has beaten and presses
The blood running hot
I hear You in the darkness
Alone
In my thoughts
Your words caress my mind
Gentle
Firm
Searing
When I put my fingers to keys
I feel your hand
Caressing
Urging
Your whisper in my heart
“Write without shame”
So I will write
Of your glory
Your luscious curves
Your eyes that stab the heart
Your iron will set in soft flesh
Your firm hands that hold lover or spear with grace
Your heart that gives solace and joy
Your soul that enflames the tinder of so many dried hearts
How could I praise you higher
Than by saying I have come to love myself
Through Your hands, Your fire, Your love?
That by your patience and demands
I have seen the face of love? Looked upon its glorious face?
That I know the difference between love and lust
That both have their holy place in my life
That I have discernment to tell one from other?
That you have kindled true love in my Being
That I might give it to another
That I may give it wholly
Expecting nothing, but truly open
To its warm return?
~ Sarenth
Odinsson
In the final battle of Ragnarok,
Odin and Freyr will all die. Freya
alone will remain among the Gods and continue the magic.
In modern days, Freya was treated
as a Scandinavian counterpart to the Roman Goddess Venus. And several plants were named after Freya,
such as Freyja's tears and Freyja's hair, but during the process of
Christianization, the name of the Goddess was replaced with that of the Virgin
Mary. But many place names containing
Freya remain in Sweden such as Freyjuvé and Freyjulundr.
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