On Freya's Day

Image of Freya from http://paganpages.org/content/tag/freya/

Freya is the great Norse Goddess. She is stunningly beautiful with long, flowing hair and her magickal golden necklace, called Brisingamen, glitters around her neck. She is the Goddess of love, sex and fertility. She is the Goddess of witchcraft.  She is the Goddess of death. She is one of the Vanir, the oldest deities of the Scandinavian people. 

Freya is the goddess of all of life. She is called upon to ensure a good harvest, and apples are often left outside for her as an offering. She is the Goddess of love, sex, passion and fertility. Her long, wavy hair is radiantly blonde, she cries tears of gold and her magickal necklace is made of beautiful golden amber, a gift of the Earth. When she wears her necklace, she is irresistible to all men who look at her. She is the Goddess of good fortune.

Freya is the Goddess of the Seidr—the witchcraft practiced almost solely by women and for which Odin, the great Norse God, risked his life to understand. The Seidr-workers walk between the worlds. Freya is the Goddess of the Valkyries (the powerful Norse war maidens) and of death. Half of those who die in battle are chosen by Freya to be reunited with their loved ones in the afterworld. She also received the souls of unmarried women. Freya watches over them all on their otherworldly journeys. 

Freya moves with a fierce passion and she brings both light and dark.

So, how can you bring Freya, this wonderful, powerful Goddess, into your life? 

Colours~

Freya's colors are:

·         Red for love and passion

·         Black for protection

·         Silver for the Goddess

·         Gold for good fortune

·         Green for growth

Essential oils and perfumes~

Freya’s scents are:

·         Rose

·         Sandalwood

·         Mint

·         Sweet florals 

Freya’s Day~

Freya’s day is Friday.

Symbols~

Freya’s symbols include the number 13, gold jewellery, the Full Moon and the sword. 

Animal associations~

·         Cats

·         Horses

·         Boars

·         falcons

Stones & Crystals~

Freya's stones and metals include amber, tiger’s eye, emerald, jade, moonstone and silver.

Herbal and Floral associations~

·         Elder

·         Cowslip

·         Primrose

·         Daisy

Runes~

Naturally, Freya is associated with the ancient and magickal Norse alphabet—the Runes.  She is especially associated with the first eight Runes of the Elder Futhark.

Spellwork~

For those looking for creative inspiration in writing, painting or other artistic endeavors, Freya is the Goddess to call upon. She can also be sought for matters of love, beauty and wisdom. Freya can be approached as a spiritual sage and for issues of divination, connecting with ancestral spirits and the magickal arts.

And, most of all, live life’s cycle with passion and joy!

Sources:

http://www.orderwhitemoon.org/goddess/Freya2.html

http://sacredmistsblog.com/goddess-of-the-week-freya

Freya Aswynn, Northern Mysteries and Magick: Runes and Feminine Powers, Llewellyn Publications.

Sheena McGrath, Asyniur—Women’s Mysteries in the Northern Tradition, Capall Bann Publishing.

Snippets

After reading Rob Young's Electric Eden: Unearthing Britain's Visionary Music, I've been listening to lots of 60s and 70s folk lately but I keep returning to my favourites (even though they're not British) - Joni Mitchell and Judy Collins. The version of "Both Sides Now" below is a later and quite different version to the original but it's so beautiful, don't you think? Maybe you remember it from that heartbreaking scene in Love Actually when Emma Thompson's character discovers her husband has been unfaithful...



This one is more classic 70s Joni. Love it!



On a completely unrelated topic, does anyone remember the Dorrie books by Patricia Coombs? I read them avidly when I was little and I hadn't thought of them for years until recently. Such beautiful illustrations!

Images of Dorrie from http://www.vintagechildrensbooksmykidloves.com/2011/06/guest-post-dorrie-books.html

And now for something that would have scared both Dorrie and (little) me to death - True Blood. We've been watching it almost every night. I've read three of the Charlaine Harris Sookie Stackhouse books and I've recently discovered that our local library has the True Blood DVDs on their catalogue. Only problem with that is that we have a very limited time to watch a lot of episodes! Have you watched it? Have you read the books? It takes a bit of getting used to sex-and-gore wise but it is entertaining! Hmmm, that sentence came out kind of wrong...

Down at the bottom of the garden

Faeries by Brian Froud

I have been spending more and more time in the garden now that Spring has at last arrived. Our backyard in particular is a magical place, which I deliberately leave a little overgrown. It was once my grandmother's pride-and-joy - she was a wonderful gardener and it is the bulbs and shrubs she planted that continue to flower the most. It's lovely, because it's like she comes back to visit every Spring. The garden also has lots of lovely nooks and crannies  making perfect homes and hiding spots for elves and faeries.

Light elves are extremely beautiful creatures. They have been described as ‘fairer to look on than the sun’. They are a part of many European pagan belief systems and so they have come to be known to us here in Australia. In Holland, they are called Alven. In Ireland, they are Sidhe or Faeries. In Iceland, they are Fylgiar. In Sweden and Denmark, they are Ellefolk.  In other parts of Northern Europe, there are the White Ladies and the Liosalfar.  In French forests, there are the Dames Vertes. Throughout Europe, there is also the Will O’ The Wisp. They are all considered guardian angels, walking alongside human beings as mediums between us and the natural world. They can move easily through the four elements, travelling on sunbeams or floating down a river in a bubble. 

Faeries and Elves by Arthur Rackham

The Light Elves represent nature and fertility. They have great magical powers—transforming flowers and stones into precious amulets, aiding women in childbirth, acting as guardian angels to us throughout our lives, foretelling the future and controlling the natural elements. They have also been known to inspire artistic and musical endeavours. But remember, with all of these powers, they can help or hinder humans. They must be treated with great respect.

They often prefer to come out at night, and since they are so strongly attached to nature, they like to do things such as watering their favourite plants in preparation for the coming day. Humans should take care as to how they deal with the natural environment. Light elves and faeries will punish those who do not respect Mother Earth. They are especially active around water.

Faeries by Linda Ravenscroft

You can attract light elves and faeries to your garden and home in a number of different ways. First of all, they must have a sense that you believe in them, since so many humans claim not to and the faeries then stay out of sight. They really appreciate a small offering left for them in the garden, to show that you do believe and that you are friendly. Something to eat perhaps (honey is a favourite), something to drink (they love a little beer!) or something shiny (they love copper but do not give them iron and glitter is another favourite). Keep part of your garden a little over-grown too—faeries love a little bit of wilderness to wander in! Garden statues of faeries will attract them too. Faeries love music, so the gentle tinkling of wind chimes in a tree will draw them in.

Be sure to make it clear to the Universe that you are only hoping to attract good faeries. Dark elves can be malicious, mischevious and difficult. 

Sources:

Nancy Arrowsmith, A Field Guide to the Little People, Macmillan.

Lucy Cavendish, White Magic, Hay House.

http://www.realfairies.net/attracting-fairies.html

http://www.gardenfairy.com/fairygarden/attract.htm

http://sparklefairy.com/2010/09/22/attracting-fairies-to-your-home-garden/

Ostara Apple Cake

With Spring Equinox on the weekend just passed, and Ostara magic well and truly in the air, I have been enjoying nature's gifts and baking fruity cakes! Friday I made a plum and spice cake which was hastily devoured and yesterday I made an apple cake, as you can see above. I took the recipe from a great recipe card collection from the 60s which belonged to my mother. This is Applekaka - a Swedish style apple cake. It is supposed to be served with vanilla sauce but I went the cakey rather than desserty route. It is so easy!

I peeled, cubed and boiled 5 apples and crushed one-and-a-half packets of milk arrowroot biscuits. I mixed melted butter in with the biscuits (enough so that you can squash the biscuits together in your cake tin as a sort of crust) and then I layered one layer of biscuits and then one layer of apple. Then I repeated these two layers. I baked it at 180 degrees celsius for about 50 minutes.

I think it would work well with a little mixed spice in with the apples. Any sort of apple is fine and any sort of plain biscuit too.

Happy Ostara (or Mabon to my Northern friends)! 

Isis

Image from http://www.etsy.com/listing/93485782/isis-original-watercolor-painting?ga_search_query=isis

For a long time, I felt that 'my' pantheon was definitely the Norse goddesses and gods but lately I have become very interested in all of the other faces of the Goddess. When I was a child, I was fascinated by Ancient Egypt and after I saw this wonderful drawing of Isis by Arden Ellen Nixon (http://www.ardenellennixon.com/), that fascination has come back. I have been going a little crazy on the online shopping lately, but I couldn't resist buying a card and a tile with this image on it!