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Subscribe to this list via RSS Blog posts tagged in Frigga

Posted by on in Paths Blogs

Due to a certain popular show, people are confused about what Frigga's Handmaidens are. Frigga is the queen of Asgard, so her Handmaidens are a queen's ladies in waiting. A queen's handmaidens are other noblewomen who serve the queen as their brothers might serve as army officers.

The hand part of the word means close at hand. Hand maid and hand thegn (thane) used to be words for a female and male personal attendant, respectively. The idea is that this is someone usually to be found in the same room during work hours, which would be while the monarch is holding court, unless sent on some errand. It is in this sense that older Christian writings sometimes use the title Handmaiden of the Lord for the Virgin Mary.

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Posted by on in Paths Blogs

Lindenfest is a festival in Geisenheim, Germany centered on a large, old linden tree. They decorate the tree with lights, do folk dances around it, and celebrate for 3 days. It's also a holiday my kindred will be celebrating this year.

In ancient heathen times, trees of particular note were often associated with gods and were part of their worship, for example: Thor's Oak. Linden trees are associated with the goddess Frigga, and in particular with her handmaiden Lofn, also known as Minne. My kindred is celebrating Lindenfest as a holiday for Frigga and Lofn / Minne. We will be drinking linden tea. As Geisenheim is in the Rhineland, noted for its wine, and a holiday in summer has the character of a harvest festival, many of the festival-goers in Germany drink wine. We might drink some wine too, but tea first.

We're not trying to replicate what they actually do in Germany, since we can't dance around the actual linden tree there. We can bring the spirit of linden to our celebration with linden tea, though. Perhaps we will even manage to do a folk dance, although there is very little overlap between my kindred and the old dance group that was destroyed by the lockdowns, just me and one other person. We don't have a linden tree to dance around, but maybe we could dance around the teapot while the tea is brewing? As the Minne aspect of Lofn is also associated with mermaids, after our tea party we'll also be going for a swim, continuing the mermaid theme for the summer.

We're starting with the idea of Lindenfest and making our own celebration out of it. It's going to end up being quite different from the original version, and that's OK. Most of the holidays we celebrate in the USA are very different from their original versions, and most modern pagan and heathen holidays are celebrated differently from the originals, even the ones for which a lot of careful reconstruction was done. Change is OK. That's how culture operates. Lindenfest in Germany is 3 days, the second weekend in July, but ours will only be 1 day, on July 11th 2021. 

Info on Lindenfest as it is currently celebrated in Germany:
https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Lindenfest

Info on Lindenfest as a pagan holiday:
https://journeyingtothegoddess.wordpress.com/2012/07/14/goddess-minne/

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Recent Comments - Show all comments
  • Erin Lale
    Erin Lale says #
    The associations are from another website and are being currently practiced. I am describing modern practices. I made it clear in
  • Victoria
    Victoria says #
    There is zero evidence that Linden trees were associated with Frigga or with Lofn, there is nothing in the Norse or Germanic lore

Posted by on in Paths Blogs
Novel Gnosis part 11: Frigga

Frigga wears cloud gray. Sometimes she wears a blue head scarf. In the stories in which she and Odin favor different champions, they are not truly antagonists but are engaging in a contest they both enjoy, pitting the universe’s two best minds against each other, somewhat like playing chess. There is one thing they genuinely disagree on, and that is the best way to handle prophecy. While Odin tries his best to fulfill prophecy, Frigga tries to use knowledge of the future to change the future.

Frigga makes a lot of fiber art, and makes all the clothes for Odin’s family. When Thor and Loki were unmarried and lived with Odin, that included them too.

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Posted by on in Paths Blogs
My Ceremonial Key

In Asatru and other heathen traditions, receiving a house key can be part of a marriage ceremony, when a woman is starting her household by moving into a new place with her new family. For that reason, many people see it as a symbol of marriage, but it's really a symbol of property ownership. I've had the real life keys to the home in which I live for a couple of decades now, and my relationship with the landwight here is a strong and good one, but I haven't included a ceremonial key in my ritual garb. My mom was the homeowner.

Many of the adjustments I've made since my mother's death have had both a mundane and a spiritual dimension, and this is one of them. I'm not becoming the exclusive owner of my home-- my brother and I inherit it equally-- but it's close enough for me to feel that receiving the official title paper is the right time to put on the ceremonial key.

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Recent Comments - Show all comments
  • Erin Lale
    Erin Lale says #
    Geese can definitely be aggressive!
  • Anthony Gresham
    Anthony Gresham says #
    When the warehouse I work in was at it's old location near the airport there were retaining ponds both in front of and behind the

Posted by on in Paths Blogs
Tea with Frigga

I intended to make it more elaborate. I thought of getting out the embroidered round altar piece with Frigga spelled out in runes, at least. Possibly a decorative spindle. Find and bring out a matching tea pot and tea cup and even a saucer. Get or maybe even make some tea cookies. In reality I just made the tea in the usual pot that was already sitting on the kitchen counter. Instead of a beautifully arranged altar setup we just had our tea at the table, without even a table cloth, like a friend had dropped over to help out and express support.

Who knew the sovereign goddess, the queen of heaven, the goddess most associated with the running of an efficient estate, could also be the sort of friend who ignores the mess when one is overwhelmed?

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Posted by on in Paths Blogs
Fiber Art Success With the Goddess Frigga

Here's another story of abundance made manifest. When I made the Northern Lights Goddesses Brew, I included dried linden flowers and leaves to honor Frigga. I still had some after making it, and I decided to use some to make a brew specifically for Frigga. The Frigga Brew flavor was linden and vanilla. When it was ready, I raised a toast to Frigga with it. I also brewed tea with the dried linden, and raised a toast to her with hot tea. 

Frigga is a mother goddess and the queen of Asgard, but the aspect of her with whom I relate best is her aspect as patroness of fiber art. I first connected with her fiber art aspect while I was spinning at a Renfaire, but after that I have been connecting with her when I do hand embroidery and when I make quilt tops and turn my hand embroidery into finished projects such as bags. 

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What If the Word for 'Make Love' Were the Name of a Goddess?

Frig and Frig.

Etymologists are pretty much agreed that there's no direct connection between the verb frig (euphemistic for f**k) and the divine name Frig (the Anglo-Saxon goddess for whom Friday was named).

But what a gift of a coincidence it is.

Imagine: a culture in which the word for 'making love' was the name of a goddess.

How good is that?

Robert Cochrane, the father of the contemporary Old Craft movement, used to sign his letters 3 (or 4) Fs. This alludes to an old tongue-in-cheek Devonshire saying: Flax, flags, fodder (and frig). These are the three (or four) necessities of life: clothing, shelter, food, and love.

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Recent comment in this post - Show all comments
  • Victoria
    Victoria says #
    Who said Frig was etymologically associated with fuck? Frig: frigu ? e; f. Love, affection, favour; ămor :-- Sió weres friga wi

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