Tirza Schaefer: Romance Author & Goddess Facilitator
Freya
I love to explore the Divine Feminine and write about Goddesses. For a list of those, click on the link: Goddesses. In order to become more balanced within ourselves and, through that, to bring greater balance and harmony to the world around us, we must find greater balance between the masculine and feminine energies within ourselves that each one of us possesses, regardless of physical gender or any other ways of self-identification.
Wild, Yet Disciplined
Freya or Freyja is a Norse goddess whose name means Lady. She is the goddess of sex, fertility, beauty, gold, love, war and death. She is also the name patron of the weekday Friday. In my life, it seemed that of the time of writing, during that week, Vikings were a recurring theme and for that, I chose to write about Freya then. She is a powerful Goddess and she rides in a chariot across the heavens which is drawn by cats. As I am the honoured can opener of a cat who has chosen our family as her humans, I can tell you first-hand how divine a creature a cat truly is.
But Freya also keeps a boar by her side, wears a cloak of falcon feathers and is also the mother of two daughters. Material for a matriarchy, and in Norse mythology and old culture, the women had many rights and a status that was much higher than those of their Christian counterparts. In fact, after Christianity replaced the old religion, it took until the 20th century for women to regain their power and rights in a measure that equals that of the old Viking times, notwithstanding that it was very different for slaves, so we’re talking free women here.
Whereas half of the warriors who died in battle go to “Valhalla,” which has gained in fame through the recent TV series about Vikings, called Vikings and The Last Kingdom being the two I loved to watch, it is less frequently known that the other half of dead warriors are assigned to Freya who is the ruler of the field Vokvangr in the afterlife.
Freya also assists the other gods by allowing them to use her cloak and is invoked in matters of sex and fertility. In one of the poems of the Edda, Loki accuses Freya to have slept with all gods and elves because she is so pleasure-hungry. She likes to party and seek thrills, but she is a lot more than that. Freya is a practitioner, or volva, of seidr, which is the most organized form of Norse magic. She is the one who brought this art to the gods, and through them to humanity.
A Formidable Seeress & Sorceress
As Freya is able to control and manipulate the desires and feelings of others, her powers have almost no equal. She was equally loved and longed for, as well as feared. Her cloak of falcon plumes allows the one wearing it to shift into the form of a falcon, for example. The association with various animals is a typical shamanic practice which ascribes certain animal powers to the person or god as well. As we remember, Freya’s wagon is drawn by two cats, representing sensuality and independence; and she is in the company of a boar, which is a symbol of strength and power.
As a Goddess of war, she could foretell and influence the outcome of any fight or battle, calling on her great magical powers. Thus, Freya is a very versatile goddess and there are many more interesting facts besides but let us close with the energy Freya portraits.
Freya is a powerful Goddess and thus, often feared. She is not taking prisoners or compromising. She is a formidable woman, Goddess, seeress and sorceress. She knows her powers and how to use them. She is unashamed, sensual and wild, as well as being the master practitioner of the most disciplined form of magic. This means, she is way more than a party girl, and I suspect, she used her sensual pleasures to charge up her magical energies. Sexual energy is a very powerful one and can be used for such work.
When we look at Freya’s energy within ourselves, we work with our sexual pleasures and our fertility. We can unblock traumas or do great manifestation work with our sexual energy, once we learn to utilize it correctly. You are a powerful vessel and as you learn to embrace this and shape your own life according to your personal preferences, you become more and more empowered. Freya is a strong and unashamed woman and thus, a goddess powerful beyond measure. And you carry that all inside!
