1. How do you view our gods and goddesses?
I’m pretty much a hard polytheist and at the same time an animist. I believe there is a spirit or soul to all things, animate or otherwise. That doesn’t mean all those wights can or are willing to talk and / or interact with us humans, but there’s a spirit to them all the same. For me, animism is not really at variance with being a polytheist – the gods, like everything else, have souls. The main difference is that they’re... well... the gods. So they’re huge. But they’re all distinct, with complex personalities. I do not believe any god or goddess is an aspect of any other. Some of the gods have more than one name (I usually tell people Odin has about 5,674 and counting, Freyja is also called Syr, Horn, Gefn, Mardoll, etc.) but they’re still that particular deity. It’s kind of like my name being Patricia Marie Lafayllve but being known as “Patty.”
Anyhow, the gods were here before we were, and I imagine once we’re gone some of them will still be around (depends on Ragnarok, really). They’re friends of mankind – at least the Aesir and Vanir we know of are – and help to maintain order against entropy. They’re a lot like eldest kin, although for me that’s a little more like a tribal totem than a literal ancestral kinship. I imagine I’d consider them kindred – a chosen family of elders who may, or may not, be blood-related to me but are definitely kin all the same. I think it’s also important to remember that our gods are as flawed as we are. They have rivalries, make mistakes, show occasional lapses in judgment – in other words they’re just like us. I think that helps me relate – since they’re not perfect or omniscient, they are better able to understand when we stumble in our own ways. I find this very comforting, in fact.
2. Are you oathed to one or more specific deities? If so, how did that come about, and why that particular deity? If not, then why not?
Well, yes. I happen to be oath-bound to Freyja. This happened officially in late April 2006, just before May Day. I hosted a blot to her, and a feast, then when everyone was inside I sat outdoors by the mound sacred to Frey in my garden (utiseta of a kind), went into a spae trance, and communed with the wights. People came out at random to ask me questions, and then once they were done I did a private devotional to Freyja. I oathed to be hers as long as she and I are both willing to have that relationship with one another. Yes, it was a blood-oath sworn on my oath-ring.
As to how this came about, that gets more complex. Since I entered heathenry I always had a close bond with Freyja and with Odin. I kept them balanced for a long time, preferring both rather than neither. Slowly, as time passed, my focus shifted more and more toward the Vanadis. I wrote a book about her as a gift to her and our heathen community, and about that time I received a calling. I also became a godwoman with The Troth as a sign of deeper dedication to the path of a gythja. It’s a lot of work being dedicated to a deity – I definitely see what I do as a service to her. Then again, there are a lot of rewards – in our faith reciprocity matters a great deal and there’s definitely what I consider a reciprocal relationship happening.
All that said, though – the nice thing about being a polytheist is that there’s no reason being oath bound to one deity means one cannot deal with any other deity. I will be a Freyja’s woman (and, one day, be considered a Freyja’s gythja by the community, I hope) from now until she no longer wants me. But I still am very close to Odin and am grateful to him for his inspiration in my writing, learning, and teaching. I’ve got a good relationship with Frey as well. I am closest of all to my disir – who aren’t even gods but the female ancestors dedicated to protecting the luck of my family’s line. Freyja comes first on the priority scale (just behind my husband!) but I can, and often do, still connect with the other Norse gods as well.
3. Which gods and goddesses do you feel closest to / have a deeper connection with?
OK, Freyja, of course! Closely on her heels, Odin. I deal with Odin a lot and he’s quite a challenging god, I assure you. Still, he’s mostly come to me these days in connection to my writing, and he’s welcome for that inspiration he brings. Frey, also – like I said, I have a mound sacred to him in my garden, which means to me that my home and yard are a frithstead at all times. Njord I feel connected to due to my location here on the Atlantic coast, and Ran as well, for similar reasons. I often give her gold (dollar coins work!) and ask her to bring in some drowned sailors that might not otherwise have a home. As a seidhkona I sometimes travel to the realms of the dead, so I feel it is politic to be on cordial terms with Hella (after all, how rude to come to her house and not be a good guest!) the rest more or less tend to be like distant friends, the ones you really like but only get to see once a year or so.
I know that there are several issues in the heathen community concerning Loki. Personally – well – the myths I think illustrate that Freyja was no friend of his, and since I am a Freyjaskona I think it ...impolitic... to have much to do with Loki. I prefer to use the term “mutual nonaggression pact” – he stays out of my life, I stay out of his, and we’re both good. One of my good friends is a Lokian, and when people want solid information and scholarship about him, I send them to her. I take a “not my department” approach, really.
4. What drew you to our pantheon?
Well, there I was, garden variety polytheist. I figured the gods were like cockroaches; see one and you know you have a million more under the ‘fridge. I also felt – and still DO feel! – that it was far better *not* to attract the attention of a god or goddess, per se. I mean, have you read what happens to god-touched people like Sigurd, et al? I figured they had far more important things to do with their time than me, and I was glad of it.
I worked primarily in my spiritual practice as a shamanistic person. I learned Michael Harner’s core shamanic journey method, and mainly used variations of that for my own self-discipline. I was also very much into the elder futhark as a divinatory system – the runes have spoken to me since the first time I saw them. As I was combining the two approaches, using trance work to more deeply connect myself to the runes, I started receiving these images I did not understand. In an effort to figure out what the heck that spear was doing hanging in the darkness, and how to properly spell the name of that tree I kept seeing..., well, I stumbled onto the Norse pantheon’s myths, and that was that.
5. What is your favorite myth / story about a god or goddess? Briefly outline the myth.
Oh boy! So many myths, so little time! I frankly love “The Lay of Hyndla” but I addressed it at length in a paper that is posted elsewhere on the Two Ravens Kindred website, so I’d rather not go over that again. Except to say, really, it’s my favorite and the more I study it, the more I learn about Freyja, seidh, and the high cost of reciprocity.
I also love the sense of humor our early mythologists and skalds had. Thrymskvida, the story where Thor has to dress as a woman to get Mjollnir back from Thrym, is particularly funny. I know a lot of the Christian translators saw it as demeaning to Thor, but I really don’t see it that way. I see it as an allegory about the lengths one sometimes has to go to in order to keep one’s powers intact, sure, but it’s also just a plain old good yarn. Thrym’s reaction when he sees Thor consuming oxen, then barrels of mead and ale, noticing Thor’s eyes burning with rage... priceless. Also priceless are Loki’s justifications: “Oh, “She” (Thor was dressed as Freyja) was so burning with desire for you she has not eaten in days... nor had much to drink... and... um... her eyes are red from lack of sleep...” I can just see him, also dressed in woman’s clothing, having to think fast and stammering a little, hoping the excuse will get swallowed by the giants they’re surrounded by.
And Freyja being so angry at them for suggesting she marry Thrym in the first place... so angry her necklace bursts off her neck in her rage... oh, I can just see that, too. Imagine the affronted woman just tearing into the man who really needs her to do something she has absolutely NO intention of doing... see what I mean? I’d love to see Thrymskvida written into a stage production. Off-off-off Broadway, anyone?
