By: Maranda Wabik
Legend, , , , , , ,

Sacred Objects to the Goddess Freya

For today’s post, I have decided to take a look at objects and animals that are sacred to the Great Goddess Freya.   There are several things that are sacred to the Norse Goddess of Love and War.

I will begin by going over Freya’s animal associations.   Freya’s most obvious animal association is with cats.   It is grey cats that pull her chariot.   Brides in Norse culture were given kittens as wedding presents in honor of Freya.   These kittens were seen to bless the marriage and the fertility of the union, as they were sacred to Freya!   Freya also had a battle sow, just like her brother Freyr had a pig that went into battle with him.    The association with sows harkens to Freya’s connection with fertility, as she is a member of the Vanir who were all associated with land and fertility.   I feel that this connection to an animal long associated with fertility (as are cows of course) is why mothers in labor would often call on Freya to protect them during delivery!   The last animal connected with this Goddess are falcons which are associated with Freya due to her having a falcon feather cloak.   It should be noted that the falcon feather cloak further links Freya to the Valkyries!

Now, I will go over the associations Freya has with gold and amber.    Gold and amber are associated with her search for her missing husband Odr.   Many theorize that her husband was actually Odin himself, based on similar names and that Odin is known to take different forms, not to mention that Freya is often thought to be one in the same as Odin’s wife Frigga.   But to explain the connection to gold and amber, it was stated that Freya’s tears she cried while searching for Odr turned into gold when they landed on the land and amber when they landed in the sea.   It is this association with gold and amber which leads to one of her most sacred possessions, her necklace Brísingamen.   In most traditional tellings of the myth where Freya received this necklace, she slept with the tribe of Dwarves who had crafted the necklace.   This is one of the most famous myths about Freya that show her ravenous sexuality, but it must be noted that the myth was recorded by Christian clerics.    It is believed by many that depicting her receiving one of her most sacred items by having sex with multiple Dwarves who made it  to be a bit of a smear campaign against Freya to get women to stop worshipping her and become Christian!

Next, I will focus on the plant associations for Freya.   As Freya is a Goddess of both Love and War, but also of witchcraft (having taught Sedir to Norse witches known as Volvas, and to Odin himself), plants and herbs that are associated with her are a rather long list.    These plants include Angelica, Armica, Calendula, Cowslip, Ground Ivy, Hemp Agrimony, Lady’s Mantle, Male Fern, Mugwort, Mullein, Primrose, St. John’s Wort, and Valerian.    Overall, these herbs and flowers can be used to great effect for both medicine and protection!   For more information on these herbs I suggest looking them up in Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs and Fire Jewel: A Devotional for Freyja.    

Finally, I will briefly take a look at Freya’s sacred day.   The day of the week Friday is literally named after Freya.   Her most sacred day is Friday the 13th, as it is a day both ruled by Venus, making it a very Love Goddess-centric day, and the 13th makes it equally associated with the moon.   The moon has a total of 13 cycles for every calendar year.   This lunar and Venus joint association of the day makes it a day of primal Divine feminine power.   After all, the moon rules both the tides and women’s cycles of fertility (as both the moon and menstrual cycles run on approximately a 28-day cycle).   All of this comes together to make Friday the 13th a very potent day of the Goddess and it is particularly known to be most associated with Freya!

I hope that you have enjoyed this overview of that which is held sacred to the Goddess Freya.   What is your favorite Freya association?   Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!   

Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is Freya with her name written in runes.   I found the image on http://nordicwiccan.blogspot.com/2013/07/freya.html.

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