Four Directions Freya Ritual
by Gudrun of Mimirsbrunnr
This ritual was
created for a Pagan gathering, to educate a group of people who knew nothing
about Norse work about the Goddess Freya, and her different aspects. Everyone
sat in a circle, and I had laid the altar to the Vanadis in the center. Laid
around it were four handmade cloaks which I had created as ritual vestments for
her workings. There were also four wreaths, and four other items that went with
each of them.
In the North lay a cloak that was a patchwork of spring green and different fabrics printed with spring flowers. Its lining was a brilliant green satin. The wreath was silk flowers in spring colors, with many dangling ribbons. Next to it lay a basket of flower seeds.
In the East lay a cloak of golden – the color of honey, of amber – with jewels sewn onto it, and a lining of a rich rose color. The wreath glittered with gold and amber-colored beads, and there was a basket of strawberries (which were fortunately more or less in season at that point; if they are not, you might want to try some other fruit).
In the South lay a cloak of snowy white with a hood of artificial brown “hawk feathers”, cascading down the back like wings, and a scarlet lining. The wreath was also of hawk feathers. Next to it lay a sword.
In the West lay a cloak of dusky purple, embroidered all over with bind runes and magical sigils. The wreath next to it was of odd-looking curly weeds covered in glitter, and there lay my staff, which is actually like a carved cane. (Burial finds have shown that the seidkona’s “staff” is actually what we would today consider a cane.)
I wore only a simple white shift, which would go with any of the cloaks. I began by lighting a stick of dried mugwort and carrying it all around the circle, blessing each person with it. Then I began in the North. I put on the cloak and wreath in the North and pick up the basket of seeds.
Let me tell you about Freya, the Goddess of the Vanir. The Vanir are a tribe of Gods whose job is agriculture – the creation of food. They aren’t the only food-producing Gods, but they are the experts! Freya is the Daughter Goddess among them, the daughter of Earth Mother Nerthus and Ship-Father Njord, and the sister of Frey the God of grain. Even though she has two small daughters herself, every Spring she comes up as the Maiden, bringing the cold Earth to life. This is Freya’s first face.
(I walk around the circle, scattering the seeds. Then I walk around a second time, giving a few seeds to each person present.)
As she walks on the new Spring earth, the sleeping seeds in the ground awake, and new green springs up in her footsteps. All the Vanir are Gods of fertility, and Freya is no different. As the Spring Maiden, she is the Queen of the flowers, the blossoms that blaze from each stem of green. Take these seeds with you, and plant them, and when she arises and blossoms, praise her name! Hail to you, Earthly Maiden! May you bless us with the blossoming of new beginnings.
(I go to the North part of the altar and carefully lay out the flowered cloak and wreath, and lay down the basket. Then I go to the East part and don the golden cloak and wreath, and pick up the basket of strawberries.)
The second face of Freya is as the Goddess of Love. She is no virgin, but the one who opens her arms to many – men, women, young and old, beautiful and ugly. She chooses, yes, but she chooses not by our standards but by hers, and her standards are unknowable. She is beauty – glowing, living, sparkling beauty, with the brightness of the Summer Solstice. She is the suddenness of love that you did not expect, blowing you off your feet like the wild Spring wind, filling you with new possibilities. Taste her sweetness!
(I walk around the circle, giving fruit to each person present.)
Once four dwarven brothers, great smiths and craftsmen, made the most beautiful necklace in the world, a thing of spun gold and amber and jewels. Freya saw it, and asked for it herself. The dwarves asked a price of her favors for four nights, one night for each of them. Freya agreed, because she knew that her great beauty and skill at love was a fair price for their great skill, and for the most beautiful necklace in the world. She knew that she was worth that, and it was no insult in either direction. And though the other Gods looked askance at her, to this day Brisingamen, the most beautiful necklace in the world, lies around the neck of Freya. Hail, golden Lady! May we learn to open our hearts to others – and more importantly, may we know our own worth when we do it.
(I go to the East part of the altar and carefully lay out the golden cloak and wreath, and lay down the basket. Then I go to the South part and don the falcon and wreath, and pick up the sword.)
The third face of Freya is as the Warrior. Long ago when Freya came to Asgard as a hostage after the war between the Gods of Earth and Sky, she made a bargain with Odin who chooses the slain warriors to take with him. Freya bargained to be allowed to choose one-third of the slain, and to be the first to choose – and she won! She especially loves woman warriors, and particularly handsome men. She flies over the battlefield in her cloak of falcon feathers, which give her the form of a fleet falcon, spying on the bloodiness below, among the watching Valkyries.
(I walk around the circle with the sword, pointing it at people whom Freya might take, if they died in battle.)
As a Love Goddess who also knows how to wield a sword, she shows us that
Love is not passive and helpless. Love is strong and passionate. Love knows how
to fight to protect dear ones. Love knows how to make hard choices. Love knows
how to fight to protect one’s own boundaries, that the garden may stay healthy
and not be overrun with weeds. Love is when you have each other’s back. Hail to
the Warrior who sees the best, and knows to take it! May you bless us with the
courage to love ourselves as well as others.
(I go to the South part of the altar and carefully lay out the falcon cloak and wreath, and lay down the sword. Then I go to the West part and don the sigil cloak and herb wreath, and pick up the staff.)
The fourth face of Freya is that of the mistress of Seidr, the magical arts. She is the mysterious sorceress who can tell the future in the smoke, who can make a charm of love or vengeance, who can call the fish to the bay and the deer to the hunter’s arrow-tip. She is the music in the spell’s incantation, the circle dance around the fire with the wishes flung forth. She is the patron of hedge-witches, fortunetellers, and farm-wives who charm their cows into better milking. Would you know your future? Touch the staff of the seidkona, and perhaps a word will flash into your mind. If it does, speak it aloud or be silent, as you will.
(I walk around the circle holding out my staff, so that each person can touch it.)
This is your gift from Freya – a tiny window onto the future. Hail to the Lady of Magic, you who are the love-spell and the love-song, who can look into the future and speak it to all those gathered. Hail, Lady, who draws back the dark veil and lets the golden light shine through! Be with us in all four of your brilliant faces! Hail the Vanadis!
(All shout, “Hail the Vanadis!” and the rite is ended.)
Artwork by Stephanie Dusel.