I relocated back from Canada to Australia recently, and my home is filled with boxes of art, books, and cherished remnants from my personal history. Unpacking, the movers couldn’t help but notice my many statues of ancient goddesses - from Isis, to Persephone, to Hekate and Hela – and images of figures like Morgana le Fay, Circe and Saint Joan of Arc. There is an undeniable sense of the archetypal strong feminine in the beloved objects I have collected over the decades. Goddesses in particular hold fascination and inspiration for me, and always have, perhaps none more for me than the Norse Goddess Freyja, for whom I have named this exclusive circle that I have dedicated to empowering spiritual women.
Why Freyja?
For those who are not familiar with her, Freyja is the most attested and arguably most admired goddess in the Norse tradition of my ancestors, appearing frequently in historical sources including the Poetic Edda and Prose Edda, and the sagas that make up the surviving body of information about the old Norse gods and beliefs.
Freyja and the Necklace by James Doyle Penrose, 1890.
Her name translates simply as ‘Lady’, and she is a strong example of archetypal feminine power, resonating with many people regardless of their ancestral roots.
Though the tendency to allocate saints and deities ‘job titles’, like ‘the goddess of X or Y’ is a more modern preoccupation, it is fair to say that Freyja is a goddess strongly associated with a range of qualities and areas of life that continue to keep her memory and connection alive today, and that align with the focus of this circle - feminine strength and wisdom, beauty, love, fertility and sexuality, abundance and prosperity, and much more. She may be referred to as the queen of the Valkyries, and therefore called upon in battle, and she is known to be the one who choses half of the battle slain before even Odin. She is known for her independence, and though Odin’s famous hall Valhalla is still very well known today, (and sadly too often co-opted by right-wing groups) the stories of Freyja’s own field Fólkvangr, and her magnificent hall, Sessrúmnir are less known today. No sidekick or mere love interest, (though the sagas continuously see enemy forces wanting to capture or marry her) Freyja is her own woman, has her own sanctuary, her own place and spiritual practices, and her own dedicated followers.
Seiðkona Rae Moss with her Seidr staff - seiðstafr - in her garden.
Portrait by Safdar Ahmed.
Feminine Magic
Appropriate to this circle, Freyja is the mother of magic in the form of Seiðr, a women’s tradition I practice from my Norse lineage as a modern Seiðkona, involving healing, prophecy, reading of the Runes, and the navigation of the Wyrd - the intricate web of fate. She taught this feminine magic to Odin himself, and being a wise man he wished to learn and respect it.
Freyja is associated with Friday, or Freyja’s Day, also known sometimes as Frigg’s Day. It’s worth mentioning here that Frigga, the great seeress and wife of Odin, may be an aspect of Freyja, though the link between the two goddesses is debated among academics. And so I open this circle on a Friday, a Freyja’s Day at Solstice time, blessing it with her Rune Fehu. Like the goddess herself, Fehu, the first of all the Elder Futhark Runes, is associated with abundance and good fortune, which I wish for every member of this circle.
Seiðkona Rae Moss doing a Rune reading at Kurrara Guesthouse.
Photograph by Kellie Harrington.
Your journey is your own, and it is not necessary to connect with Freyja, or any other goddess or tradition, to be part of this circle, but rather, I hope you connect with what she represents, and what this circle is dedicated to.
Abundance.
Independence.
Personal Empowerment.
This is Freyja’s Circle.
Welcome.
