So recently I’ve been pondering about what a given deity would or wouldn’t do if they had the chance to come down to the mortal plane, hop in to a human, and do whatever they wanted for a few hours. (Yes, I know this often happens during various trance possession activities.) This is not about trance so much as about the character of a given deity. What thoughts or missions in regards to humanity are foremost in His or Her minds?
I get a lot of this kind of musing from Thenea’s work on behalf of Hermes. She hammers into me (as much as Hermes apparently hammers it into her) that Hermes is a god of everyone, not just the rich or the interesting or the classy. He wants to make sure everyone is accepted and taken care of, and apparently He works His ass off to do what He can to make this happen. He has a deep love for humanity and wants to make things better for us. He’s what I could call a very “Here and Now” kind of god.
This same kind of thought came up when I read Thorn Mooney’s article on “Forcing Belief”, in which she talks about getting to know Herne by practicing archery. Essentially, her point is, if you want to understand and connect with a god, do what He or She would do. Don’t just sit a meditate about a hunting god like Herne; go out and do some hunting yourself (or do hunting-like things; I think she’s a bit unclear).
Which brings us to Freya. A lot of the discussion I have been involved in about Her with people who work with Her is what She is like (and, therefore, how to be like Her): encouraging and feeding the sides of ourselves that are open; engaging; generous; sexy; commanding; compassionate in regards to warriors and/or the dying; creative; witchy; and/or extremely sensual. So I have some good ideas about how to be “like” Freya, which makes slipping into trance for Her much easier. But, then I thought, “But what would Freya actually do if She could be down here with us and have a body of Her own at Her complete disposal?”
(Most of us who voluntarily trance a deity do so in a some kind of controlled and limited environment. For the most part (not looking at Nea), I think we do not give 100% control of our bodies to a deity and then let that deity drive, make business calls, go shopping, get on airplanes, go on job interviews; and if we do, we generally expect the deity in question to take good care of our bodies and not do anything we’d regret later.)
So, what would a deity do on this mortal plane with a body that has absolutely no limits or repercussions? If the deity could simply materialize and exist, what would He or She do? What would Freya do? My answer, surprisingly enough, is not “round up a bunch of willing people and a plenty of food and have sex all day”. (Though I’m not saying She wouldn’t; I just don’t think that’s all She would do.)
I think Freya’s a bit like Hermes. She and Odin, both actually, as they are the Heathen Recruiters– they are very out and about, interacting with a wide variety of people and entities, and generally just getting all up in humans’ business. And that’s just on a non-corporeal level. If She could be here, working as a human?
Here is what I think She would do.
I think She would wander around. Get caught up in the beauty of sunrises, flowers, homeless people living on the street. Laugh. Cry. Interact with people; interact with people; interact with people. Get them to feel emotions and then share those emotions with Her. (Any emotions; it doesn’t matter which ones.) She would cry their tears with them, feel their joy, revel in their anger and resentment, fly on their hope. Take away their unnecessary grief, if they let Her. Help them understand they they are beautiful and valuable. Comfort them, and take them home, if it was time to go.
I think she would also spend a lot of time with the animals–big and small; pretty and ragged; friendly and aggressive; common and endangered. She would talk with those who run the animal shelter and protection organizations; with zoo keepers and breeders; with those who bait dogs and fight them against each other. Get into these peoples’ heads; make sure that they are treating the animals with humanity.
Above all, I think She would Love. Send so much love out to us, in any way that She could. I think She loves humans just as much as Hermes does. I think that She needs us as much as we need Her. She is a generous gift giver. All we have to do is ask.