Love

Odin musings

Cara Freyasdaughter 14 Comments

So, I started out putting together my handout on the runes, and ended up listening to an hour-long recent interview with Freya Aswynn on a British talk radio podcast. (It turns out she is still really on the ball, though not as actively involved in Heathen things as she had been for, oh, the last 30 years. Also, Freya Aswynn = the first modern Heathen devotional polytheist, eh?) All of which I only did because I was waiting for the WoW client to install on my Windows laptop, but hey–Odin moves in mysterious ways. Such is life of a Heathen on teh Interwebs.

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Gods-matchmaking, July 2015

Cara Freyasdaughter 13 Comments

Busy, busy, busy.

My apologies to all for not posting much recently. I blame this on 1) starting a new relationship (NRE, yay!); 2) my trip back to CA; and 3) starting a Patheos bi-weekly column (pretty much at the last minute). These are all good things–I can’t complain–but together they have commandeered all of the resources I have available. So, my #90DaysofOdin has slacked off quite a bit (though I still find myself talking about Him and defending Him pretty regularly, so I will count those days). And my other minor plans for world domination have also slacked off because, well, love. Love, people. Got to have your priorities straight.

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90 Days of Odin, Day 11: Lessons for Lovers (The Hávamál)

Cara Freyasdaughter Leave a comment

The TL;DR version: Love makes fools of us all.

Lessons for Lovers (The Hávamál, verses 89-93)

89.
Now plainly I speak, since both I have seen;
unfaithful is man to maid;
we speak them fairest when thoughts are falsest
and wile the wisest of hearts.

90.
— Let him speak soft words and offer wealth
who longs for a woman’s love,
praise the shape of the shining maid —
he wins who thus doth woo.

91.
— Never a whit should one blame another
whom love hath brought into bonds:
oft a witching form will fetch the wise
which holds not the heart of fools.

92.
Never a whit should one blame another
for a folly which many befalls;
the might of love makes sons of men
into fools who once were wise.

93.
The mind knows alone what is nearest the heart
and sees where the soul is turned:
no sickness seems to the wise so sore
as in nought to know content.

(Olive Bray, trans. )

Love notes from Freya, 4/19/15

Cara Freyasdaughter 9 Comments

A marriage is what you make of it. It can be a marriage of convenience; a marriage of romantic love; a marriage for children; a marriage for career advancement. A marriage for society; a marriage for you, personally. There are many reasons to get married. Choose which one you like best, and follow your heart. It matters not which one you choose; only that you choose.

Relationship advice, from Freya. My sense is that her version of “Marriage” and our modern American one is different. I got the sense for channeling her note today that she was talking about something not entirely unlike a business venture–two people entering into an intimate, long-term partnership which is mutually beneficial;”romance” not being the central concept, in many cases.

Though Freya is a goddess of love, and I will never present her as not having that essential quality, it’s good to note that what “love” meant back in the time that she was most actively worshiped is not the red-hearted Valentine’s-Day love of today. (Perhaps that kind of cheesy romantic love didn’t exist in any ancient cultures; perhaps it’s a modern invention.) I don’t think that lessens the power or meaningfulness or usefulness of “love”. I think it just makes the “love” that does exist more likely to pass the test of time.

(And yes, I know this one is aimed at me, too, Lady. :P)