Working with the gods: Mengloth

We are used to hear about gods of healing in many religions and spiritual paths, they have always been important, because our fragile mortal body can be sick and get a lot diseases, not only physically but also psycological.
There is a goddess in the Norse pantheon who is an expert in healing, many gods are in their own ways, even healers of the land, of the soul, mind and body, but this goddess is the right one if you have any problems of the body or mind, her name is Mengloth.

Mengloth is the Norse goddess of healing, although being a minor goddess, she is very important and powerful. She is the healing goddess of the Jotun people, so do not confuse her with the healing goddess of the Aesir called Eir. She dwells in the mount Lyfjaberg in Jotunheim in a fortress called Gastropnir, and the gatekeeper is her own uncle Fjolsvid, a very large daunting giant, but friendly, enjoying a good conversations with those who come to and fro. Mengloth is married with Svipdag son of Aurvandil and Groa.
People used to pray to her for healing and left offerings by her shrines, she helped in any health issues, she also wanted to give her knowledge to mortals, however, it wasn't anyone at random, she would only take as a student, someone sent by an other god or goddess she trusts, so people would actually had to make a close contact with another deity, ( possibly a deity with healing powers or connected with Mengloth somehow ) before they could learn from her.
The best gifts someone can give her, is jewelry, especially when those objects are made with materials that can't be mined, or are hard to mine, in her homeland.
Working with her, she has nine handmaidens, whose names are Hlif, Hlifthrasa, Thjodvara, Bjort, Bleik, Blith and Frith ( who are twin sister ); Aurboda ( Mother of Gerda, Frey's wife ); and Eir ( no one is certain of she is the same healing goddess of the Aesir who serves Frigga ). These nine handmaidens help Mengloth in all sorts of healings needed, they are some kind of specialists in a certain area, if anyone has a problem which lies in one of those areas of expertise, they might want to go to the specific handmaiden who can treat the problem with more competence.

I will write about each of these nine handmaidens at another post.

You might think that nowadays medicine is very advanced, the doctors are more competent, know what they are doing and medical research, is constantly evolving, well fortunately that is true and great, but Mengloth is known to be a goddess of healing called by the desperate, she doesn't waste her time in those who can be easily healed or those who can get help elsewhere, this is why her fortress is in a high place, in a mountainous path, well guarded, difficult to reach, because only the really desperate will pass through so many difficulties to heal themselves or those they love. Mengloth will only help when all other healing options have been exhausted and excluded, however, her handmaidens will help people less desperate.

The fact that only those who are willing to go through difficulties to be healed or heal their loved ones, reminds me of a true story, when my great-grandparents ( from my mother side ) made everything to save my grandfather. They lived in a small village in a valley, surrounded by thick forests and mountainous paths, and my grandfather was very sick, dying as a matter of fact, they had to go to a hospital in the city, and it was far off and in those times very few people had cars in the early XIX century. My great-grandparents had to make it on foot through the forest with my grandfather at their back, a dark and cold forest at winter, filled with wolves and wild boars. They reached the city, safe and sound, and my grandfather was saved. Today when he goes to sleep, he can still hear the sound of my great-grandparents' accelerated breath, while they ran fast up the steep paths to reach the city in time.

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