Happy Mother's Day - Working with Frigga

Today was Mother's Day and i wish a very happy day to all mothers! I was with my own mother and with my father, what a great day it was, our family is always of great importance nad we must give to them the proper value, this is why in this post i will be also talking about Frigga, one goddess i haven't give an entire post dedicated to her and a great figure perfect for this day, a deity with the true mother's spirit.

Frigga is the Norse goddess queen of Asgard, the All-mother of the sky gods in the Norse pantheon, wife of Odin, she is also the leader of many goddesses and handmaidens. She is the goddess of marriage, family, home, keeping the peace, and all the home affairs. In her wisdom, she sees many things, but see keeps in silence, however, when it is needed, she will always give a valuable piece of advice, she is always watchful and protective. She is a very famous goddess among so many, and she deserves to be praised and honored. She lives in Asgard, and she carries the mead cup in the hall. Her own halls are called Fensalir.

As you know, or will soon know if you are new at this and seek knowledge, there are multiple pantheons in the Norse/Germanic cosmology, one of those are called the Aesir, the sky gods, more warlike and their realm is called Asgard. Frigga is their queen and the wife of the most famous god, Odin, the King of the Aesir. She is the mother of Baldur and probably of Hodur and Hermod also, and she is the stepmother of many of Odin's children with other goddesses such as Thor. She is also the daughter of Jord the mother of Thor, so this makes Frigga his older half sister.
Frigga is the goddess of marriage and also the protector of home and families, keeping the peace between the members of the family, in friendship and love, for those are the first bonds people have when they are young, the first connections with other human beings, the family members are the first people we meet, and thus it is from them that we learn all sort of things, with a good, strong, united family, with love, care, discipline and friendship, we add to our own personalities good values, good traditions. Frigga is also the goddess who gives aid in childbirth, as you might know, the links with birth to the home was a very strong and important one, people use to born at home, only today the births outside the home of the family is something recent, more or less with 200 years old, but only really adopted by society in the 50's and 60's of the XX century, but this doesn't mean that Frigga isn't still a goddess that gives aid to childbirth. She was also called upon to help in all the domestic arts especially the spinning of wool, which took much of the time of women in ancient times, but today there are so many other afairs at home, shared by both men and women, but Frigga will always help in any kind of homely work. To the Northern peoples of Europe, this goddess was also known as the goddess of frith, the Old-Norse word for peace/freedom/order, not only at home and between families as i have said, but also for diplomacy matters, even among leaders of different tribes.

The tale most often connected with her, is the tale when she does everything to protect her child Baldr, she went to every creature and begged them to swear an oath, that they wouldn't harm her child. However, the only thing she didn't ask, was the mistletoe, and the trickster god Loki, made a dart out of it. The Aesir used to make a game, throwing all kind of weapons and other things to Baldr, because nothing could harm him, and so they could practice a bit and have fun at the same time, so Loki put the dart in the hands of Hodur, the blind brother of Baldr, and so Loki offered to aim it for him so that he could join in the game. The dart killed Baldr, and Frigga was disheartened, and fell into a deep grief. After this tragic event, Hermond, another brother of Baldr, offered to ride to Helheim to ask Hela the Queen of the dead, to release Baldur. Hela agreed but only under the condition that all creatures had to mounr for his death. Again Frigga traveled to all the realms asking everyone to weep for her son, but one giantess called Thokk refused to weep, and so Baldr stood in Helheim. Actually Thokk was Loki in disguise.

There is another story about Frigga and Odin, the two of them favored two different tribes, who were about to have battle, so Frigga begs to Odin to grant victory to those she favored, but instead he tells her that the only ones that shall be granted victory will be those he sees from his window upon awakening in the next morning. Frigga knew well that Odin's favorites were camped within sight, while her favorites were too far away and they would never arrive before it was dawn. While odin slept, Frigga brought the women of her favorite tribe, and told them they should gathered near Odin's window, and they should dress up with men's clothing and their long hair should be drawn around their faces like long beards. When Odin awoke, he was very much surprised to see the long-bearded men. So these were the ones to win the battle and this tribe became known as the Langobards (long-beards). In here we see that Odin knew fully well who those were, but he treats Frigga with great respect and sees her as a valuable and wise companion.

In Frigga and all her stories, we see the true spirit of women, or at least how they should be, strong, independed, wise, with much care, love and concern for those they love and very protective when it comes to children, multi-tasked human beings with great heart. I dedicate this post to my mother because she is such a woman, with all these talents, very skillful, so wise, and after all the work she gives to the society and at home, she has always love to give, she has always been a great mother to me and even a great advisor to friends and other family members.
I am well aware that not all women are that protective with their children, some women even kill their own children.. but those aren't blessed with a mother's touch, nor have ever been prepared to have children, or never wanted to, but the circumstances are many.... the thing is, there are still women who are so much closer to perfection, so i dedicate this post also to my girlfriend, one day she will also be a mother and what a mother she will make, she has all the qualities of a great woman.

I also add to this post the fact that today women are seen as mere sexual objects, we are so used to see them naked, in movies, art, all over the internet etc. that it has become a cliche, and we don't see them as woman anymore. I feel pity for women like that, who can't be heard, no one gives them credit for anything, no one stops to look upon them and feel the need to hear their wisdom, their thoughts, their concerns, and the only thing that makes anyone notice them, is when they are undressed, only speaking with the body and not with their wisdom. I feel pity for women who lack of self-confidence, personality, strength, wisdom, and vigor. The world may have change and women took a better place in society as the one they used to have before the the two great world wars, they may have gained equality of rights, but society nowadays made them an object, under certain standards of beauty, and the world needs more women with a different kind of thought, to stop this madness, so people may see what they truly are, great beings with great qualities who have much more to give than just a pretty face and a pair of breasts.

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