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Velleda was a priestess, prophet and seer of the Bructeri, a Germanic tribe. She was whom prophesied and presided over a tribal European insurrection against the Roman rule between the years of 69-70 CE. Velleda seems to be a Germanic Title and not her own name. She and Aurinia are mentioned in Tacitus' book "Germania" and that was where I first found a bit of history about these women and did a little research after.
"They think that in them* there is something sacred and prophetic, as such, they do not despise their counsels, nor turn away their answers. In the time of divine Vespasian we saw Velleda praised as a deity by many for a long time; and previously they also worshiped Aurinia and many others, but not by flattery, nor by considering them goddesses. "[Tacitus, Germania, 8]
*Germanic Women in general.
Germanic women were revered and protected as much as possible by the Germanic Peoples. They were seen as being magical in nature, linked to the deities. Even when men were wounded, the first thing they did was to show their wounds to the women of their tribe or own family, so they could heal them and take care of them.
In the case of Velleda and Aurinia, if we take a close look, these are Völvur, the practitioners of the Norse/Germanic spiritual/shamanic arts, such as Seidr.
Such as the Druids in the Celtic culture, these Germanic Women had an important role in the Norse/Germanic Societies, especially the tribes from central Europe. Even in war affairs, their opinions always counted. There are archaeological evidence that germanic women helped in the defence of the borders in the Rhine, the natural border between the Germanic tribes and the Roman Empire.
If you have any questions for me, feel free to ask me anything at http://ask.fm/ArithHarger
Note: The artwork to illustrate this post is a drawing entitled "Velleda und Aurinia" made by me. If you have any questions for me or if you want to see my artistic works, check out my Facebook page and make a Like if you can by following this link --> http://www.facebook.com/ArithHarger
When we are familiar with the Norse/Germanic tribes of old, we have the perception that the most worshiped deities were those linked to war, conflict, protection, fortification and all the things linked to combat. If any of you has read the book "Germania" by the Roman Tácito (if you haven't, you should, for it is the best and most complete historical-ethnographic treatise of antiquity) you see that the Germanic and Norse tribes did little work of agriculture, and even with the Baltic sea at hand, they also did little fishing and invasions by sea at that time. Works of magic and spirituality were left to the prophetesses and the slaves would perform the dangerous work of giving themselves to a deity as gifts in certain times and to certain deities. So the most worshiped deities were the ones linked to war and battle, the earth deity mother of all gods and living things, and in some cases, certain prophetesses were worshiped as living godesses.
A little history doesn't harm anyone, but all this to say that certain deities weren't there since the beginning, at least not with the names we know nowadays and not with the powers atributed to them. Nerthus and Njord are the Norse deities of the ocean, of the northern sea, they began to be worshiped in a late time and only nowadays ,with the spiritual work increasing, we know more about these deities and their true powers.
When working with Nerthus, Njord's wife, we do know that she prefers female spiritual-workers. No one is able to see her face, it is always covered, only a person who has become a priest or a priestess of the Vanir tribe, can see the face of this deity, otherwise a person that hasn't this job or any link whatsoever with the Vanir, must be killed if by any chance sees her face. So those who work with this deity are always female attendants, it is really rare to see any male working with Nerthus.
Njord prefers male spiritual-workers, they can be of any gender, but he really prefers male spiritual-workers and if any of those have the chance to have any kind of meal with this deity or be invited to a feast, be ready to eat a lot of sea food. If you want to gift Njord with food, his favorite is salmon.
Such as the post I have written about Freyja as being one of the few deities we know which colors she prefers, we too know the colors which her father, Njord, prefers, and it isn't hard to figure it out since he is a god of the northern sea and his halls are filled with those colors, white and the many tones of blue.
Note: The artwork to illustrate this post is a drawing made by me entitled "The Summoning of Njörðr". If you have any questions for me or if you want to see my artistic works, check out my Facebook page and make a Like if you can by following this link --> http://www.facebook.com/ArithHarger
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