Working with the gods: Jord

Note: Photo Taken by Ana Teresa, you can see her photography works at this [Link]

There has always been a goddess of the earth in many cultures, or at least in the cultures which are not based in the abrahamic beliefs. The Germanic/Norse cultures also have a goddess of the earth, of the northern land, most of the time people forget about her or do not mention her at all, but she is the morther of one of the most famous gods of the Norse pantheon, she is mother to Thor.

Jord is the Goddess of the Earth, and the living grounds beneath our feet, she gave birth to many children, she gave life to us an all living creatures, the place whence we came and were we will go back some day. She is the very symbol of fertility, however, she is not a goddess of agriculture, she is the goddess of all the place there are not under any human control, the goddess of the mountains, fields, every tree, every rock and moss on it, the verdant meadows and other lands with a pure wild spirit. She is also the mother of the Land-spirits or the Landvaettir. She reigns over all the uncivilized places.
Jord means "earth", and she is the daughter of Nott, the goddess of night which i have already written about her in here. Her powers as you might guess, are connected with the forever fertile soils, from where life emerges and grows, the beauty of nature at it's best. She lives in Jotunheim, and she is the spirit with great fertile powers, even more powerful than all the Vanir gods. She causes the wild fruits to grow and mature, and the seeds carried by the wind with Kari's help, the god of winds.
She is also known as Fjorgyn and Hlodyn, although the first name is sometimes refered to a parent of Frigga, so probably she may be the daughter of Jord, or her father is somehow connected with Jord.
She gives in people, the love for natural things, the happy feeling of freedom, the beauty of all living things and the magical wild world, the love that she instills in people is also the love for our own body, how we are physically, accepting how we are, this doesn't mean of course being in an unhealthy physical state and don't give a damn about it, on the contrary, to love our physical self, we must take care of us, of our own body, eating healthy, exercising the body etc. that is the true love one can have for himself, taking a good care of ourselves. Most of the time Jord is seen as a large woman, physicaly strong, as most goddesses of the earth are seen, but once again, this doesn't mean she is a fat figure, unhealthy and in danger to die because of all the problems obesity can bring to the body, in truth the shape of her body is naturally large because that is her physiognomy, such as a being from the Jotnar kin might be, she is a Jotun, so its natural to see her as a large figure because she is a Jotun of the Earth, a giant. Also she has that physical appearance as a symbol of fertility, to all pregnant women and mothers, or soon-to-be mother and nursing mother, as such, she can be called by those in need of fertility in their own body, in the family, in their livestock, in the garden or land. She can also be called for healing the land and the earth it self. She can be called by the environmentalists to help in their hard work, for the safety of the wild nature and to restore order in places that were badly damaged by us humans.

If you have any questions for me or if you want to take a look at my artistic works, check my Facebook page and make a like if you can in here --> http://www.facebook.com/ArithHarger

Nott - goddess of the night

Nott is the goddess of the night in the Northern and Germanic pantheon, she is Mani's herald and she rides a black horse called Hrimfaxi. She is the granddaughter of Bergelmir whose son is Norfi, the famous giant who designed Asgard, Thrymheim and the halls of Utgard-Loki. Her first husband was a Jotun called Nagifari and together they had a son called Aud. Her second husband was Annar, a water-giant, and they had a daughter called Jord the mother of Thor. Her third husband is Delling, a red Alfar and their son is Daeg, the god of Day. Nott is a very old giantess, one of the oldest as a matter of fact. There are rumors that she had an affair with the old Vanir god Frodi, and with that union they had Njord, the god of sailors and seas. As her story is told and the many children she had, we can see she is not a maternal goddess, leaving her children to be raised by the fathers. But she is a very wise goddess and can be called by those who are in the dark, seaching for answers.

Daeg - god of day

Daeg is a sky-etin who travels across the sky with his horse Skinfaxi. Daeg is the bringer of days, he is the son of Nott and of Delling and Alfar lord. Actually Daeg is one of the few Jotun-Alfar hybrids that people know of, so he is tall as a giant and beautiful as an elf. However he has no wife, but many were those who succumb to his beauty, from many races, Jotnar, Aesir, Vanir and Alfar. As he is always so busy, he takes lovers instead of taking any wife, but his true love some say, is Sunna.