Freya is the goddess of the full moon as well. She was thought to belong to a group of gods and goddesses with powerful connection to Mother Earth and her mystery. Freya’s husband went missing and she cried tears of red gold as she searched for him under her many names. She is the goddess of love and fertility (not the smutty kind of fertility as has been denoted by those who would denigrate the goddesses, but the beautiful fertility of Mother Earth. She stands for beauty, for lustiness, for gold, war, and yes, even sorcery and death. Above it all, she is as her name means, ”Lady”.
“Freyja is most gently born (together with Frigg): she is wedded to the man named Ódr… [who] went away on long journeys, and Freyja weeps for him, and her tears are red gold. Freyja has many names, and this is the cause thereof: that she gave herself sundry names, when she went out among unknown peoples seeking Ódr: she is called Mardöll and Hörn, Gefn, Sýr.” – Gylfaginning
What turned the tears gold? When the tears hit the trees, they turned to amber. This story is found to go all the way back to the Migration period/Viking Age. This legend inspired Klimt to do his painting of Freya’s tears.
Freya was beautifully distraught and we, women, can relate to her at a very deep level. We, too, know sadness. It is almost a desperate sadness. I am ashamed to say I have been a Freya. It is not the time for me to share it, but I have sought and wept, myself. I am sure many of us have.
One of the most common experiences down here on earth is loss but, when we weep, there are no golden tears. Perhaps she is weeping for us every autumn when the leaves turn. I like to think so.
©Carol Desjarlais 11.10.22
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