My Team of 13
A Loving Introduction to Frigg and her Handmaidens
I’ve been living with Goddesses since sometime around the fall of 1994.
Their stories, songs, poems, and images have guided and inspired me for 30 years. While I don’t claim to know the TRUTH of the universe, I do know that understanding my personal AND the collective universe through the eyes and hearts of these powerful feminine forces has been a tremendous and always changing gift.
Are they characters, archetypes, natural forces, deities, spirits or something else?
All.
Some.
None.
I don’t know.
More importantly, WHAT or WHO they are to me is mine. WHAT or WHO they might be for you is for you to decide. Always.
Still….I’d like to introduce you to 13 of them, and I’d like to do it in the way that feels most natural to me - as friends. I’d like to introduce you to 13 of my greatest confidants, teachers, guides, and buddies. I hope you dig them as much as I do.
Please meet Frigg and her 12 Handmaidens, 13 awesomely cool Old Norse Goddesses.
I’ll start with Frigg, or Frigga, if you’d prefer. Frigg is a spinner, a creatrix. She spins the “STUFF” of the Universe, so as a creative buddy, she’s the BEST! She’s also the keeper of the keys. That means she runs the house, the castle, the hall, the checkbook, the calendar. She is an organizing badass, among other things. Think of your favorite Virgo AND your favorite Capricorn. She can be a little bit of a taskmaster, IMHO, but hey, sometimes that’s what I need. She’s also a Mom. She’s the healthiest, most loving, nurturing, and still-flawed Mom. She loves unconditionally. She’s a wife and a lover too. Frigg is Every Woman in all their power.
Saga is an archivist, a librarian, and a storyteller. She helped me discover my own story. First she sat down and looked through all the photo albums with me, and she listened while I told her about each picture. After our 300th cup of coffee, she asked me to put the pictures down and tell her my own story. I didn’t understand, and I told her so. She patiently informed me that the stories of the photographs were lovely, “but now I want to know your story the way you would tell it - without pictures and without other people’s memories.” Whoa. That’s Saga. It’s not that she doesn’t like other people’s stories and memories - she does, but when she’s sitting with me, she wants to know mine - my own.
Eir is the Great Physician. She’s blunt. She brooks zero shit. She will cut off a gangrenous toe in as much time as it takes a mosquito to sting me. She’s also compassionate, mind-body-spirit loving, and will stand right next to me on any battlefield I might need to stand on. Eir is listed among the Valkyries, but she has a special job. She chooses who lives. She’s helped me figure out what and who I want in my life, and she’s helped me cut out the stuff that was rotting.
Syn helps me protect and expand my heart. She is a gate-keeper who has probably gotten an A+ on every single Healthy Boundaries quiz on the internet. She’s an expert at how to wield a powerful “NO”, but she’s taught me most about the magic of a perfectly placed “YES”. Syn gets a little frustrated with me sometimes; my “pleaser” status has worn thin. Still, she doesn’t give up.
When I really need someone to listen, I call on Hlin. Hlin has seen some stuff. She’s also done some stuff. She is the very best at hearing, understanding, and compassionately helping me shift shame. She knows what it’s like to fall short and she knows grief and loss. Hlin is a shoulder to cry on, a comforting presence in the dark night of the soul, and the one that throws back the curtains the next morning and says, “Okay then. Let’s get out there and live again.” Brené Brown would LOVE Hlin.
The sisters, Sofn and Lofn help me step into that new day and encourage me to celebrate all the love in my life. They’re also experts at self-love, and they both throw awesome dance parties. One of Sofn’s favorite songs is Affection by Lisa Stansfield. Both sisters dance, but Sofn can really get down with that one.
When communications get a little twisty or messages feel fuzzy, Gna’s the one to call. She is Frigg’s messenger, and she can untangle the wires like nobody else. She knows all about radical honesty and has the skills to share the honest truth so that it can be heard. I imagine that she has been the energetic facilitator behind every Non-Violent Communication workshop on the planet. Gna helps me see when I’m filtering heard messages through old trauma, and she reminds me to speak my truth even when I feel scared. Gna’s best friend, Hoofthrower, is a horse and is my friend too. Hoofthrower helps me trust my gut, move with my instincts, and run like the wind.
Fulla is the youngest of Frigg’s Handmaidens. She keeps me young and playful, reminding me of my maiden self - the courage I had, my willingness to play and explore. She’s also taught me about the difference between shame secrets and sacred secrets and reminds me when it’s best to hold certain things close to the chest. Fulla has also helped me embrace the mysteries of this woman body and heal some old sexual traumas.
Gefion’s name means “giver”, but she’s so much more than that. She’s a virgin in the old sense of the word - she is sovereign over her own body. Nobody owns her - sexually or otherwise. She claims her physical self as sacred and born of Earth. Gefion reminds me to dance barefoot, to dig in the soil, to embrace and love my body, and to share the gifts that I have to give.
Snotra is Miss Hospitality but not in a gross, saccharine or pressured way. Snotra knows all the rituals and traditions, and she can make even the biggest loner want to come in and take a load off. She knows how to make folks feel right at home. She’s helped me start to feel at home in my own body, and she’s helped me sort out some old gunk I’ve got around hosting and hospitality too.
Last but not least, I’d like you to meet the Sisters, Vár and Vor. They’re both quiet and might seem a little stern or standoffish, but I adore them both.
Vár likes the quiet and the dark, so that’s how we hang out. We meditate together mostly. She’s taught me the real power of sitting down, shutting up, and listening to the thrumming thread of my own intuition. She likes all the intuition toys - tarot, tea leaves, black mirrors, runes, and random pages turned to in favorite books. She’s really awesome at pointing out the times I’ve heard my intuition and acted against it, but she’s equally fabulous at cheering me on when I follow my dreams and deep wisdom.
Vor can be a bit judgy, but only when it comes to broken promises and oaths. She doesn’t differentiate between promises made to others or to myself. If I break them, she wants to know why. More importantly, perhaps, she has helped me learn to be slow and clear in promising. She totally sees my inner pleaser, and she and Syn have teamed up a time or two to help me make cleaner, more skillful decisions around promises and oaths.
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There they are. Frigg and her 12 Handmaidens… I hope you are well-met.
Whoever or whatever they are - characters, archetypes, natural forces, or deities…they help me see and tap into the wisest, most compassionate, playful, creative, and clear parts of myself, and that’s a gift that I cherish.
If you’d like to get to know them for yourself, and more importantly, if you’d like to get to know YOU by getting to know them, come along with us this year in 13 Moons: A Journey to the Goddess Within. We begin January 15, 2025.