"Freya's Ride"

In March, I had written a post which touched base on the Goddess Freya and her role in Norse mythology. On my old cat blog, "The Cat Cottage", I had published a post specifically about her. I had recently found it again and would like to share here with all of you ...

One of my very favorite goddesses has got to be Freya. She was a warrior goddess whose consort was the Norse god Od. She was also the goddess of sensual love and is usually depicted as a beautiful red-head who is known for her appreciation of romantic music and stunning flowers.

But this was only part of who she was. She was also the leader of Valkyrie and had the right to claim half the souls of the bravest warriors slain in battle (the other half belonged to Odin). As such, she would gather them all on the battlefield and take them back with her to spend the afterlife in her home in eternal rest and recreation. 

Freya was also called upon to comfort the dying and to help make the transition into the otherworld (known as Valhalla) easier by serving as their guide and comforting companion on their journey.

It is said that when Freya and the Valkyries rode forth on their missions, their armor caused the beauitful flickering light that we know as the Aurora Borealis ~ also called the Northern Lights.

While fishing one day, Od heard a lovely song coming from a nest of cats which seemed to be lulling him to sleep. It was a tom cat singing to his kittens to "sleep, sleep, my dear little ones." When Od very strongly suggested that the male cat stop his singing, the cat replied, "You have no idea how difficult it is to rear children as a single parent" and asked Od if he knew of any women who would be willing to take in his very special kittens as they were blue and deserved the life of royality.

Od immediately thought of Freya, and brought the kittens back home with him to present to her as a gift. Freya was so enchanted with them that she did the kittens honor by allowing them to accompany her on her daily rounds in her golden chariot across the sky.

A couple of years ago, I had created a handmade wreath depicting the Norse Goddess, Freya and her cats called, "Freya's Ride."

This particular project took a bit more time to finish than most of the others I have created because of all the detail involved. In order to portray Freya correctly, I had to find a figurine of a warrior goddess somewhere. I looked in every craft and children's store I could think of and then it hit me ... a hobby store! You know, the really "serious" hobby stores where folks who like to play D&D (Dungeons & Dragons) buy their game accessories. The statue that I found was one which I needed to put together myself. Hubby helped me with that part ...

  Freya in Her chariot

Then, along with a medium-sized wreath, I needed to gather together a few other items such as something to use for a chariot, ribbons, long-haired cat figures (Norwegian Forest Cats), a couple of silk red roses, and some other things which are associated with the Goddess Freya ...

I used a silver gel pen to color the cats gray/blue.

After the glue dried and I had colored Freya's letters for Her name, I tied two thin light-green ribbons around the cats for reins/harnesses and glued my Freya figurine to the chariot which I had added last ... 

Other decorations added to Freya's wreath include: Roses (a goddess of love), sacred animals (lynx and falcon), Her associated rune (Fehu which is inscribed on the yellow jasper), the Sun, and the ribbon colors of red, yellow/gold, and black.

Freya, as well as being known as a Triple Goddess, is also a warrior goddess. She is shown here wearing a suit of armour and holding a sword in one hand and a shield in the other while her enchanting Norwegian Forest Cats pull her chariot across the sky on her rounds and in battle.

I have decided that I am going to hang it up in the cat's room along side of my Bastet wreath.

"Egyptian Goddess Bastet: The History of the Cat"