Norse Goddess Magic (15 page)

More than that, however, she represents the deep-seated unconscious or
collective memory of the folk, the time of sacred history and original action
from which come the myths and paradigms that serve as models for all aspects of
life. Anyone, whether artistic or not, can benefit by periodically returning to
this source of inspiration to be renewed and reinvigorated. Saga can also be
petitioned to redress wrongs and grievances. She should not be seen, however, as
a participant in petty vengeance, for she functions in the realm of the eternal
and not the mundane. She should be seen as a means to invoke the forces of
ørlög, or fate (karma, if you will); her judgments are active in the timeless
realms and not in this world. An unscrupulous but successful ruler, who is
eventually exposed as corrupt years later in history texts, is an example of
something Saga might bring to light.

Saga is associated with images of water or the sea, so blues, greens, grays,
or whites might be appropriate colors to use in ritual, as well as shells and
water-smoothed stones. She always seems a little flamboyant and flashy to me, so
gold or jewels might make pleasing symbols, either as altar decorations or
personal ornaments. If one is a skilled performer, an appropriate song or story
could be enacted, especially pieces relating legendary or historical events.
Group rituals to Saga might include a sumble in which all the participants share
a piece with the others in Saga's honor. Silent meditation can be used in
workings to Saga, usually following the invocation, with the aim of contacting
the collective unconsciousness where Saga dwells to receive wisdom, inspiration,
and renewal.

Call to Saga

Hail Saga, mistress of memory,
    Keeper of the timeless records,
    Master storyteller,
    Speaker of true tales,
    Guardian of tradition, of fame, of honor . . .

Mistress of Sokkvabekk, the Sinking Brook,
House of the singing walls beside the stream of life.

Benchmate of Odin, mead-glad matron,
Gold-decked lioness, singer of songs,
Friend of the poet, the minstrel, the sage—
Judge of rulers, of priests, of warriors—
Keeper of the bright mirror and the dark.

Lead us once more to the ancient waters;
Drink with us in gladness and sing the old songs;
May our deeds and works honor your halls,
    and ring true in the telling.

Saga of Memory—Muse—Dame Aventiure—Frau Ehre—
    the Märlein—Saga—Come!

11

Gna

The Messenger

Lore

Snorri (Gylfaginning, ch. 35) lists Gna (ON Gná) as the
fourteenth Aesir goddess (
ásynja
) and identifies her as Frigg's
attendant. Her name is related to the verb
gnæfa,
meaning “to tower up
high” or “to project.” Gna is Frigg's special messenger, able to travel with
great speed through air and water and between the worlds. She sees all that goes
on and reports it back to Frigg. Gna accomplishes these missions by means of her
marvelous steed, Hofvarpnir (“Hoof Thrower”). Some nineteenth-century writers,
who were given to seeing all the old deities as nature symbols, present Gna as a
personification of the gentle breezes sent by Frigg, the sky goddess, to bring
good weather to Midgard.
¹

Grimm compares Gna to the personification of Rumor in classical
mythology—that divine messenger sent out through the air to listen to all that
goes on and bring the tidings back to the high gods, who need to know
everything.
²
The Latin equivalent, Fama, taken from a feminine noun
meaning “talk, rumor, report,” was also personified by many classical authors.
Virgil describes her as a being who was small at first, but quickly grew to
enormous size, with countless feathers, eyes, ears, and mouths. Fama is often
portrayed with wings or feathers, or in flight like a bird.
³
Here one
is reminded of Odin's ravens, who fly through the worlds and report back to the
Allfather.

Gna's function is very similar to that of Huginn and Muninn: she also gathers
news and reports it to Frigg. Ovid gave his Fama a home with many approaches;
this is reminiscent of the house in which Loki is said to have hidden after
exchanging insults with the other gods at Aegir's feast, a building with doors
on all sides.

Guerber confuses Gna with the wish maiden Hljod in the story of the childless
King Rerir. The king received a magic apple from the god Odin, enabling his wife
to conceive (see
here
). Guerber also enlarges Frigg's role as Odin's
advisor and makes her the actual giver of the apple.
⁴
Guerber does
not list a citation for this version of the tale, so it is difficult to tell
where she got it or how authentic it is. However, because of Frigg's connection
with conception and childbirth, she might certainly come to be seen as the
dispenser of the apple of fertility, and, indeed, it is altogether possible that
Odin got this apple from his wife. With Frigg as the apple-giver, the next
logical move is to recast Odin's wish maiden as Frigg's own messenger, Gna.
Despite the unclear origins of this version of the story, it does show how
similar the relationship of Frigg with Gna is to that of Odin with his wish
maidens, or Valkyries. Like Odin's womanly attendants, Gna carries Frigg's
messages and works her will, sharing in Frigg's powers.

Gna's Shamanic Traits

Gna also exhibits a number of shamanic characteristics. She has
a magical steed that travels between the worlds and through the elements, a
familiar symbol in Northern shamanism. In this she is similar to both Skirnir,
the messenger in the Skírnismál who rides Frey's steed to Jotunheim to court the
giantess Gerd for him, and Hermod, who rides Sleipnir to Helheim at the request
of Frigg to try to ransom Balder. In all these cases a lesser-known god or
goddess rides a magical horse to another world to act there for another, more
powerful deity. Like the shaman, Gna journeys to these other worlds to find out
information and to perform magical acts for her people, in this case Frigg and
the Aesir.

In one story associated with Gna (Gylfaginning, ch. 35), she is riding
through the worlds one day when some of the Vanir look up and see her in the
sky. One of them exclaims, “What flies there through the air?” Gna answers:

I don't fly,         but fare away
    swiftly over the clouds
On Hofvarpnir,     sired by Hamskerpir
    out of Gardrofa.

G
YLFAGINNING, CH.
35

Here Gna is clearly shown traveling to other worlds, in this
case Vanaheim. It is also interesting that the Vanir don't recognize Gna.
Perhaps she was flying too high or too fast, or the Vanir are so isolated from
the rest of the worlds that they are unfamiliar with the members of the Aesir.
Another possibility is that Gna is a shape-shifter and was not appearing in her
usual form in this story. The final point to note is the element of humor that
Gna exhibits. The names of her horse's sire and dam mean “Hide Hardener” and
“Fence Breaker,” respectively. Gna seems to be slightly mocking the Old Norse
custom of formally reciting one's parentage when introducing oneself to
strangers. Instead of admitting who she is, Gna teases the Vanir with a riddle
about her mode of travel and gives the whimsical lineage of her horse instead of
her own.

Gna seems so tied to the concept of movement that when I came to do a
tranceworking on her I decided I should use a more active form of invocation
than usual. I had been reading some books on shamanism at the time and was
inspired to borrow some ideas for going into trance. I used a pair of old
rattles and jogged in place, shaking them in rhythm while chanting this little
song (se fig. 11.1), taken from Gna's speech to the Vanir:

I fare forth         through the air,
    I gallop and glide;
On Hofvarpnir,     Hoof Thrower,
    swiftly I ride.

I fare forth         through the air,
    I gallop and glide;
On Hofvarpnir,     Hoof Thrower,
    swiftly I ride.

Figure

Figure11.1. The sound of this chant is represented in these
musical bars.

This chant can go on and on, with the same or different adjectives used
before the phrase
I ride
in the last line. As I first did this I became
extremely, hysterically giggly, and a feeling of great elation came over me. I
later stopped running and lay down to go further into trance.

Trance

I see a small, very tiny woman, or girl rather, no older than
her teens, with masses of very wavy black, or dark brown, hair that flies out
wildly all around her. She brings a feeling of great, almost hysterical,
elation, plus wild giggling and mirth and almost constant motion. She has light
skin and blue, or perhaps green, eyes, which sparkle greatly. She is never at
rest and never stops laughing as she rushes in and out of the rooms in Frigg's
hall. She spends much of her time riding around on an enormous bay horse whose
back is incredibly wide, especially in comparison to Gna's tininess. She laughs
uproariously as she rides. When questioned by the Vanir about who she is, her
answer, in which she includes the lineage of her horse, is meant by her as a
great joke—she laughs madly as she shouts out to them; she finds the fact that
they are taking her seriously extremely funny. She reminds me of Gilbert and
Sullivan's “Three Little Maids from School,” who sing, “Everything is a source
of fun”—and somehow, in the midst of all this hilarity, she manages to carry out
Frigg's errands correctly—but not solemnly!

Gna seems to do everything in extremes. Unlike most of Frigg's
attendants, she is not quiet or gentle or sensible or comforting. There is a
feeling of wildness and almost manic joy and hilarity about her, a much sharper
and stronger feeling than I've experienced with any of the other Asynjur. Gna is
also more difficult to describe in human terms; her functions, what she might be
expected to contribute to Midgard, are unclear.

As Frigg's messenger and the worker of her will, as shamanic traveler between
worlds, Gna seems to represent Frigg's magical self. The German versions of
Frigg—Holda and Berchte—both have a darker, wild form. Frigg herself never
directly appears in this role, but Gna could be seen as embodying Frigg's
wilder, freer side. Gna is not tied down to responsibilities, and roams freely
through the worlds, heedless of convention or decorum.

Gna is a powerful, potentially unreliable, or even dangerous force, held in
check and controlled by the powerful sky goddess, yet a force necessary to fuel
Frigg's will and give her magical acts the necessary impetus to propel them into
fruition. And if Gna carries Frigg's will out to the worlds, she is also able to
carry our will back to Frigg and the Aesir. Gna is a representative of Frigg's
darker and powerful magical side, the strange, wild, unpredictable messenger of
the sky queen.

Ritual

Rituals to Gna can be performed to enlist her aid to carry
messages to and from Frigg, the Allmother, and to ask Gna to encourage Frigg to
grant wishes or offer help for an appropriate project. Gna, in her role as
messenger, can also be petitioned to speed, protect, and encourage any messages
(which could include letters, phone calls, telegrams, and personal visits). By
the same token, people working in professions involving any sort of
communication can call on her to help and protect them in their work. Because of
her shamanic characteristics, Gna can also be invoked to aid in any magical
workings involving journeys to the other worlds and communications with the
beings that dwell there.

Gna seems to be associated with light but strong colors, such as bright
yellows, oranges, greens, or blues. Symbols of the messages to be sent (a
letter, for example) and the persons or beings to be contacted could be placed
on the altar if the ritual is for a specific communication. A symbol of
Hofvarpnir, Gna's horse, would also be an appropriate decoration. The use of
percussive instruments and dancing in the ritual is very effective for Gna, who
seems to inspire an atmosphere of greater improvisation and informality than
some of the other goddesses. If one doesn't want to experiment with the chanting
invocation mentioned above, a more traditional style of invocation can always be
used.