Norse Goddess Magic (19 page)

Ritual

An altar to Lofn might be draped in strong, vibrant, passionate
colors, such as red or purple, and many candles would be used to create an
atmosphere of energy and light. A dagger might be included as a symbol of the
goddess and also of the power to cut down obstacles. Because one would often
have a specific reason to invoke Lofn, pictures or symbols of the loved one or
the couple involved could be included, as well as representations of the
problems preventing the union. These obstacles could then be ritually burned or
otherwise destroyed during the ritual to symbolize the removal of the hindrances
in real life. At the close of the ritual a small celebration might be included,
with special food and drink, to commemorate the successful resolution of the
situation. Bits of poetry, literature, or drama appropriate to the qualities
Lofn represents might be read, preferably ones with happy outcomes (Keats's “The
Eve of St. Agnes” rather than Shakespeare's
Romeo and Juliet,
for
example).

Call to Lofn

Hail Lofn—defender of lovers—beloved of youth,
    You who have the ear of Frigg and Odin . . .
Beloved winner of leave to live!
Lady of fire, watcher in the pool,
Dagger-cunning and heart-soothing.

Cloaked in love, you lift the latch
    That bars the way to wedding;
Cheat of old age, wealth-scornful,
Lady of lying tongue and whole heart.

Come to us, Lofn of love-luck—
    Break our bonds,
    Clear our course,
    Smooth our sailing,
    Aid our love!

Give us boldness and blessing, shelter and safeguard,
Be our champion and our luck—
Be true to us, who are true to each other.

Lofn—Beloved Champion—Come!

15

Sjofn

The Peacemaker

Lore

Sjofn (ON Sjöfn) is another goddess who is only mentioned in
passing in the Eddas and skaldic lore. According to Snorri (Gylfaginning, ch.
35), the word
sjafni
(“love, affection”) was derived from her name. She
is said to be greatly concerned with turning the minds of both men and women to
love.

It is all very well to dismiss a deity with the comfortable label “love
goddess” and leave it at that. Certainly love seems to be an important function
of many of the Northern goddesses, but that does not mean that they are all the
same. Rather than dimissing a goddess like Sjofn as a redundant and therefore
unimportant aspect of Frigg, one should try to discover why a separate goddess
evolved for this function and what particular aspect of that function she might
represent. If there are several goddesses of love, what kinds and aspects of
love do each of them oversee? In Sjofn's case, as with Frigg and all her
associates, the love she inspires is not casual; it is love that leads to
relationships and commitment.

When the Gylfaginning states that Sjofn turns people's minds to love, the
actual word used for “mind” is
hugr,
which is a broader term,
encompassing consciousness, intuition, and emotion, as well as the intellectual
processes. Sjofn's power does not merely create a passing infatuation; it
affects a person at the deepest level of being, touching all facets of the soul.
Guerber states that Sjofn (or Vjofn, as she calls her) reconciles quarreling
spouses and keeps harmony and peace among people in general.
¹
Although written from a nineteenth-century perspective, this does indeed seem to
catch the quality of Sjofn's work. The love she creates is more than physical or
even romantic love; rather, it is real frith, that broader and more
all-encompassing love and harmony that binds people together socially at the
deepest level, the love of family, tribe, nation, and even of the world and life
itself.

Cultivating Frith

Frith
is an old Saxon word meaning “fruitful peace, joy.”
It is hard to accurately describe the concept today, when so much of the
original Germanic culture has been destroyed. Frith was a condition that
automatically existed from birth between all members of a kinship group and that
could be created between other people through bonds such as marriage, blood
brotherhood (or possibly sisterhood), allegiance between a chieftain and his
followers, and friendship. Frith reflects the Germanic view of a person as
essentially a social being, incomplete unless part of a close-knit group.
Kinfolk were united by mutual self-interest and self-sacrifice, bound in
loyalty, peace, support, and joy.

This love meant more than passively refraining from doing one's fellows harm;
it required one to actively support and protect each kin member. Frith was the
loyalty, love, and goodwill with which kindred folk lived together; it was the
very core of the soul, the seat of a person's humanity and the wellspring of all
her thoughts, feelings, and desires.
²
Kinfolk felt a deep love for
each other; this love carried strong notes of intimacy and joy. Humans were seen
as intrinsically social, and the greatest joy and peace arose from being in
one's own home among one's family and trusted friends. This is the love Sjofn
seeks so strongly to inspire in the minds of men and women. It is the basis of
society, of humanity itself; without it, the worlds of order would fall back
into chaos.

As mentioned earlier, there were unions other than blood kinship in which a
state of frith could exist between people, but these could only happen through
the giving of gifts. To the Heathen Germanics, all important agreements and
relationships depended on the exchange of gifts to create the same love that
automatically existed between members of a family. In giving a gift, a person
gave a part of her soul to the other, and the gift itself became a physical
manifestation of love and goodwill.

The kind of love born from the exchange of marriage gifts was more than
romance; it was real frith, a sharing of honor and ørlög between husband and
wife that also united the families involved. Friendship sprang from exchanging
gifts too, as did the bond between a chieftain or war leader, who was often
referred to as “ring giver,” and his sworn followers. The paying of
wergild,
a monetary compensation for manslaughter, carried with it the promise of real
reconciliation, as it pledged the two feuding families to peace.

These, then, are the two sources of love and frith—kinship and gifts. So
Sjofn must be connected to both. She would be involved not only in creating love
where it did not exist before—new unions, such as marriage, friendship, social
and political alliance, and treaty—but also in restoring the state of frith in
situations where it has been strained or broken.

Trance

I see her in the garden behind Frigg's hall, Fensalir,
leaning on the trunk of a tree. She seems rather plain for a love goddess, with
a kerchief edged in dark blue embroidery on her head. Her hair is a kind of
ordinary brown. Her voice is soft, light, and quick, and she has a subtle,
worldly sense of humor. She puts her arm around me and guides me through the
door or gate leading out of the garden.

We go to various homes in the world of men. In one there
is a quarreling couple. She talks with each in turn, both husband and wife,
sitting them down at the table and putting her arm around each one. She
understands and empathizes equally with them both. Afterward she goes
outside to a meadow and sits beside a young girl under a tree. Sjofn talks to
her of boys, and her manner is now teasing and coy; she takes off her kerchief
and is suddenly more beautiful. Her hair is a tawny light brown or dark blond,
with just a tiny hint of red highlights, and is wavy and full. Her mouth is
strong and sensual, her eyes gray-green and striking. She wears embroidered
clothes in a sort of European peasant style.

She next goes to an outsized hall and sits with great
leaders of nations and armies at a large table; she tries to reconcile their
differences, acting as a diplomat. She is like a chameleon, her appearance and
manner changing from moment to moment. Her manner is warm and kindly, but
uncompromising; she has empathy with old and young, men and women, rich and
poor.

I see her on a rooftop during a festival for the new year,
holding a wine cup. I sense the great love she feels for the crowd below, and
for the stars and the very air, and her great joy. She keeps running one hand
through her hair. I see now that she is in her late twenties or early thirties;
she is sometimes fair, sometimes plain, depending on who she is with at the
moment. Her love is a love of gentleness, not lust. She is quiet, with deep
humor and strong charisma.

Suddenly we are back in the garden, at the tree—it is an
apple tree. She pulls off an apple and bites it, and laughs.

Both the few facts known about Sjofn and my impressions of her
in trance point to the broader aspects of love—the sense of camaraderie and
loyalty that holds societies and clans together, the closeness and warmth that
bind families, the joy of life that makes our time on this planet worthwhile. In
this promotion of peace and joy, Sjofn is similar to Frey and some of the other
Vanir, at whose celebrations weapons were put aside. This is also true of the
German goddess Nerthus, whose festival is described by Tacitus in his
Germania
(ch. 40).

Sjofn is a goddess for all, rich and poor, ugly and beautiful, foolish and
wise. She has a broad understanding of and sympathy for humanity and the mortal
condition. Adaptable, tolerant, and empathetic, she is capable of many moods and
able to deal with an infinite variety of situations. The love she inspires is
the glue that holds society and the ordered world together, the very spirit that
makes us human.

Ritual

With this in mind, a ritual to Sjofn could be performed for any
situation where a little harmony and concord is desired, including disruptive
homes, bad situations at work, meetings of kinfolk with differing ideas, or even
worldwide political conditions. One can call her to help you maintain and
celebrate good relations and situations in your life as well. Sjofn can also be
asked to help in the selection of gifts and to bless them before they are
distributed.

Muted colors, especially blues and greens and other shades considered to
promote harmony and calm, might be used as altar decorations or clothing. I
think Sjofn probably prefers an understated and subtle yet aesthetic altar,
evoking the same effect as a Japanese tea ceremony, with a few beautiful objects
to please the mind and eye rather than a clutter of fancy paraphernalia. Try to
reach a state of peace and contentment beforehand. Think of all the individuals,
groups, places, activities, and things you love, things that make you glad to be
alive. You could put some symbols of these on your altar. You might also want to
gather together some people for whom you have particular affection, to join you
in this rite, if possible.

Helping Those Who Help Themselves

If you are doing the ritual to remedy some unpleasant condition
or situation, take a few moments at some point during the ritual to clearly
identify what the actual problems are and try to see what you can do to make
things better. Visualize the situation as you want it to be, harmonious and
friendly. Don't expect Sjofn to magically turn things around if you don't
formulate a plan to implement some changes and actively do your part, for Sjofn
is similar to the gods Tyr and Forseti in that she is a goddess of justice and
fairness. Similarly, don't visualize the situation being remedied by yourself
gaining power over everyone else and putting them under your thumb, because
Sjofn does not embrace vengeance or power trips.

You should also not invoke Sjofn out of misplaced idealism or a desire to
feel virtuous in situations where you don't really want to love the others
involved. If you truly think that your obnoxious neighbors are truly dreadful,
don't play the “turn the other cheek” game and ask Sjofn to help you be a better
person and “love” them. Sjofn will only work for real love, love that is—or at
least once was—there. She will also promote a love that could be there with a
little help—that person at the office who irritates you, but for no real reason
that you can pinpoint, and might become a friend with the proper attitude and
actions; or the spouse who was once special but whose habits are grating in
times of stress or hardship; or the fellow kindred full of good enough folk who
unfortunately don't see eye-to-eye with your group on some issues. This does not
mean you cannot feel a certain level of kinship with even strangers at times—at
a parade or on New Year's Eve—the bond of being human and alive on the same
planet. But don't use Sjofn as a chance to play the goody-two-shoes and feel
self-righteous about your supposed tolerance and goodness of heart.