Ostara

Today we celebrated spring and the cycle of life that is starting again in the plants (and in us) We had a great feast and Blot. Asilia and I are trying every year to add and remove so that we have something different in each Blot. This year we did something that I would like to keep in our traditions in years to come. We each took an egg and wrote on in what our intentions for this new cycle are.
Each person has a different reason for each item placed on the egg. they can be general like : Health, Wealth, and Love. or they can be super personal like
:stopping a bad habit, working on a character trait, Learning something you have put off for years but have always wanted to learn. or showing love in a new way..
Then we planted them with seeds on top. that way as the cycle turns we can see our intentions grow and can be reminded of what we wanted from this cycle.

These are the ones we dyed and hid for the kids, but I thought the picture was perfect for this as there are no 2 a like, what learn on this path is the same. There are many ways of looking at things, that does not make one way right and another wrong... just seeing them through different eyes... Tryggvi while blessing the folk today was using the hammer sign, we have always used Gebo.. When he gets a little older I will ask him why he uses the hammer sign.. I am sure he has a good reason and I want to understand it. I want to see into his mind and learn from him. He has such an advantage on me. he is being raised in the path, he will be able to say this is who I am much younger then I think I even started looking at that. I know I cam learn from him and his little sister who was helping with the shield wall today. I wish I could learn like I was young again.. it take a lot more to get me to remember things now, but I am gonna soak up all I can from our young ones! Just like the idea of the eggs watching the seeds grow I want to watch our young ones grow and learn (and I want to learn along with them!)
Helga's ramblings, and things to think about...

Freyja

I see so much about Freyja being the goddess of live and beauty, but did you know she is also a goddess of death and dying? Freyja is the embodiment of the triple goddess. She is the maiden, beautiful and aloft. She is the mother, loving and compassionate. She is the crone, vengeful and terrible. Freyja truly is all three. Yet most of what we hear about her is the maiden. We think of her as young and beautiful and very, very sexual. I see her a little differently. I don't see her as young, but she isn't old either. I see her with an ageless face. While she is sexy, it's in that 50s pinup girl way. Just hinting at what is there.
To me Freyja has a hidden depth to her that most people don't consider. Even those who claim her as their patron goddess, don't explore more of her aspects past the sex and beauty. She is leader on the valkyrie, claiming half the battle slain as her own. She is the Vanadis, leader of the disir. These are the unnamed female spirits of the earth. She is one of the Vanir, the earth or fertility gods and goddesses. She taught Odin seid magic, so she must be an expert at that if not the leader of all who practice it.
There is so much to learn for all of us. This is just what came up with off the top of my head. With study our gods and goddesses come to life for us. They need to be more than just a 2 dimensional picture in our heads.