The authentic self
A woman whose inner knowing, intuition, instinct, and creativity had been suppressed for years or even decades, and finally awakening.
Vowing to herself to never doubt, trivialize, or subdue her Divine Feminine gifts ever again, she leaves behind the mundane, dull, and domesticated aspects of the Old Self and all it's conditioning, and enters the wild unknown and the free and limitless self.
Honoring the lessons of Skadi today 🙏💛
Skadi, Goddess Of Authenticity
In Norse mythology, Skaði is a giantess who was worshipped as the Goddess of Winter, Wilderness, Wolves, Mountains, Hunting, Revenge, Justice, and Independence throughout Scandinavia. The name Skaði is thought to mean “Shade” or “Shadow”, likely due to her connection to the long, dark wintery days and nights of the Arctic. 🌘❄️
In many ways, Skaði is an emblem of independence and authenticity since she is known to be very plain-speaking and uncompromising when it comes to her truth. While many jötunn or giants were malevolent, Skaði was benevolent and kind regardless of how she was expected to be and behave as a giantess. Although just as strong and fierce as her jötunn kin, Skaði’s true desire was to enjoy the deadly and silent beauty of the snow-covered high mountains. And nothing — and no one — could ever get in the way of this authentic existence.
This can be evidenced by one of the most well-known myths about Skaði. As compensation for the death of her beloved father, Þjazi, Skaði demands that the Aesir gods provide her with a husband or else she will take revenge upon them. Fearful of the ferocious frost giantess, Odin The Allfather — chief of the Aesir tribe — agreed to her demand, allowing her to marry an Aesir god and thus giving her status as a goddess. Although she hoped to marry Baldr, Skaði ends up unknowingly taking Njörðr, a sea god, as her husband. As was custom, she immediately moved to her husband’s home along the sea coast to live with him. However, very quickly Skaði realized that living by the sea was not for her. The constant brightness, noise of the crashing waves, and screeching sea birds were too much for Skaði to bear, and she longed to return to the frost-bitten mountains, silence of the snow, and the howling of the wolves. 🏔🐺
As opposed to pretending that she was happy living on the sea coast or trying to convince herself that she would one day grow to enjoy it, Skaði honestly communicated her unhappiness and need for greater independence to Njörðr. As a compromise, the two decided to alternate living between the sea coast and the snowy mountains for 9 days at a time. Nonetheless, both Skaði and Njörðr found this arrangement to be painful, as Njörðr hated Skaði’s home just as much as she hated his home. While his wife found peace, solace, and joy in the cold, dark, and silent mountains, Njörðr felt isolated and depressed living there. In some versions of the tale, Skaði and Njörðr divorce, while in other versions they remain married but live apart, only coming together when they most desire to see each other.
Regardless of which ending to the story we choose to follow, one thing remains true: Skaði chose her authenticity, no matter the consequences. She knew with every fiber of her being — even though most could not understand why and thought she was crazy for it — that she truly loved living among the wild wolf packs, and roaming the snowy, silent mountains and wilderness of the Arctic. She knew that while, of course, some level of compromise is necessary and healthy in any relationship, she had to draw a boundary when compromise would cause her to sacrifice or betray her authentic truth.
Everything has a profound meaning to my Soul, as I believe the visions we see in our mind's eye during the process of Creation are meaningful messages from our Higher Self.
A part of me longs to deeply connect with Mother Earth and indulge in the wisdom she bears.
While the wise women — the "witches" — of many ancient cultures such as the Celts understood and valued the power present upon the Earth — and, in some cases, even died for merely holding this sacred knowledge...
We, as a collective, have forgotten this power.
In Wicca, we believe that the power — the Life Force of the Creator — is present within ALL earthly life forms, and so we need not dream of traveling to other worlds or dimensions in order to experience magic.
Magic is here.
Its all around us.
Without even having to ask, Mother Earth provides us with everything we need.