Date: Tue, 25 Apr 2000
From: Manny Olds <oldsma@pobox.com>
Subject: Specialties

 > Manny Olds wrote in message ...
 > >
 > > No, I think it is much more accurate to say that Frigga is an
 > > alliance-maker. She doesn't care much about romance, but about
 > > creating strong extended families. She is much more interested in
 > > marriage partners working together well than in romance. (Which is
 > > not to say that the gods or disir don't give the occasional meddling
 > > nudge to help their human allies find each other.)

 > I dont know how you could make a statement like this with any
 > certainty. The Gods often do not fit into our little boxes do they? 

There has just been a long discussion of this on the Asynjur mailing list.
Many different people of sensible reputation, but who come from widely
divergent starting points, reported UPGs on Frigga that pointed them to
this conclusion. And several devoted Frigga followers of long standing
have told me in the past that Frigga has given the same strong impression
to them. I give a lot of weight to what the gods tell us about themselves.

But I think you can draw the same conclusion from reading the lore,
particularly if you consider the cultures that the model of the Eddas
refers back to. (Everything is described in terms of the Icelandic
nostalgic view of the Viking past, not because that is exactly the way the
gods are but--most likely--because it gave familiar and memorable mental
images those who heard the stories.)

It's not that Frigga never meddles in the social lives of her followers,
or that she would necessarily refuse to help you get a date if you asked
her nicely. It's just that it is not her particular interest or strength.
Just as one of your friends might be a dedicated matchmaker and
fixer-upper, but another would be more likely to help you figure out how
that new family budgeting program works.

As far as I can tell by observing other Asatruers, and by considering my
own experiences, any god could, potentially, help you with anything. But
generally what seems to work best is to first ask your disir or a god you
have a particular ongoing relationship for help. If they refer you out to
a specialist, take their advice--make an offering and request to that god.
If you don't have an ongoing relationship, then think of who seems to
specialize in the area of your problem or of who you would like to develop
a relationship with; then ask that god for help, with appropriate gifts.

Also, as KveldulfR Gundarsson once put it:  "I recently was published in
*Idunna* as comparing a Heathen's period relationships with wights and
such as thus: a Viking Age Scandinavian would go to the wights (di'sir,
a'lfar, landwights) on a daily basis, as s/he would to a neighbor; to the
god/esses occasionally, as to a chieftain (and much more often if the two
were close friends); and to the greater beings (such as Earth) very
rarely, as to a king or queen. This is a very class-oriented analogy,
which may beg a lot of argument on specifics, but I think it makes my
general point."

This is practical advice, not canon, of course.