Who are Freyja and Frey?

Freyja
Pilgrim, for you I hold the Amber Necklace
As you search for it through Odin's pageantry beneath a Nordic Morning Star.
The secrets of great Yggdrasill are spelled out for you within the Runes of Fate.
And Asgard holds the power of life and death; peace and war.
I keep the secrets safe for you until you open up the gate.
                                                                            poem by Jodieanne

Keith and I began our path of study by reading everything in sight concerning all the world religions. He had dyslexia and found reading difficult so I read aloud to him as he painted.  We did not delve into paganism, however, as we had both been raised in Christian homes and we were left with the impression that this was a darker path than we wished to study. 

One day a young couple approached us. They were very beautiful, he with long black hair trailing down his back, she with striking red-gold tresses. They wore black leather. They asked if we would teach them to meditate and we were delighted to do so. We met with them after-hours in the studio and Keith guided them through a meditation of angels and light. They explained that they followed another path and asked us if they could share their meditation with us? After some initial trepidation we agreed. Through a guided meditation they led us through a beautiful world of our ancient earth. We were led to a large wooden gate but before we could go through it my meditation took on a life of its own. I saw a young man ride up to Keith on a huge white horse.  He leaped off it and he and Keith embraced. I was so surprised that I hardly heard the rest of the meditation. I was very emotional. Afterwards we shared our experiences and Keith was excited to be first. He was glowing with happiness. He told us how he had seen a young man riding toward him. They recognised one another and embraced. It was an archtype named Frey, from Nordic mythology. He said that it felt as if they hadn't seen one another for thousands of years! This experience was verification to each of us to open our hearts and minds to what we do not at first understand.

We began reading about some of the pagan myths and legends. Freyja was a goddess who had a brother, Frey. The legend tells of the search for the Amber Necklace of which Freja is its guardian. Amber is a sap that becomes a beautiful jewel. How like the Christian/Arthurian myth of alchemy where lead becomes gold! These metaphors are from different cultures and different times but the spiritual teachers of their day used them to help us understand our own ability to strive for perfection. 

This experience happened early in our search for truth and it felt like we had broken open a universal code. 

A few years later we received the happy news that our young friends now had a baby girl. They named her Rowan Storm. I searched Britain for a rowan tree to send to their family as a baby gift to welcome her. I phoned for hours from garden centre to garden centre, florist to florist and finally found one who had such a tree and agreed to deliver it. In my mind I pictured a baby rowan tree being delivered onto their doorstep, perhaps with a shiny pink ribbon. The reality was that Daddy arrived home from the hospital, happy but so, so tired to find a giant tree that needed planting straight away on his doorstep! He did plant it and here is that tree today! 

Rowan and her tree, aged 3

Rowan and her tree, aged almost 19!

Prints of the painting "Freyja" are on offer for £50, postage paid in the UK until 31st July 2018