The Aesir

In old Norse Mythology the Aesir are the principal gods of the pantheon. They
include many of the major figures, Odin, Frigg, Thor, Balder and Tyr.
A second clan of gods, the Vanir, is also mentioned in the Norse mythos. The god
Njord and his children, Freyr and Freyja, are the most prominent Vanir gods who
join the Aesir as hostages after a war between Aesir and Vanir. The Vanir appear
to have mainly been connected with cultivation and fertility, the Aesir with power
and war in the duality of mythology.
Mythology follows the patterns of birth, death, and rebirth in the alchemy of time
and consciousness created by the patterns of Sacred Geometry - the Golden Ratio.
The formula, which creates the lessons are about duality, with the godd and
goddess pantheons, as well as the human DNA experience.

Yggdrasil - World Tree - Tree of Life

Yggdresil
is a gigantic tree, thought to connect all the nine worlds of Norse cosmology. It is
often suggested to be an ash tree, an interpretation generally accepted in the
modern Scandinavian mind.
Ginnungagap
was the vast chasm that existed between Niflheim [Land of Mist] and Muspelheim
[fire giants] before creation. To the north of Ginnungagap lay the intense cold of
Niflheim, to the south the insufferable heat of Muspelheim. At the beginning of
time, the two met in the Ginnungagap; and where the heat met the frost, the frost
drops melted and formed the substance eitr, which quickened into life in the form
of the giant Ymir, the father of all Frost giants. See his entry for the continuation of
the Old Norse story of the Creation. It is similar to Chaos Theory.
Ragnarok
is the final battle, equivalent to Judgment day in the battle of good and evil, when
balance is restored and a new creation begins.

Odin

Odin is the chief divinity of the Norse pantheon, the foremost of the Aesir. Odin is
a son of Bor and Bestla. He is called Alfadir, Allfather, for he is indeed father of
the gods. With Frigg he is the father of Balder, Hod, and Hermod. He fathered
Thor on the goddess Jord; and the giantess Grid became the mother of Vidar.
Odin is a god of war and death, but also the god of poetry and wisdom. He hung
for nine days, pierced by his own spear, on the world tree. Here he learned nine
powerful songs, and eighteen runes. Odin can make the dead speak to question the
wisest amongst them. His hall in Asgard is Valaskjalf ("shelf of the slain") where
his throne Hlidskjalf is located.
From this throne he observes all that happens in the nine worlds.
The tidings are brought to him by his two raven Huginn and Muninn. He also
resides in Valhalla, where the slain warriors are taken.
Odin's attributes are the spear Gungnir, which never misses its target, the ring
Draupnir, from which every ninth night eight new rings appear, and his eightfooted steed Sleipnir. He is accompanied by the wolves Freki and Geri, to whom
he gives his food for he himself consumes nothing but wine. Odin has only one
eye, which blazes like the sun. His other eye he traded for a drink from the Well of
Wisdom, and gained immense knowledge. On the day of the final battle, Odin will
be killed by the wolf Fenrir.

He is also called Othinn, Wodan and Wotan. Some of the aliases he uses to travel
icognito among mortals are Vak and Valtam. Wednesday is named after him
(Wodan).
Amongst his gifts to us, his children, was the greatest of all: the gift of writing. To
accomplish this Odin hung himself upside down upon the World Tree, [Tree of
Life] the gigantic ash Yggdrasil (a compound meaning "terrible horse").
After nine days of fasting and agony, in which "he made of himself a sacrifice to
himself", he "fell screaming" from the tree, having had revealed to him in a flash of
insight the secret of the runes. Their initial manifestation took the form of eighteen
powerful charms for protection, increase, success in battle and love-making,
healing, and mastery over natural causes.
This story illustrates an important dynamic of the Northern pantheon, which did
not allow for omnipotence - even Odin must pay his due. At Mimir's well, which
lay deep under the roots of Yggdrasil, the World Tree, the god had earlier chosen
to undergo an important forfeit. Odin paid with one eye for a single drink of the
enchanted water. His mouthful granted him wisdom and fore-sight. It is due to this
sacrifice that Odin's face is depicted with a straight line indicating an empty eye, or
alternately, in a wide-brimmed hat pulled down low over the missing orb.
His quest for knowledge was never-ending. Upon his shoulders perched two
ravens, Hugin ("Thought"), and Munin ("Memory"). These circled the Earth each
day, seeing all, and then at night reported to Odin what they had learnt. He
cherished them both, but particularly Munin, which seems to underscore the
importance he placed on rune writing, record keeping, and honouring the heroic
deeds of the past. There is another bird associated with Odin, the eagle. The god
often transformed himself into this canny raptor, both to view the workings of the
world and to intervene when an avian form was better suited to his ends.
Odin's fabulous grey horse Sleipnir was like no other. This is the eight-legged
horse depicted so beautifully on the painted stones of Gotland, a now-Swedish
island in the Baltic. Sleipnir was the offspring of a giant's magical stallion and the
"trickster" god, Loki, who disguised himself as an alluring mare to distract the
stallion from the task of building a wall around Asgard, home of the Gods. If the
wall had been completed by a certain date, Freyja, the goddess of beauty, war and
sexuality would have been forfeit to the giant as payment for his labors. (The gods
also stood to lose the Sun and the Moon, but did not seem particularly concerned
about their impending loss!)
Loki was successful, but vanished for a few seasons as he had to bear the fruit of
his trickery. He returned to Odin leading his equine offspring, which he presented
as a gift. With his eight legs, Sleipnir could run twice as fast as ordinary steeds,
and it is he who carries the valiant dead from the battle field to Valhalla.

Balder

The god of light, joy, purity, beauty, innocence, and reconciliation. Son of Odin
and Frigg, he was loved by both gods and men and was considered to be the best of
the gods. He had a good character, was friendly, wise and eloquent, although he
had little power.
His wife was Nanna daughter of Nep, and their son was Forseti, the god of justice.
Balder's hall was Breidablik ("broad splendor"). Nanna is linked with the Sumerian
goddess Inanna.
Most of the stories about Balder concern his death. He had been dreaming about
his death, so Frigg extracted an oath from every creature, object and force in nature
(snakes, metals, diseases, poisons, fire, etc.) that they would never harm Balder.
All agreed that none of their kind would ever hurt or assist in hurting Balder.
Thinking him invincible, the gods enjoyed themselves thereafter by using Balder
as a target for knife-throwing and archery.
The malicious trickster, Loki, was jealous of Balder. He changed his appearance
and asked Frigg if there was absolutely nothing that could harm the god of light.
Frigg, suspecting nothing, answered that there was just one thing: a small tree in

the west that was called mistletoe. She had thought it was too small to ask for an
oath.
Loki immediately left for the west and returned with the mistletoe. He tricked
Balder's blind twin brother Hod into throwing a mistletoe fig (dart) at Balder. Not
knowing what he did, Hod threw the fig, guided by Loki's aim. Pierced through the
heart, Balder fell dead.
While the gods were lamenting Balder's death, Odin sent his other son Hermod to
Hel, the goddess of death, to plead for Balder's return. Hel agreed to send Balder
back to the land of the living on one condition: everything in the world, dead or
alive, must weep for him. And everything wept, except for Loki, who had
disguised himself as the witch Thokk. And so Balder had to remain in the
underworld.
The others took the dead god, dressed him in crimson cloth, and placed him on a
funeral pyre aboard his ship Ringhorn, which passed for the largest in the world.
Beside him they lay the body of his wife Nanna, who had died of a broken heart.
Balder's horse and his treasures were also placed on the ship. The pyre was set on
fire and the ship was sent to sea by the giantess Hyrrokin.Loki did not escape
punishment for his crime and Hod was put to death by Vali, son of Odin and Rind.
Vali had been born for just that purpose.
After the final conflict (Ragnarok), when a new world arises from its ashes, both
Balder and Hod will be reborn. Rising from the ashes goes to Egyptian mythos
about the Phonnix she who rises from the ashes - resurrection and rebirth.

Frigg

As the wife of Odin, Frigg is one of the foremost goddesses of Norse mythology.
She is the patron of marriage and motherhood, and the goddess of love and
fertility. In that aspect she shows many similarities with Freya, of whom she
possibly is a different form.
She has a reputation of knowing every person's destiny, but never unveils it. As the
mother of Balder, she tried to prevent his death by extracting oaths from every
object in nature, but forgot the mistletoe. And by a fig made from mistletoe Balder
died.
Her hall in Asgard is Fensalir (water halls).
Frigg's messenger is Gna, who rides through the sky on the horse Hofvarpnir. In
some myths she was rumored to have had love affairs with Odin's brothers Ve and
Vili.
As Woden/Odin gave his name to Wednesday, and Thunor/Thor to Thursday, so
Frigg is remembered in Friday. Frigg was the direct daughter of Fjorgyn, the
Goddess of Earth. She kept her own hall, called Fensalir. Women prayed to her for
children and prayed again for safe labor and delivery.