The difference between passion and purpose
Published: Thu, 07/04/13
The Mann rune is associated with Freya and one of the best known
stories about her describes her encounter with four dwarf brothers
in Svart-alfa-heim. They were creating a necklace which as known
as the Brisinga-men which was of such quality and beauty that Freya
just had to have it whatever the cost. (women reading this will
understand, if you are a man you might have to substitute
motorcycle or firearm or high quality power tool to understand what
Freya felt). Freya apparently implored the four dwarfs to let her
have the necklace. They might have seen it as an honour to simply
give it to a Vanir of such status as Freya, paying them any amount
of gold or other riches would not have been a problem for the
daughter of Njord. But dwarfs do not give away their crafts for
nothing, no reason why they should and they have no use for gold or
silver since they have their own mines. So the dwarfs price for
the item of jewelry was for Freya to spend one night with each of
the makers. Such was her passion for this particular necklace that
she agreed. From then on she wore her new piece of jewelry proudly
and everyone admired it as she no doubt hoped they would.
However later there was a price to be paid. when Odin found out
about her deal he told her that from now on she would take half
those fallen in battle and they would reside at her hall Volkvang.
So Norse warriors could say before battle that if they fell they
might go to Valhalla as a guest of Odin, or to Volkvang as a guest
of the beautiful Freya. Either would be an acceptable place to
wait for the coming of Ragnarok.
It is great to be passionate about something. The human race
carries on largely because people fall in love and have children.
It is great to have a hobby or activity we are passionate about and
that can provide a lot of enjoyment. But there is a big difference
between destiny and passion. Freya's passion for beautiful
jewelry didn't exactly enhance her judgment of what was
sensible and of value to anyone but herself. In fact it enabled
Odin to practically blackmail Freya into doing something that was
of value in providing a resting place for fallen warriors.
The Mann rune will indicate that a particular opportunity will
accord with your desire. So in a reading about a job for example
the Mann rune suggests that taking that employment will give you
all that was offered, money, status, nice company car perhaps but
absolutely no more than it said on the job description. It will
not be your life's work and there will be no really deep
satisfaction. Freya is dominant in the modern world, glamor,
wealth, beauty, personal happiness, entertainment are the driving
forces of our culture. In a sense there is nothing wrong with
these things but they are distractions from really important
aspirations and in their ultimate expression can easily become
compulsive and addictive behaviors.
So when you feel attracted to someone, something or some activity
take a step back and ask yourself: To what extent is this a
pleasant distraction or is it taking me forward in my life's
purpose?
regards
Graham
PS whether Stav is your passion or your purpose, there are Saturday
afternoon training opportunities this summer. See
http://www.iceandfire.org/calendar.html