Devaluation of the Goddess (Freya)

https://lookaside.fbsbx.com/file/DevaluationofIrishGoddess.pdf?token=AWzObK-9i4_xBrzUB8eeXe_nwWAMJfomNQzVWAZI1l2Sd0XCdA_zpN1ZzzGDXzygECK6Wdb6SlUtUh8ebHIBgcg1yl-0aSC5qncYAaIOFEcHXiyG__pLe5_BZEcZEebIezTj2MFCbJY1VKW64XqR30pIhtPBGq4kCtjF6sm-mXtYcA



This is a well developed Master's Thesis on the demotion of the goddess Morrighan.  The table that describes the states of demotion could be applied to any goddesses whose history we know of.

The stages of the demotion of Anu start with her as a Sovereign goddess connected to water and rivers. Then she becomes a land and fertility goddess during the times of agriculture. The she is splintered into numerous goddesses, many holding power over specific aspects of society and life.  Specialization.  Warfare became more common for numerous reasons, protecting territory, warring over resources and women.  The Iron Age was a military time. This is when the warrior aspect of the Morrighan developed. It was a moral demotion to tie her to the suffering and death of wars.  She is parallel with the Valkyries in this.  About 1500 years ago she became associated with the Banshee, those who wail and warn of death. The church saw these as ghosts.   Most recently only fractions of her former Great Goddess self have survived the conversion: Brigid as a saint specifically.

We can apply something similar to Freya.

The Vanir are agricultural gods, at least at the time when they came in contact with the Aesir. Njord, her father is associated with the ocean and harbors. Frey, her brother is associated with grain.  Freya was a sovereign goddess who over saw the land. It is possible she was also associated with rivers, but currently I have only UPG for this, and not lore to base it on. Her role was fertility and reproduction.  When the two cultures of the Aesir and the Vanir went to war, she took on her warrior aspect either during the conflict or right after. It is from this that we get her mythology of taking half of the slain into her hall.  As well as her connection to the Valkyries who associated with manipulation the outcome of battles and taking the souls of the slain. I don't know of any associations for her with spirits of the dead other than her connection to the Disir, the honored female dead.    Her worship is said to have lasted longer than any other cult.

The current incarnation of her is as a goddess of love/lust.  The current demotion that she is experiencing in the heathen community today is that of a sex object for the male gaze, or male desire. It is something that is disturbing to many women in the heathen community for multiple reasons.

For one, she is a goddess, and for people to objectify her for their own selfish pleasure is an insult to her power.  Secondly, we come from a culture where women's sexuality is shamed.  Snorri used words like slut and whore for her repeatedly, or implied it.  There is a danger of this shame attaching itself to her because of our own cultural biases.  And then there is the demonization of goddesses.  Associating her with war is a violent thing, and could be twisted to say that she brings death and suffering to others. Her association with the dead can be twisted into necromancy.  I don't see evidence of this currently but it has happened to other goddesses.

My hope is the research, archeology, and the revival of old faiths will help deter these dangers.  We can build back up the true and original meanings of these goddesses, restore our understanding of their powers to what it once was, and avoid the pitfalls that the conversion brought upon them and the people that worshipped them.  Of course, in the case of the Holy Roman Empire, the demotion of these goddesses to either ghosts, demons, or servants of Mary, was very much done intentionally.