This post is inspired by Question #5 from this list.

I touched on this briefly in my last post, in which I talked about my relationship with Freyja and other Norse deities. By and large, I like to keep my emphasis on focus on the Norse deities, as it allows me to keep things within the context of a single system of myths and lore. While I admire others who seem to have no problem working with and relating to deities from diverse cultural sources, it’s just not generally something that appeals to me, nor do I feel it would work well for me. Partly, I think this goes back to the idea that my ability to call on and relate to other Norse deities stems from the relationship they and I both have to Freyja. If I were to try to reach out to a Celtic deity, it would require extra work and would feel like more of a “cold call” to me.

The one exception is the Greek god Pan, who I occasionally feel drawn to. I think that has to do with the sexual energies he represents from a more masculine point of view, something I don’t quite feel with Freyja. What’s interesting to me is that I don’t have that same feeling toward Freyja’s own brother, Freyr, despite the fact that he is a deity of fertility and sexuality. But to me at least — and I’d be curious to hear the thoughts of other people with experience with Freyr — his sexual energy feels much more tame and civilized than his sister’s energy. I tend to attribute this to the fact that his fertility is linked tot he fertility of the land, often described as the king married to the land. It feels to me as if that crown and his obligations calms and constrains his own sexual energy. Pan, on the other hand, has that wild and even chaotic sexual energy that I am so familiar with through Freyja, and that appeals to me.