Freyja : Cat Cult and Fertility Magic

Hello my dear friends, how are you? My name is Arith Härger and today I’m going to talk about fertility magic and a feline cult linked to the Norse Goddess Freyja An archaeological perspective focusing on mythological accounts and shamanic practices related to fertility and burials But before we start this video, let me just tell you that- this video is in honour of my best friend Mr. Tico, my cat, who passed away January 2018 and it was precisely because of this that I started researching about cats in the Norse culture and I thought it would be interesting to share with you what I came up with during my research If you have been around this channel for the past year, you probably knew Mr. Tico, he was on my very first video one year ago and occasionally he would appear in some of my videos I dearly miss him and well, this video is also in honour of his memory Let’s get stared Archaeozoology, the study of faunal remains It’s an interesting branch of archaeology which helps us to understand what type of animals our ancestors consumed It seems a little bit dull, right? Nowadays if we want to know what people eat, we just scroll down their Instagram profile But Archaeozoology isn’t just about our ancestors’ eating habits We find faunal remains in burial contexts, and not always what we have in front of us is simply a waste deposit Our ancestors, especially in Northern Europe, sacrificed animals in rituals and as offerings to the gods It wasn’t at random, there are patterns, so we must figure it out, what was the real purpose In this video, I will focus on cats It’s quite clear the importance of cats in Egypt but when it comes to northern Europe, especially in Scandinavian archaeology, the lack of information about cats is unsettling, because cat remains are found in burials and as offerings in specific rituals, but people don’t seem to care much But behind these remains there was a purpose, there was a cult, and there was the attempt to communicate with the divine At first glance cats seem of no importance in the Norse culture, but it would seem their importance was far greater than any other animal Norse religion was part of everyday life and it’s centred on the shared experiences between man and nature so animals are present in both the material and literary culture jewellery, ritualistic objects, decorations and in sacrificial rituals Now, in archaeology, when it comes to animals, we give more importance to the most abundant findings which indicate that to a certain society those specific animals where of great importance especially as ritualistic sacrifices to the gods, hence, their abundance But on the other hand, not finding the physical evidence of an animal, or finding only a few specific contexts, but have it present in loads of material culture, says a lot more about their importance An animal rarely used in sacrifices, had more importance to a society It was too dear and probably even sacred to give it to the gods so willingly and in great quantities So the lack of cats in archaeological findings for northern Europe, may indicate that such animal’s importance was far greater in the everyday activities of a society, even in terms of magic Horses and dogs are the most abundant symbolic findings in the Norse archaeological record, not only as sacrificed animals but also in burials of people with distinctions, animals linked to nobility, to someone with high statues But cats, being rare, especially in northern countries, and also expensive and linked to one of the most powerful and highly worshipped goddess of Norse mythology - Freyja were too important even to accompany nobility into the grave Freyja’s cart is driven by cats, her special animal is the cat, particularly males Freyja is a goddess of fertility as well as sorcery, magic, seidr Now, for instance, this example I’m about to tell you: In Erik the Red’s saga, rom the Saga of the Greenlanders, there is an account of an important sorceress with gloves made of white cat’s fur This might be far-fetched but, there is a suggestion here that cats may have played an important part in both fertility rituals and female magic associated with the goddess Freyja The cat might have been one of the most powerful animal spirits to aid a völva (a sorceress of Norse society) aiding in supernatural magical activities Another perspective, the Norse mythological accounts are Icelandic works, created, or put to parchment, during a time already greatly influenced by Christianity Christianity absolutely disapproved of female sexuality and pagan rituals, and therefore every mythological account concerning that seems to be missing or a great gap in the information is quite clear concerning goddesses Freyja’s cats have no names they seem to be the only animals belonging to a deity that have no name while all the names of other gods’ steeds are very well documented and known to us and in the literary sources Maybe that was the intention, trying to wipe out the magical connections to women and the role of women in the Norse society It seems to me that cats were more significant in the Norse society than generally assumed They can be found in myths, legends, Sagas, art, burials, magical references and items, and in some cases in sacrificial activities Cats may have been animals linked to very specific fertility cults of Freyja performed by an elite, because not everyone could get a cat as I said, In northern Europe, especially Iceland, they were rare and expensive and difficult to obtain In archaeology we look for the facts, not the truth The truth is far more complex and impossible to attain. We do not know what was inside the minds of our ancestors every person is unique, and therefore the emotions and intentions vary, greatly But we can make an educated guess, comparisons with other cultures and we can make an interpretation of what we find in an archaeological excavation It seems cats to the Norse, mostly, had ritualistic connotations Like other animals, they were more than just food or companions Let’s try to start from the beginning obviously, this was not a very smart assessment, we can’t start from the end well, anyway... cats were introduced in Scandinavia, as domestic animals, when in the far north people started to make contact with far southern cultures in which cats were already symbols of fertility and linked to certain deities so by the end of the Bronze Age and during the Iron Age, we have the earliest findings of domesticated cats in the north, during the migration period. But only during the Viking Age, with the increasing trade with other cultures, did the cat become a common animal in the north However, it must be taken into consideration that Neolithic Scandinavians already venerated felines before they had domesticated them wild cats have been found buried in human made pits and covered with red ochre As I’ve said before, cats can be found in a variety of contexts related to the Norse In mythology we have a couple of accounts, like the binding of the wolf Fenrir the gods had a magical dwarfmade chain to bind Fenrir, this chain was made by six impossible things one of which was the noise a cat makes in foot-falls Which is interesting, it’s something imperceptible to the human hearing but it may be implied that this sort of magic uses a sort of cat essence the very spirit of the animal. Just because you can’t see it or hear it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist Well, another accoount, the account of Thor when he visits Utgard Here both Thor and Loki are tested on what it seems to be trials of strength and agility but all the trials are tests of wits and to teach the gods about humbleness, humility There is a great deal of magical work here Thor tries to lift UtgardaLoki’s cat, and it’s impossible because it’s the world serpent Jormungandr transformed into a cat by magic This shows the link between cats as domesticated animals but also companions in magical-work so it’s a small wonder cats are the animals closely associated with witches But about that, on another video We have accounts of traditional Scandinavian pagan practices concerning the fertility of crops and linked to cats For instance, people used to place a pan of milk in cornfields as a refreshment for Freyja’s cats this would greatly please the goddess, who, in a gesture of gratitude, would protect people’s crops from bad weather and other inconvenient situations that could endanger the crops So it’s quite possible that the Norse, especially farmers, were very kind to cats and fed them in honour to the goddess Freyja and to ensure fertility in their lives In Norse Art, we also have the representation of cats One of the best known examples is the Oseberg ship burial where we can see carved on a processional wagon, cats And the Oseberg ship is something I would like to make a video of because there are very interesting evidences that this is a burial of a female seer, a sorceress linked to the cult of Freyja so it wouldn’t be surprising finding the depiction of cats in some of the art in the objects buried there But let’s take a look at that Let’s start with the back of the wagon where you can see the carvings of cats Here, let me show you in more detail Cats have been represented in this fine piece of art, not meant to be used in this world but as a form of transportation for the deceased woman, to use in the afterlife Let me show you in detail one of the examples There, a cute little fellow Although that one right there, I’m not sure if it’s a cat or some kind of squirrel Another example of the Oseberg ship burial, this sleigh also a means of transportation to be used in the afterlife richly carved, an absolute outstanding work of craftsmanship and remembering that this might be the burial of a priestess of Freyja or a powerful sorceress connected to Freyja there we have in detail the carving of cats’ heads Now, before we jump into Norse burials and the archaeological perspective I think it’s necessary to have a rapid understanding of cats in shamanism - Norse shamanism Animals played an important role in ancient societies especially societies with a spirituality based on shamanistic practices and the Norse societies weren’t different from that reality Animal sacrifices were common and not just performed by the masses on important ceremonies and as gifts to the gods in fact, the great majority of animal sacrifices was linked to the transformative spiritual process of individuals In shamanism individuals could shapeshift into animals, or had spiritual animals as companions such as the Fylgjur guardian spirits, helping spirits, often accompanying the practitioners of seidr, Norse magic, shamanism, and such spirits were often in the form of animals The understanding we have of sacrificial animals in burials, in cremation contexts is that in the cremation process bodies are physically transformed and combining the bodies of sacrificed animals a new spiritual entity is created and the individual embodies the power of the animal I’ve talked about this before in the Norse shamanic perspective of the spirit the matter and the spirit are not a separated reality and in order to release the spiritual form, the matter must be destroyed to release the essence, the power, the force, the megin Cremation is interpreted as transformation and the most common animal sacrifice was cremation But then, we also have animal sacrifices in burial context, unburnt remains so in here there is no transformation, there is something else Cremation is probably to infuse the deceased with animal characteristics and so, on that line of thought, unburnt animal sacrifices in burials- could mean transportation if we keep in mind the shamanic view We know that shamans evoke animal spirits through a variety of ways, including sacrificing the animals In burial context this could mean the animals are the steeds- -used by the deceased to get the person in the right place to communicate with the right deity or deities or simply to make the spiritual journey This may be one of the reasons why horses were the most common animals to be sacrificed But what about rare animals? Cats? Cats could mean sacrifices performed by the nobility We are talking about an exotic and expensive animal in old Norse societies so it wouldn’t have been sacrificed lightly so it seems clear that the sacrifices of cats in old Norse societies were for a very special purpose linked to magic, fertility and if it was to be used as a steed, so certainly it was to carry the deceased to the goddess Freyja If we take in mind that if a horse was the shamanic transport of Odin, then perhaps cats were Freyja’s Animal sacrifices were used by the Norse to facilitate contact with the world of the gods The sacrificial animals were selected according to the god people wished to communicate with In terms of burials, finally, things are not that simple, obviously but what I mean is, for instance, you find a comb with the representation of a fish carved on the item it’s not just a representation of providing the dead with items for their hygiene in the afterlife it also represents the importance of the Viking Age fish economy indicating the high social statue of the person buried there But such burial goods are not just the representation of daily life or social status As I’ve said, animals in burial context represent a means of transportation in death Animal sacrifice was the most common kind of sacrifice performed by the old Norse societies The majority of the sacrifices were of domestic animals, but occasionally humans and rare animals such as cats Sacrificing cats was not that common and such animals were probably reserved for special occasions, times of strife, famine, to contact a specific deity in times of extreme need Now let me show you the map of Scandinavia, so you can have a better perception of what I’m about to show you As you know, Uppsala in Sweden was the place for the major sacrifices every nine years Seven different animal species were found there, including the cat There was also a very important Norse cult site where the cat, as a sacrificed animal, was found in Lejre, Denmark Two of the most important sacrificing sites of old Norse religion included cats in the group of sacrificed animals There are other places where cats were found as sacrificial offerings such as in the sacrificial bog site of Skedemosse, Uppåkra, both in Sweden and also Birka, of course and Ingiríðarstaðir at the þegjandadalur valley in Iceland I almost made a knot in my tongue pronouncing that In these sites, what was found was mostly, cats’ jaws Now, this is interesting because the jaw was considered to be the mechanism which emitted the voice of the soul probably related to the breath, as a key “material”, “substance”, of seidr magic, the very thing used to chant Now, there are cases of entire cats being buried, which have no markings on the bones of having been skinned for their fur or used as food they were buried intact, with great respect for what the animal represents And I mean food because there are burials with food wastes older burials but when they were forgotten people made waste deposites and occasionally made them in grave sites, unknowingly But also, certain animals were consumed as part of the sacrificial ceremony or ritual and the rest was given to the gods as offerings but this is not the case with cats Cats weren’t eaten, and if they ever were in Norse society, was in extreme situations but certainly no one starving would eat a cat and go through the trouble of buring it with the dead harmoniously arranging the grave and in some cases, like the bog of Skedemosse, cat remains along with offerings of gold So it is probable that cats in burials were linked to either magical practices of fertility connected to Freyja or as I’ve said, to be the animal companions, steeds, Fylgjur, helping spirits of the person buried, and if that is the shamanic purpose and since cats were linked to fertility and Freyja, maybe cats were buried with female shamans, who knowns? Remember, mixing of human and animal bones, which was common in the Viking Age, suggests a shamanic transformation of the dead in the afterlife infusing the deceased with the characteristics of the animal I’m not saying that the spirit is transformed into the animal rather, the spiritual form is infused with the qualities of the animal In conclusion, sacrificing cats may have been used to bring peace and fertility to the place where they were sacrificed or in the case of the major annual sacrifices to ensure fertility in the kingdoms, in general and let’s not forget that cats seem to turn up in important and remarkable locations It may also have been to appease the goddess Freyja instead of sending a human sacrifice, a Völva, a sorceress, people would send Freyja’s favourite animal for her to keep To ensure fertility and prosperity The cat’s rarity in Scandinavian archaeology as a sacrificed animal or linked to magic and ritual, isn’t due to its late introduction in Scandinavia ather, the cat held more significance to the Norse people other than just a pet, or a helping spirit Its use as a sacrifice was only in special occasions and special people The Cat in Norse culture seems to have been connected to death and spiritual journey Alright friends, thank you so much for watching I hope you have enjoyed this video Quite long I know, but I think I have achieved what I intended To make a proper video in honour of Mr. Tico, my best friend, who passed away recently Wherever he is, I hope he is in Freyja’s loving arms Well, once again, thank you so much for watching, see you on the next video and ... tack för idag!

(Thank you for today!) <3