Phil's photos with the keyword: Goddess

In Norse mythology Freyja (Old Norse "Lady") is a Goddess associated with love, sexuality, beauty, fertility, gold, war and death. Freyja is the owner of the fabled necklace Brísingamen. She rides a chariot pulled by two cats or, when not using her chariot, rides the boar Hildisvíni (which is also said to be Freyja's human lover Otta in disguise and is the reason why the God Loki consistently accuses her of being "wanton" by "riding her lover in public"). She possesses a cloak of falcon feathers and, by her husband Óðr, is the mother of two daughters, Hnoss and Gersemi. Along with her brother, father and mother, she is a member of the Vanir. Modern forms of the name include Freya, Freija, Frejya, Freyia, Frøya, Frøjya, Freia, and Freja. Freyja rules over her heavenly afterlife field Fólkvangr and there receives half of those that die in battle.........the other half go to the God Odin's hall, Valhalla. Freyja assists other deities by allowing them to use her feathered cloak, is invoked in matters of fertility and love and is frequently sought after by powerful Jötnar who wish to make her their wife. Freyja's husband, the God Óðr, is frequently absent. She cries tears of amber (or "red gold") for him and constantly searches for him under assumed names. Amber is plentiful in the Scandinavian / Baltic regions and is often referred to as "The Tears of The Goddess". Scholars have theorized about whether Freyja and the Scandinavian Goddess Frigg ultimately stem from a single Goddess common among the Germanic peoples and about her connection to the Valkyries, female battlefield choosers of the slain. Freyja's name appears in numerous place names in Scandinavia with a high concentration in Southern Sweden. Various plants in Scandinavia once bore her name (before they were, apparently, "converted" to Christianity) and rural Scandinavians continued to acknowledge Freyja into the 19th century and beyond. (Wikipedia....edited & shortened). Camera Sony RX100. Processed with Nikon Capture NX2. Cold-cast figurine from Nemesis Now ("Willow Hall" collection).

Morrígan (meaning "Phantom Queen" or "Great Queen") is usually regarded as a Celtic / Irish war Goddess and she has been compared with the Valkyrie / Walkuere of Germanic and Scandinavian origin. Her role often involves premonitions and predictions of a particular warrior's violent death, suggesting a link with the Banshee of later Irish folklore. In certain areas of Ireland this supernatural being is, in addition to the name Banshee, also called Badb (in some versions, Badb and Morrigan are sisters). Her role was not only as a symbol of imminent death but also to influence the outcome of wars and battles. She did this by appearing as a crow or raven flying over the battlefield and would inspire either fear or courage in the hearts of the warriors. She could be heard as a voice among the corpses on a battlefield and, according to some accounts, she would often join in the battle itself as a warrior and show her favouritism in a more direct manner. (Wikipedia...edited & shortened). Photographed with a Sony RX100 camera and processed with Nikon Capture NX2. Figurine of Morrigan by Pagan artist & sculptor Neil Sims from South Shields, U.K.

Isis was venerated first in Egypt. As per the Greek historian Herodotus writing in the fifth century BCE, Isis was the only goddess worshiped by all Egyptians alike and whose influence was so widespread by that point that she had become completely syncretic with the Greek goddess Demeter. It is after the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great and the Hellenization of the Egyptian culture initiated by Ptolemy I that she eventually became known as 'Queen of Heaven'. Lucius Apuleius confirmed this in his novel "The Golden Ass", in which his character prayed to the "Queen of Heaven". The passage says that the goddess herself responded to his prayer, in which she explicitly identified herself as both the Queen of Heaven and Isis. (Wikipedia).