Goddess Hulda

[Consciousness]

Hello all,

I am wanting to find more information on Goddess Hulda. Obviously there is not that much out there, but if anyone has some good resources I would appreciate it. I currently try to connect with Hulda through chanting Huul and also chanting Hu La Na Ma and basic prayer. I am just wanting to find out a bit more including attributes to empower my worship.

Thanks

Ong Thung Thunoraya nama

[Ula]

Re: Goddess Hulda

Gardenstone has a great book called Goddess Holle: In Search of the Germanic Goddess. It's extensive. Make sure you get the English version. Urglaawe, PA Dutch paganism, also worships her and has information on her online. Hulda, Holle, Holda, Bercha and Perchta are all the same goddess where Freya and Frigga and Hel are not her. She is a spinner of flax, lives in a cave, she has some control over souls coming into the world and she is involed in the Wild Hunt. http://www.northernpaganism.org/shri...a/welcome.html some good info from followers here too.

[Consciousness]

Re: Goddess Hulda

Thank you Ula. I was hoping you would respond on the thread as I noticed the other thread on Hulda was closed. I do want to check out that book. This website looks pretty legit too.

Ong Thung Thunoraya Nama

[Rae'ya]

Re: Goddess Hulda

I don't work with Holda/Hulda/Frau Holle myself (not yet anyway... if I ever start spinning flax I will see if she'll teach me) but I have a suggestion for attempting to connect with her.

She is a goddess of flax spinning, but also of household duties and homemaking. She appreciates hard work in particular, and dislikes laziness. Many of the stories about her have her rewarding women who work hard and keep a clean house, but punishing those who shirk their duties. The fact that she specialises in spinning flax suggests that she's into putting in effort for reward. Spinning flax is a long, difficult, complex process - before you can even spin it (which from what I can tell is harder than spinning animal fibres or cotton) you have to go through the difficult process of turning the plant into fibres and preparing the fibres to spin. It's not for the faint of heart. I get the feeling that she doesn't suffer fools or people looking for the easy way out, and so it's likely that working with her will entail some manual labour of a household nature.

I would suggest that doing some hard work around the house would be a good way to get her attention. If you happen to spin (even if it's not flax) then that would certainly be a good way to make the connection. But otherwise some good hard scrubbing of floors, cleaning the oven, or home maintenance would be appropriate.

[Lilium of the Valley]

Re: Goddess Hulda

I dont know much about her...but growing up in Germany allot of people speak of Frau Holle all of the time, especially since she is also in the Grimm fairy tales.
In Germany it is said that she is the bringer of snow, as she shakes out her down pillows and blankets while cleaning her cave she lives in, feathers
fall and those "feathers" are our snow...i always found that quite interesting even as a child
Over here any hard work in the home is connected to Hulda....so like Rae'ya already mentioned, doing some heavy chores around the house and keeping everything pristine
is sure to get her attention. She also sings while she works...so maybe if you like to sing...add some music (makes cleaning more fun too haha)

[Consciousness]

Re: Goddess Hulda

Thanks. I am glad housework can be dedicated to her. It gives a lot of time for devotion. But this means I might have to clean off my dresser. Damnit lol. I hear Frau Hulda is a very powerful Goddess. Without Frau Hulda we would not exist. Snow is every important to the Earth.

Here is a video on Frau Holle and her gifts http://youtu.be/sgG4ULEofdQ

Ong Thung Thunoraya Nama

[Ula]

Re: Goddess Hulda

Frau Holda is often called Mother in the traditions she is involved in. She is the bringer of souls to the body (via storks) as they come through her lake/pond. She rewards hard work and cleaning is a great way to honor her, even if it's someone else's house. I have no altar to her but you can have one. She is said to lead or rule land spirits. She recently had me start doing daily offerings to my house and land wight/ vaettr. If you don't have land offering at a local pond would work. While Freya knows seidr, Holda is a practioner of folk magic. Knot work, simply spells and herbs are also a great way to get to know her. I find her every easy to work with and she is very patient with me. I imagine she can be a task master if she wanted but that is not my experience with her. Most animals, including livestock are protected by her so shelter work is acceptable as an offering to her as well.

Good luck as you start to work with her. I love Holda, I think of her as I would my grandmothers and other disir. She has done a lot for me and has brought me to a better spiritual life in many ways.

[Wednesday]

Re: Goddess Hulda

I'm reading a book now that'll touch on Hulda and her functions and roles. I'd rather share my thoughts once I've finished it-- if you don't mind waiting.

[Consciousness]

Re: Goddess Hulda

Thank you Ula this is good information. I at first felt like I was having trouble connecting with Frau Hulda, but now I am feeling a connection being made. I think I will try to work with the Land spirits. I currently am trying to work with house spirits (I live in apartment). I am making offerings of Vodka. I want to go deeper and deeper with the Powerful Goddess Holle. I think she is essential in my path in the Northern Tradition.

Wednesday hurry up and read so you can share some thoughts lol.

Ong Thung Thunoraya Nama
Hu La Na Ma
Huul

[Lilium of the Valley]

Re: Goddess Hulda

Hey I found something else about the goddess Hulda...in one of my Herbalism books...I don't know how much you are into plants, but i thought it was good info
Her sacred herbs that she likes to receive as Offerings are: flax, rose, hellebore and elder

[Consciousness]

Re: Goddess Hulda

Thank you Lilium. I want to start making more offerings associated with the Deities. Usually I offer a candle or incense (sometimes alcohol, cannabis, rarely fruit), but rarely other things. I am going to try offering some flax. Plus it helps me if I stay consistent with offerings.

Hu La Na Ma
Huul

[Wednesday]

Re: Goddess Hulda

Sorry it's taken me awhile to get back to you, I've been reading through the book rather slowly.

I don't know that giving flax is the best idea for an offering. I only say that because Hulda was much more interested in the results of the flax, such as woven yarn, tapestries, and clothing--IOW, the work involved in transforming the flax. In fact, part of the folklore is that she may come upon women gathering flax and try to instruct them in it's uses. If a woman doesn't listen then she'll wring her neck. She can be rather terrifying.

Also, thunder is said to be the sound of her spinning.

[Ula]

Re: Goddess Hulda

I make offerings of tea with raw, organic honey to Holda all the time. I make us each a cup and talk to her. The stories I read of Holda show her givng flax to people and teaching them to grow, harvest, process and spin. I think seeds would be an ok offering. Especially in a muffin. She is closely linked to elder trees and apples so elderberries would work too.

[Wednesday]

Re: Goddess Hulda

There's a line in the...Havamal(?)...that says something along the lines of it being better to give more less often, than less more often. Basically that you shouldn't just give offerings for the sake of it, where it becomes commonplace or routine. It should have some gravitas to it.

Which is why I think it's neat that one really only presented their spinning to the Perchta/Hulda goddess complex at the end of the year. It gave you time to put in the work and that one moment in all the year took on enormous weight and meaning. It wasn't "Oh, I'll do it next week or the week after." It was then or never, and if you couldn't prepare something in a year... then, yeah. Not good.

One of my favorite bloggers (and online acquaintances) presented Perchta with her spinning last winter here. And I think the work has such deep meaning because the gods, in a way, represent fortuitous events that advance us and help us: the plough, the loom, cities, the dairy. All of these are technological advancements and they are ruled over by deity. Hulda provides the seed and flax and its to our good fortune because now we can make clothing and sacks and tapestries...things that aid our survival and provide a more comfortable lifestyle. And then we can provide that in return to our gods.

However, maybe I was a bit hasty in saying that flax wouldn't be a good offering. Goddesses of the wild are petitioned to provide fortuitous encounters between hunter and beast and in return the hunter will leave a gift so that the spirit of the animal returns to the forest and can be reborn. Taking flax and then returning seed so that it can regrow follows the same concept. And since we don't produce our own fabrics anymore, it's probably the most useful way we can contribute to that cycle.