 (This image is by artist Grace Palmer).today is the final day of the Sigyn Project. I want to give a big thank you to everyone who contributed pieces. Even if i ended up not using them -- i had more than we had days in feb!--i really appreciate the contributions. In the meantime, hail Her. She is a magnificent Goddess. Praise Her. She is an ornament to Loki's hall. Pour out libations to Her. She is constant, loving, and Her strength surpasses that of the deeply rooted mountains. She is the Goddess Who will not be moved. She is the Goddess Whose love never falters. She is the Goddess from Whose purpose even Odin is powerless to turn Her. She is the Goddess of devotion and if one is wondering how to do this thing called 'devotion' well, it is to Sigyn that one should go. Hail Gracious Goddess, Hail Mother of two well-loved sons. Hail Queen of Loki's hall. Hail, Sigyn. Please visit Sigyn's virtual shrine: http://www.northernpaganism.org/shrines/sigyn/welcome.html
Sigyn's Playlist
My adopted mom was a devout Sigyn's woman and I learned more about loving Sigyn from her than I ever thought possible. She was also a musician, having been trained as a classical pianist and teacher at the Basel Conservator of Music in Switzerland. She had a fine ear and discerning taste in music. It was one of the bonds that we shared, that drew us so closely together: music sustained us both at times; it was a lifeline, an expression of our spirituality, the thing that often helped nourish us spiritually. For us both, it was nearly a primary language.
So I see folks around the net putting together and posting various play lists that call to mind their Deities and I envy them. For all that music has been my life's blood, and no matter how hard i try, I have never managed to grasp the skill of compiling a playlist. I want to! I would love to be able to offer to Sigyn (and Odin, Mani, and Loki) this type of devotional invocation.
so i invite you to share those songs that summon the sense of Sigyn's presence to your mind, heart, and spirits. Please feel free to post here.
Here are some songs that folks have already emailed me (the Faure was my addition):
Misguided Angel: http://youtu.be/zufpr8BwY9U
Prospero's Speech: http://youtu.be/_HPBLI7Z5Pg
Libera Me: http://youtu.be/yQAfZaKqe-I
Devil's Tears: http://youtu.be/giZVvo4ZQsQ
Alesia: http://youtu.be/wspAlDjSjAA
Highwayman: http://youtu.be/UvKBPr71dhA
Set Fire to the rain: http://youtu.be/xBcMKwbMEcQ
So what do you all have for Sigyn?
Daily Prayer to Sigyn
Goddess of those things we too often deem insignificant,
May my attention to the small things of my life please you.
Oh Sigyn, bestow upon me the grace,
of crafting each and every day as an offering to You.
May I learn the skill of polishing the small nugget of my life
until it glitters like a jewel in Your trousseau.
I will hail You with thought and word and deed,
Every day that Sunna rises, every night that Mani gleams .
Hail Sigyn.
This is an older article recycled from May 2010 when I did a Deity of the month focusing on Sigyn. I thought it might bear re-posting since it offers concrete suggestions for creating an altar to Her.
Making a Sigyn Altar
Altars are very simple to create. The only necessary warning is that they tend to grow and take over any flat space in one’s home! I’ve seen alters created on windowsills, book cases, tabletops, shelves. I’ve seen them made in boxes (including, in one case, an altoids tin), in drawers, and in books that could then be carried. The creation of an altar is limited only by one’s own creative inspiration. There is no right or wrong way to do this so long as one is guided by devotion, love, and respect.
The first step is to choose a space. Where is your altar going to be placed? Once you’ve selected a workable spot, decide what you’re going to put on your altar. Think about what reminds you of Sigyn, what She might like, what speaks to you of the relationship you’re seeking to create. Sadly, there are very few images and statues on the market of the lesser venerated Gods and Goddesses but, if you are very lucky, or if you are an artist or craftsperson yourself, finding and/or creating an image of Sigyn may be a powerful meditation and point of connection in and of itself. If you have the skills to create an image, this provides a powerful opportunity not only to make a lovely offering to Her, but to consciously choose the first aspect of Her nature that you wish to approach. Will your image be of the Sigyn as a child, as a young woman, Loki’s bride, a loving mother, an anguished wife, loyal in the cave, unyielding in Her support of Her husband? How will you choose to depict Her? Art of all types is a powerful medium through which the Gods can work through us and through which we can connect to the Gods. If you don’t have the ability to craft your own image, don’t worry. It’s not necessary to have one. One day I hope to see a myriad of images of all of our Gods and Goddesses easily available online, but that day has not yet come.
Once you have chosen what to place on your altar, do so knowing that you can change and adapt it as your relationship with Her grows. There really is no right or wrong way to work this process. Devotional work is very much an individual process, unique to each and every person even when the same prayers are being said, and the same devotional actions being taken.
I can offer some suggestions as to what to put on Her altar, but this is based on my own experience of Sigyn, and should not in any way serve to limit one’s own altar construction. The following suggestions are not in any way based on lore (save for the symbolism of the bowl) but are drawn from my own and other people’s personal gnosis.
Symbols: old-fashioned keys, bowl or cup, heart, star
Sigyn as the child-bride: pink, lavender, or blue altar cloths, pretty dolls, stuffed animals, flowers, childlike things, lady bugs, beads.
Sigyn as the mourning wife and mother: grey or dark brown cloths, wooden or metal bowl, ashes. I have known several Sigyn’s women who associated the doe with Her.
Herbs: milk thistle, sweet flag iris, tulips, cherry blossoms
Rune: nauthiz, some Sigyn’s women see berkana with Her.
Stones I associate with Her: rose quartz, green garnet, pearls (I personally do not buy pearls because the way they are harvested is often harmful to the ocean. This is a taboo placed on me as a result of my devotion to Ran, Aegir, and Their Nine Daughters. An exception to this would be the purchase of estate pearls(1). Still, all this being said, I do strongly associate pearls with Sigyn perhaps because they are traditionally associated with mourning).
Food Offerings: sweets, cakes, cookies, chocolate for Her as child, bread, macaroni and cheese (at least one Sigyn’s woman swears She likes this), butter, sweet wines.
Other offerings: honor Narvi and Vali, put something to represent them on the altar (perhaps toys as They were Her children), mourn for Her children, hold the bowl (see meditation below), help children in need, donate to organizations that help mothers and/or children in need, feed the hungry/donate time or money to organizations that feed the hungry, donate to war relief organizations or organizations that help refugees, particularly women and children, commit to regular prayer practice honoring Her. Be loyal to whatever you love when you feel you do not have the strength to do so and offer that to Sigyn. When it’s no effort, it’s just you but when you feel you cannot do this any longer, that is the effort that can be given to Sigyn.
Things not to do: insult Loki, insult or demean Her children, ignore Her children.
Do not think that because Sigyn is gentle, She cannot get angry. Her gentleness is choice, not weakness. It is an inexorable choice. She is every bit as unyielding as any other Deity in Heathen lore. You cannot force Sigyn ever to depart from the chosen path of Her heart. If that includes smiting someone, She’ll do it, but not as a reaction. She is above reaction. She does not react unthinkingly. She chooses consciously and in the fullness of Her power.
Early in 2008, a fellow spirit-worker (who also happens to be a Voudoun priest) told me of attending a ritual held by a group of Heathens in, I believe, NJ. I myself was not present, so the story that I am about to relay is based on what my colleague later told me. The blót was in honor of Sigyn. At first, I was very happy to hear that others within the Northern Tradition community were beginning to openly honor Her. My friend just smiled and cautioned me to wait. There was more to her tale. Apparently, after the ritual, but before folks had been dispersed (i.e. while still in the enclosure of sacred space) a woman present had begun vociferously slandering Loki (and by extension Sigyn). Sigyn loves Her husband very much. My friend, coming as she does from Voudoun, could not at first believe that someone would have the hubris and audacity, not to mention complete lack of courtesy, hospitality, manners, and survival instinct, to stand in sacred space and verbally harangue a Deity so closely related to the Deity being honored in the recent ritual. Within moments of having uttered her unthinking words slandering Sigyn’s husband, the woman in question got hit with a sudden cluster migraine so severe that she had to be removed from the ritual and taken home. Neither my friend nor I find this coincidental. Our ancestors certainly knew better than to slander the Gods in such a fashion. We’d best learn that lesson too. One simply does not stand in sacred space and utter words of hate about those that this Goddess loves. She tends to get a bit peeved. As a Sigyn’s woman that I know commented upon hearing this story: the slanderous woman is fortunate she didn’t get explosive diarrhea. It would have been fitting. So, be respectful, just as you would with any other Deity. Sigyn is not the lesser because She chooses not to flaunt Her power.
Above all else, keep it simple. Sigyn is not about the ornate.
--Fuensanta Arismendi
Notes
[1] Pearls from pre-1950 were not harvested using modern methods.
 This was the first image I ever used for Sigyn on my altar. It's a Rackham illustration for the Ring cycle, meant to be Siegelinda. I don't care. there was something about it that reminded me of Sigyn.
i know that devotional art is an extremely subjective thing. That is one of the reasons I like to post images of the various Gods and Goddesses even when those images don't particularly resonate with me personally. This one however, i adore. If any of you have favorite images of Her, please feel free to share them here.
 For a long time I despaired of finding an image to represent Sigyn on my altar. I like having proper Deity images, just as I like having photographs of people I care about. Until I found Grace Palmer's wonderful Sigyn icon (you can see it in the Marketplace section under prayer cards), I used one of two Rackham drawings.
Neither is meant to represent Sigyn of course. I think this one was an illustration to a fairy tale, which is also somehow fitting for this Goddess. Still, at the time, it was the closest I had come to an image that I liked and that I felt captured something, however infinitesimal, of Her.
I'll post the other image tomorrow.
New Adorations to Sigyn
Great Goddess, please hear my prayer.
I adore You, Sigyn.
I adore You, Wife of Loki.
I adore You, Goddess of keys.
I adore You, Keeper of the keys of Loki's hall.
I adore You, Sweet Lady.
i adore You, Fierce in Your love.
I adore You, Who loves boldly.
I adore You, Whose Heart is quiet courage.
I adore You, Lady of Enduring Grace.
I adore You, Gracious One.
I adore You, Who does not yield.
I adore You, Whose strength surpasses mountains.
I adore You, unmoving as stone.
I adore You, Who protects Her family.
I adore You, Who watches over children.
I adore You, Gentle Goddess.
I adore You, Who *chooses* to be gentle.
I adore You, Bringer of Joy.
I adore You, Whose hands bring healing.
I adore You, Who mends the broken heart.
I adore You, Whose heart is bigger than all the worlds.
i adore You, Who soothes the fire of Loki's heart
I adore You, of the gentle smile.
i adore You, North Star.
I adore You, Who stays the course.
I adore You, Who will not be moved.
I adore You, Goddess of Constancy.
I adore You, Friend of Nanna.
I adore You, Friend of Idunna.
I adore You, Mother of two beloved sons.
i adore You, Incantation Fetter.
I adore You, well-loved by Loki.
i adore You, Goddess of valor.
I adore You, Bringer of victory.
i adore You, Who overcomes.
I adore You, as deeply rooted as the Tree.
I adore You, Sigyn,
and for You, in my home,
from my heart, from my hands,
offerings will always flow.
Hail, Sigyn.
Today's Sigyn post is simple, two more pieces of Sigyn artwork contributed by K.C. Hulsman. It's so hard to find decent images of our Gods so even when a particular image doesn't resonate with me, I still like to stash the link away. One never knows when it might be the perfect image for someone else's devotions! So, in honor of Sigyn, here is a bit of artwork for Her:http://fav.me/d55s2rk
http://fav.me/d1ka5g
Three for Sigyn
the mountain reflects
the barest wisp of Her strength.
She is victory.
Her grief is greater
than the ever hungry Gap.
and yet She still loves.
She in Her purpose
even Odin could not sway.
She is fierce. Praise Her.
Praise the Goddess Who never yields.
Praise Her enduring grace.
She is mighty,
a Goddess of quiet blessings.
She is fierce,
a Goddess Who protects Her own.
She is loving,
through every possibly torment.
Her hands bring victory,
Her wisdom unbinds all fetters.
Praise Her.
Praise this Magnificence
of Loki's hall.
Do not neglect Her libations.
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