We woke up Thanksgiving morning to a covering of snow on the ground and a light but lovely snowfall that lasted most of the day. It was my first snow of the season since I had missed the October freaky snowstorm in New England thanks to my weekend in San Francisco. I was enchanted and immediately wondered if there was a goddess of snow.

A Google search for "snow goddess" yielded a number of links to two: the Tibetan Snow Goddess and Poliahu, the Hawaiian goddess of snow-capped mountains. Surely, I thought, there are more. So I searched for "winter goddess" and of course found the Viking goddesses Freya, Skadi and Holda (who is a manifestation of Freya but has some legends that seem unique to her, at least from what I read).

There also are Celtic winter goddesses. Beira, the Queen of Winter, and a variety of Caillagh, who are particular to various places, especially in Scotland, are all variations of the same old woman who brings winter storms and keeps spring from coming. Imbolc marks Brigid's triumph over these winter spirits and the return of spring.

I did find references to any number of other winter-time spirits, fairies and elementals from around the world. These ranged from nature spirits to characters who bring gifts throughout the holiday season. We could dedicate a whole site to them alone!

I would be surprised if there weren't other winter goddesses and I'd love to read about them if anyone has stories or links. For those I found, I've collected the stories here:

Tibetans believe that Mt. Everest, their sacred Mt. Qomolangma, is the Snow Goddess, or the Third Fairy. Legend says that the Himalayas were once an unending stretch of lush forests on a beautiful sea-coast - a haven for all kinds of flowers, birds, and animals, living harmoniously with humans. This was the legendary Shangri-la.??Then suddenly an enormous Five Headed Demon came from the sea. It terrorized the tranquility of Shangri-la, and frightened away all the animals. Fortunately, in answer to the prayers of Tibetans, God created Five Fairies from Five Clouds which were floating over Tibet, and sent them down to subdue the Five Headed Demon. With the Demon vanquished, Tibet became Shangri-La once again.??The animals and humans were very grateful to the Five Fairies, and asked them to stay on in Tibet. They agreed, and the Five Fairies became Mt.Lhotse, Mt.Makalu, Mt.Qomolangma, Mt.Qowowuyang and Mt.Shisha Pangma, five of the greatest peaks in the Himalayas. Mt. Qomolangma, or Mt. Everest, was the Third Goddess, the highest mountain in the world.

In Hawaiian mythology, there are stories told of the four snow goddesses who ruled over the mountains north of Kilauea. They wore elegant cloaks of snow in the high summits, which they traded for garments of golden sunshine from time to time. They were goddesses of nature who clothed mountain peaks in snow, which would melt into life-giving streams as the maidens came down from the heights and made their way to the sea.

Lilinoe, Waiau, Kahoupokane and Poliahu were their names, but the most detailed stories are of Poliahu. She was resplendent with beauty and charm. She was quick of wit, gracious in manner, and adventurous in spirit.

Poliahu was the greatest rival to Pele, goddess of fire. Like Pele, Poliahu liked to seduce handsome mortal chiefs. Pele had a fling with a fickle young Maui chief as he was traveling to the Big Island to court a mortal chiefess. Paddling along the Hana Coast, the chief saw Pele in human form as a beauty who was riding the surf. He paused for a brief affair. Then he went on to the Big Island, where Poliahu seduced him. He convinced his personal goddess to release him from his promise to his first love, and went back to Kaua'i with the snow goddess. Pele chased after them, eventually winning back the fickle chief, but Poliahu was so vindictive, she blasted the lovers with cold and heat until they separated, and the young chief was left with no lover at all.

According to Norse legend, the longest time of Darkness in the year is called "Night of the Mother", as the Goddess labors to birth Light back into the world. At Winter solstice, the sun dies. Time stops. Then as Freya spins the wheel of fate once again, "Jul" in Norse, the sun is reborn. Her hand holds the spindle, a symbol of women's wisdom and skill. From her basket, she plucks a handful of wool, freshly combed but still unformed. Placing it on her wheel, she makes the ancient sure-handed gestures of the spinners, pulling the wool, winding it about the distaff, working it to a smooth and useful shape. So doing, she reminds us of her presence in the cycle of death and rebirth.

Freya was also called Froya and Frigga in Scandinavian countries, Holda in Germany and Modir in Russia. She was a Goddess of the Winter and her sacred goose brings to mind both protection and soft, snowy white down. When snowflakes fell, she was "shaking out her bedding".

As Freya she was sister-lover-mother to the God Frey, god of Yule. As Frigga, she gave birth to Baldur, the Norse God of the Sun. Throughout Northern Europe, she has been worshiped as the multi-faceted goddess of birth, death, sex, the underworld, the earth, the stars; a goddess of magic, the Great Sow wed to the Boar, the Mistress of Cats, the leader of the Valkries. As Saga, she inspired divine poetry and as a Spinner of Fate, she was associated to the Norns.

Just as Freya-Frigga was connected most closely to birth, sex, and motherhood, her Dark Twin was known as Skadi, the "Destroyer". In the celebration of Yule we can see elements of the triple goddess Freya-Frigga-Skadi and the spinning wheel of death-birth-life.

Skadi is the Viking Goddess of winter. Her name is said to mean shadow or shade. She is the Queen of the Shades. Skadi is a huntress, a dark magician, a giantess - ruling especially over mountains, wilderness, winter, revenge, knowledge, damage, justice, and independence. It is said that she gifted hunters with the bow and the skill to use it. The scythe, wolves and venomous snakes are sacred to her. Also sacred to her are skates, skis and snowshoes. She often did her hunting while on skis. All of Scandinavia is named after the Goddess Skadi, and she is said to dwell in the high snow-covered mountains there.

Holda, or Holde, is the Viking dark goddess of winter and the moon. She also was known for leading a wild hunt with 24 hounds. Holda is a Germanic goddess whose cult has survived in the folklore of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The underlying theme of the tales surrounding her represents the lost myths of Frig. These continental folk tales give the goddess many names, Holde (merciful), Frau Holle, Perht, Berta (bright) and Frau Freke (a name connected to Frig).

Holda is described as an old woman with long teeth and tangled hair, travelling either in a wagon or bearing a plough and attended by the spirits of unborn children. She is a protector of the household and patron of the housewife and mother. In some districts she was even accredited to the task of bringing children to expectant mothers. She was also believed to rock children's cradles after the nurse had fallen asleep. Holda owned a sacred pool where she was believed to call the local children and reward any who were kind and hardworking. Young women even bathed in her pool hoping to became healthy and fertile mothers.

Holda is mainly associated with the winter season. On Christmas day a bowl of milk was set at the table for her while the family went to church. The remaining milk from Holda's bowl was given to the livestock and thought to increase fertility. Far earlier sources refer to special days set aside for such local goddesses. A procession would be made in which disguised youths would carry a large image of a goddess figure with much merrymaking and revelry.

In Celtic mythology, the Caillagh ny Groamagh (Gloomy Old Woman, also called the Caillagh ny Gueshag, Old Woman of the Spells) of the Isle of Man is a winter and storm spirit whose actions on the first of February are said to foretell the year's weather - if it is a nice day, she will come out into the sun, which brings bad luck for the year. The Cailleach Uragaig, of the Isle of Colonsay in Scotland, is also a winter spirit who holds a young woman captive, away from her lover.

The theme of winter holding spring captive is also seen in the tale that the Cailleach imprisons the beautiful young goddess Bride inside of a mountain over the winter. At Bride's release, spring comes to the world.

The Cailleach Bheur (genteel old lady) of Scotland is a blue-faced hag of winter, who ages in reverse - from old and ugly (symbolizing winter) to young and lovely (spring). The Cailleach Bhéirre of Ireland represents sovereignty over the land and is ancestress of many peoples. Like Dame Ragnell of the Arthurian legends, she appears to the hero as a hideous old woman seeking love; if she gets it, she becomes a beautiful young woman. In legends dating from early Christian times, she is sometimes said to be a nun, perhaps linked to the meaning of her name.

Another Scottish belief was that Beira, Queen of Winter, thwarted the arrival of the spirit of Spring, who was always trying to visit Scotland, by raising the storms of January and February to prolong her reign by keeping the grass from growing. Beira was regarded as a hard and cruel old woman, and the story of her exploits is the story of the weather conditions in winter and early spring. She rouses the dangerous whirlpool of Corryvreckan, she brings the snow, and she unlooses the torrents that cause rivers to overflow. According to folk belief, it was she who formed the lochs and the mountains.

Posted by Angela-Eloise at 1:10 AM