Freya Aswynn is the pen name of Elizabeth Hooijschuur (born in November 1949, Zaandam), a Dutch musician, painter, astrologist and author for Llewellyn Worldwide. A self-proclaimed "Norse Occultist" [1], Aswynn has written books focusing on aspects of Norse paganism combined with historically unrelated subjects such as Kabbalah and Thelema [2], and produced several recordings of chants and other material related to Norse Pagan spirituality. According to Aswynn, [3] she met Alex Sanders in 1980 and was initiated into an Alexandrian Wicca coven at Sander's house by a visiting American Gardnerian Wicca High Priest. In 1983 she dedicated herself to Woden and claims to have seen Him in a Wiccan circle. In her book Persuasions of the Witch's Craft [4], Tanya Luhrmann reports on her visit (1987) to the house in Tufnell Park, London that Aswynn (who she refers to as Helgi) ran a commune with an Odinic Temple in the basement. The Temple was featured in Series 1 of the 1994 Channel 4 production of Desperately Seeking Something, presented by director Steve Connelly. In 1986 Aswynn established The Rune-Gild UK, the United Kingdom branch of the Rune-Gild founded in the USA in 1979 by Stephen Flowers. In 1992 Flowers assumed control of Rune-Gild UK and Aswynn formed Woden's Own Kindred at The Enclave, her house in Tufnell Park London. [5] In 1993, with members of Woden's Own Kindred, Aswynn established The Ring of Troth (UK) [6], an independent organization affiliated with The Troth. Aswynn currently lives in Málaga, Spain.

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Music

Aswynn has worked on several musical projects over the years, most notably the vocals for Current 93. She has appeared on the albums Swastikas for Noddy , Crooked Crosses for the Nodding God , Looney Runes , Sixsixsix Sicksicksick and several others. She collaborated in 1987 with the English group Sixth Comm on the album "The Fruits Of Yggdrasil" (released on CD in 2002), and performed the vocals on Fire + Ice's song Seeker on their 1994 album Hollow Ways .

Bibliography

• Leaves of Yggdrasil: A Synthesis of Runes Gods Magic Feminine Mysteries Folklore (Published privately September 1988), ISBN 0951386409.
• Leaves of Yggdrasil: Runes, Gods, Magic, Feminine Mysteries, and Folklore Llewellyn Worldwide (1990), ISBN 0875420249.
• Northern Mysteries and Magick: Runes, Gods & Feminine Powers (W/cd) (1998), Llewellyn Worldwide ISBN 1567180477.
• Principles of the Runes: The Only Introduction You'll Ever Need (Principles of) (2000), ISBN 0722538839.

Discography

• Songs of Yggdrasil (Cassette) ACE/Llewellyn Collection
• Songs of Yggdrasil: Shamanic Chants from the Northern Mysteries (2002),ISBN 0875420233. - (Audio CD) Llewellyn Publications - Included with 'Northern Mysteries & Magic' but available separately.
• Shades of Yggadrasil (Audio CD) - Songs of Yggdrasil re-issued Dec 13, 2005 with two bonus tracks.
• Swastikas for Noddy
• Crooked Crosses for the Nodding God
• Looney Runes
• Sixsixsix Sicksicksick
• Hollow Ways (1994) (vocals on Fire + Ice's Seeker )
• Fruits of Yggdrasil with Sixth Comm (2002 Edition Ananael)

Filmography

• Introduction to the Runes
• FEHU - Free Tuition Video

See also

• Current 93
• Fire + Ice (band)
• Runic divination
• The Troth
• Andrea Haugen

References

1. ''Who Dares Aswynns!'', 2002 interview with Freya Aswynn by Simon Collins for ''Judas Kiss'' magazine. Available online: [1]
2. 2002 interview for ''Judas Kiss'' magazine. According to Aswynn: ''"I'm strip-mining Dion Fortune and Aleister Crowley's works to provide a basic magical framework for the Norse stuff."'' ... ''"In my book, I compare and integrate very limited ideas. Like the Nine Worlds diagram is obviously related to the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, you can see it. But it's still Norse. It deals with nine worlds, 24 runes...it's only the matrix of the Kabbalah, the shape of it, and I think it stands to reason that if you have a system where you have a tree and you have nine or ten worlds, you will end up with a similar diagram. So I’m not kabbalising the runes, but I’m adopting the underlying framework, without compromising the integrity of the Norse material.''" Available online: [1]
3. Personal Introduction - Leaves of Yggdrasil 1998
4. Persuasions of the Witch's Craft T.M. Luhrmann Picador 1994 ISBN 0 330 32946 4 (p 25-6)
5. RuneGild UK has since been headed in this country by Ian Read, publisher of Runa and Chaos International magazines.
6. www.troth.org.uk