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Journey to meet Hildr in the Land of Erc |
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Journey to meet Hildr in the Land of Erc |
Today is Valkyries Day, which I now realize should be dedicated to working women every where. I have struggled with my warrior energy for years but often times find it isn't as lacking as I might have thought. I found a quote that dated back to '94
"While women in management still face daunting barriers (they comprise only 2-3 percent of top management), Nussbaum points to figures that are even more infuriating: Working women have median weekly earnings that are only 75 percent of similarly employed men; nearly 80 percent of women still earn less than $25,000 a year"
I must have been in the top 10% of female wage earners that year. How interesting that money became my measure of how I was doing in the battle. Position and title and cash were tangible indications that I had moved through the barriers, and where I went my sisters could follow. Was it a battle in the early years? Yes, every step of the way, but I don't think young women of today have to struggle quite as hard.
January 31, 2002
I climbed up the mountain to meet Hildr close to the summit. With her flaming red hair she seemed more a Celtic warrior princess than a Nordic Valkyrie, but I sat down on a rocky outcropping and asked my question. "Tell me about the Valkyrie retirement plan. How many years do you have to work picking up the dead bodies on the field of battle before you can get on with other things?"
For a slim woman, her laugh was deep and she wasn't particularly gentle as she slapped me on the back in a gesture of camaraderie. "Retirement? Nonsense my friend. Once a warrior, always a warrior. If you've become bored with the battles you've fought you just need to pick different battles, that's all."
Her words had the effect of turning on the light bulb in my head. I am always amazed at the ability of the mind to frame images that communicate.
"That's why you wanted me to meet you here on this mountain isn't it? Pick different battles, climb different mountains?"
"One speaks to a mountain goat in language she can understand." Hildr said as she handed me her water bottle. You are troubled by what Master Earraigh has said and yet you forget we serve different masters."
"Earraigh's master here, along with Camilla of course." I look questioningly at Hildr.
"Master of those who don't serve others. When you first came here to Erc you were already dedicated in the service of another. The choices you made you made for her, just as the choices I make serve Freyja. You served well and long in Athena's army of business women. He insults you if he claims otherwise and you should tell him so." Taking back the water bottle she capped it and returned it to her belt. "You could join us if you wish new battles."
"I'm not sure what a Valkyrie would do in the real world today. Be a policewoman, a bodyguard, a soldier? I don't think so Hildr." I say shaking my head. "Even Earraigh wouldn't have asked that of me. I think he just wants me to walk the path of the peaceful warrior, whatever that is. Changing the subject, according to our calendar, today is a day to honor you and your sisters. How would you like people to do that?"
"We didn't do the fighting so we would not be soldiers. We delivered the kiss of death, but in many cases that was a mercy beyond all mercies. We also did more than pick up the slain you know. We serve Freyja in many capacities. We protect, we carry messages, we stand by those in need of support. It is good work."
"So again I will ask, how might we honor you on this day?"
"You ask silly questions. Are you not a swan maiden? Are swan's not graceful? Do they not cause us to honor our own true beauty? Not the beauty of artifice but the beauty that can come only from the soul? You know a story about this. Tell me."
I knew instantly what she meant though I had never thought of the story as a swan story before. I began.
"In the land were I come from surface beauty is well regarded and the standard by which people judge strangers. One day a man accompanied a co-worker home for dinner and was shocked when he met the co-workers wife. The co-worker was a man of great apparent charm and presented an attractive presence to the world with his height, dark wavy hair, piercing eyes, and well muscled body. The co-worker's wife, in contrast, was plain and stolid in her appearance. He left that evening wondering why such an attractive man would marry such a plain woman, but found no apparent answer. A year later, the man once again left the co-worker's house wondering why the couple chose to be married but this time his thoughts were quite different. He had learned the co-worker was shallow in his personality, short tempered, and enamored of his own beauty. The plain wife, on the other hand, was witty, caring, and a loving friend. He realized he no longer saw her as plain because the beauty of her soul radiated so strongly. He realized also that he no longer saw his co-worker as a good-looking man since the smallness of his soul darkened his light to nothing. As the man kissed his hostess good night, he had found himself thinking "How does she stay with one such as he when she deserves so much better."
Hildr clapped her hands, in delight. "A good swan story."
I laughed, "Too bad I don't write short contemporary romances. It has the makings of a good story. But I'll leave that up to the Bards. So again what would you have us do?
"You only want me to do your work for you" she chided. "Tell them to look in the mirror, tell them to thank swan. It would be enough to honor us. Now come we should be getting back."
As Hildr and I walk down the mountain it occurs to me that there is more to explore in what she's said but I'll leave it for another time.