"Fear is the path to the dark side".
She came as a tester to the Vanir, to the green valleys where love was said to reign. She came to see if she could seduce them, if their love could withstand love of ornamentation and appearance, if they would succumb to fear, for she knew that there was no love where fear was able to conquer. And indeed she would lead them astray whenever she could, and Durinn ordained it, so that only the most worthy might remain in the Halls of Desire. Some say she came to make them more fit, although she is reviled and hated by most ; and yet The Romance of the Rose says they carved her image on the walls about their garden, as if to say, she is the guardian of the garden, casting out all who would succumb to envy, fear, or greed, and like her brother, she is a tough tester. How cold her heart. It could not be burned by the hottest of fires. Oh if you would fail her tests she would drop you as a nothing, only someone to be used to make her gains, or her heartless laughter ; and yet, her purpose served, for only the most noble may walk those Halls.
And her brother, testing the Honor of the rulers and protectors, were they Wise enough to see through his treachery? Could they discern the Lies from the laughter, the Schemes from the mere pranks? Were they truly frithful enough to withstand his ranklings and stirrings of their pride? Or would his jests and jibes drive their vainglory at each other's throats?
Tough testers, children of the illusionist, the father of thorns who lulls the world to sleep with enchantments, to prevent awakenings. Under this spell, only the most wary and alert can pass through without also falling into blunder and error. Yea, Muspel's Lord cast a great blanket of error over the world, which made the awakening that much more difficult and full of merit for those who could achieve it. And yet humankind had an ally, for Muspel's Gylfi had a bright son perceptive as any hawk who could hear the grass grow for hundreds of miles, who lent his teachings to men who would hear. And in the castle in the sky, an old man with one eye pondered mysteries and saw through the traps, keeping Laufeyson right by his side.
The Kingdom of Love is full of error ; its very creator fell in a boundless love that overstepped all rights and propriety, thus making love a very treacherous path. Yet Earth, Sea, Moon, and Sun still guard the paths, if we would watch them, and the King and Queen of Faery, Frey and Freya, make none cry with their smiling love.
And so we are called, wary, to see through the fear and the self-deception, to smile at Gullveig and to laugh at Loki, and never once to let them lead us astray, knowing at times we will, keeping our learning curves tight, pert, round, and perky. Only the most worthy may rise into the Kingdom of Love, and if we cannot rise through the Error all about us, driven by fear, lies, and selfishness, then we deserve the very illusions we suffer.
