The Element Encyclopedia of Witchcraft: The Complete A-Z for the Entire Magical World - Judika Illes 2005
Frigga
The Divine Witch: Goddesses and Gods
Also called Frigg, Fricka.
Frigga is a spirit of divination, fertility, matrimony, and childbirth. Her husband is Odin the Allfather, Leader of the Aesir. Her father is Fjorgin. The identity of her mother is unclear. It is also not entirely clear to which Norse pantheon Frigga herself belongs: Aesir, Vanir or other.
It can be difficult to distinguish Frigga from Freya. Clearly distinct spirits in Scandinavia, the two may have merged into one spirit in ancient Germany, although as so much information has been lost, suppressed and garbled it’s now impossible to definitively determine.
Frigga is a shadowier spirit than Freya. Ironically, because Christians despised Freya so intensely, more lucid, substantial information regarding her and her traditions survive.
Frigga seems to have been a less overtly sexual spirit, although her name survives as an English obscenity indicating sexual intercourse. Frigga’s sacred bird is the stork, leading to jokes regarding the true origin of infants. Her primary surviving myths involve her identity as wife and mother. She battles Odin’s infidelities and actively attempts to save their doomed son, Baldur.
Frigga knows every person’s destiny but will not reveal it. She is a spinning goddess associated with the Norns (Fates)—she spins the thread they weave and cut. Her sacred emblem is the distaff: “the distaff side” still indicates a wife or maternal descent.
She wears a girdle hung with keys, indicating her ability to unlock all doors and her oracular ability. Frigga has powerful associations with mediumship. A quiet, less flamboyant witch than Freya, Frigga lives in the company of masters (Odin, Freyr) and manages to hold her own.
A thirteenth-century mural in Schleswig Cathedral in Northern Germany depicts Freya and Frigga in the guise of naked witches: Freya rides through the air on a giant cat alongside Frigga astride a distaff.