Do you know Habetrot?

While reading Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe my husband turned to me and asked me; Do you know Habetrot? I didn’t know her. So I googled her, oh my lucky stars did I want to know her. This story is quite different from where we have been before. I fell in love with Habetrot and her tribe of spinning spinsters…so here you go, I would encourage you to read the entire tale.

http://www.allfiberarts.com/library/poetry/blhabetrot-f.htm

In the beginning is a lovely woman child who is just not good at spinning. She is the outdoorsy type. Today we would call her a granola. It is not that she disdains the art of spinning, she really wants to please her mother and her society she just is not good at it. No amount of beatings and coercion can make her good at it. In the past when spinning was so important to the livelihood of the family this was a serious flaw, but nature is nature. In our current world we also have certain expectations of what girls should be or do. Sometimes they are just not that way like in our story. I really want my daughter to become a medical doctor, but that might not be her nature at all. She might really want to join a Harry Potter rockabilly band. I think this is a valuable lesson for mothers here in this story; girls do not always do what we would like them to do. Sometimes if the girl is resourceful and smart that is the best thing for her.

Upon the girls despair she runs into Habetrot next to the self-bored stone. Habetrot offers to help her. And she takes the lint with her to her group of earth spinning women. When the girl wakes up she hears Habetrot say “I’ve promised the yarn and Habetrot always keeps her promise”. I have wanted to write about promises for a while, but have yet to have the opportunity until now. As heathens we take pride in keeping our word. We hold our words sacred especially those spoken into the horn. Along with the words spoken externally as sacred so should the words spoken internally. Promises made to oneself should be as sacred as promises made to another person. If we as women cannot hold ourselves to the promises made internally how can anyone externally hold us to a promise made? Heathenry starts in the spirit first, then the hearth and then maybe the tribe if part of one. On this new moon be mindful of promises you make to yourself. If you say I will walk 5 miles today then do it. If you say I will learn how to make cheese this weekend then do it. Hold yourself to your own words. Be your own Thule!

In the beginning I asked if you knew Habetrot. I am still asking that question right now. Is she a spinning goddess? Is she an earth goddess? Is she a land wight? Is she a disir? Is she an old maid part of a tribe? Or is she all of those things? Myths and Symbols put her as a land wight. Some folklorists make her to be a goddess on par with Frau Holle. The spinning goddesses are a powerful lot, and should never be underestimated. Spinning is the work solely for women, and these goddesses are all about the divine feminine. I have never spun thread, and I can imagine very few modern women have spun. I would like to try it, as I get the impression the repeated monotonous motion would lend itself easily to travel between the worlds. The mind free to wander as the body stays to do the work. I think it would be a good experiment, so if any Heathenettes try this let me know. But back to Habetrot I think why Davidson puts her in the land wight bucket is because she lives under the self-bored stone. Which makes sense to us. But I am not sold on the idea of her being a land spirit. Whatever she is, she is a powerful motivator and leader. Which we could always use more of in Heathenry.

As a person who is less esoteric in my thinking than most Heathens what I see in Habetrot is a real person in a tribe. If we look at her in a tribal archetypal position, in my mind, it makes more sense. Not every woman will marry in a tribe, and some will marry and their husbands will die. If unmarried how would they support themselves? A few days ago I was browsing through craigslist and there was a posting for a free piece of cake! Wow a free piece of cake, so I clicked on the link. The woman who was giving away the free pieces of cake said she would travel anywhere in the metro area to give them a piece. The pieces of cake looked very good from the photograph. And then if you really liked the free piece of cake you could buy the whole cake for $20. This is when I thought of Habetrot. This is exactly what she did, secured an income for herself and the unmarried women. By knowing or spae that the girl would become the Lairds wife, she quickly took advantage of the situation. When the Laird did not want his new wife to become disfigured he gave Habetrot the contract! What a clever thing she did.

This story embodies the essence of my blog. This story is all about place in society. And making a place in society if there is not one yet created. The girl/now bride found her place as the Laird’s wife. This was perfect for her as she could be outdoors as much as she wanted and fulfill her true nature. She married a man who encouraged her to fulfill her true nature. Habetrot created a place for herself. Where some unmarried women became drains on their families Habetrot stood up made a career out of the divine feminine. Not all of us are spinners, not all of us are the wives of Laird’s, but there is a place for each and every one of us!