Winifred Hodge Rose
Here is what we are told in the lore about the Goddess Syn, who is listed among the companions of Frigg. “Syn: she guards the doors of the hall and shuts them against those who are not to enter, and she is appointed as a defence at assemblies (Things) against matters that she wishes to refute. Thus there is a saying that a denial (syn) is made when one says no.” (Gylfaginning 35 in the prose Edda, p. 30.)
This makes her the Goddess of defense attorneys and public defenders, among other things. It also makes her a Goddess to call upon when our identity has been stolen, or false accusations or rumors are circulating about us: her power of denial is what we need here.
I call Syn the ‘Just Say No!’ Goddess, who ensures that we keep our healthy personal boundaries strong, knowing when and to whom and to what we must “say no” in order to preserve our integrity, dignity—and our relationships. She ‘closes and wards the door’ whenever this is necessary for our safety, privacy and peace of mind.
Simek assumes that Syn guards the doors of Frigg’s hall Fensalir, specifically (p. 309), but we can regard her as a door-warden in general, a vitally important role these days. Syn defends against invasion of privacy and personal rights, whether this is done in person, over the internet or telephone, or any of the many other ways our privacy is invaded. The constant bombardment we all suffer from—advertising, influencers, politicians, the lot—creates disorder in our thoughts, our emotions, our homes, our families and relationships, in our country and in the world. We need divine help to just shut the door from time to time, to have a peaceful space to nurture ourselves and our relationships.
Following on this, Syn is a very helpful Goddess when we practice meditation, helping us to close the door on extraneous thoughts and scattered emotions, to reach the still space where her companion Vør holds sway, the Goddess of Awareness. I see Syn as a patron, or matron, of our Hugr-soul, our Fylgja, our Vørðr, and other spirit-beings who ward our inner self from dangers of the physical, social, and metaphysical worlds and beings.
Syn is an important Goddess for the modern world, and I’d like to see her power grow. The more we call upon her and work with her, and the more involved she becomes in Midgard today, the greater her power will grow to help us create safe and sacred spaces for all our needs in Midgard.
Here is a prayer to call upon Syn. You can change the plurals of ‘us, we, our’ to ‘me, I, my’ if you like. But it does no harm to pray on behalf of others as well as yourself when you speak this prayer.
A Prayer to Syn
Syn, grant us wisdom
To know what should be denied,
To discern what should not enter
Into our cherished spaces of heart and home.
~~~~~
Syn, grant us courage
To stand against what is wrong,
To deny the easy paths of harm and waste,
And tread the ways that lead to hard-won blessings.
~~~~~
Syn, grant us grace
To understand our own deserving:
The spaces of our Being are sacred,
All that enters therein must be worthy,
Or remain outside the door.
~~~~~
Book-Hoard
Simek, Rudolf. Dictionary of Northern Mythology. D.S. Brewer, Cambridge. 1993.
Sturlason, Snorri. Edda. Transl. Anthony Faulkes. Everyman, Charles E. Tuttle, Vermont. 1995.