Any discussion about Loki is going to bring up His parentage of Sleipnir. This particular bit of tricky business is praised by some, sneered at by others. A rather more detailed discussion about Loki will bring up the accusation made by Odin that Loki spent winters under the earth as a woman either milking cows or nursing babies. A more in depth discussion of Loki may mention that He became pregnant after eating the heart of an unnamed woman burned for unknown reasons. A quite detailed discussion of Loki will mention in passing that He’s known to have given birth to a race of ogre-like female creatures or witch women. This is why those who love Him exalt His title of Mother of Witches.

All this lore-based information collects to form a distinctly complex picture of Loki’s gendered identity. People who love and worship Him are generally familiar with His penchant for flamboyant appearance, glam-rock attitude, and occasional crossdressing. This is all part of Him. Not all of Him, not even most of Him, but it is part of Him.

I want to talk about the feminine Loki. I can’t say the female Loki because Loki is not female, no more than She is male. These two designations are simplistic categories intended to sort biological life forms (though they frequently fail to do so in any meaningful way). Not being biological in a way we understand, Loki is therefore neither male or female (or anything else in particular). I feel it’s important to emphasize that no Power is male or female (or anything else in particular). I realize I may step on some toes by making this assertion and I know that that these terms are quite central to the understanding that many people have of their Gods. Though I don’t wish to diminish that understanding, this particular belief has certainly not been kind to many people and (I feel) rather limits the ways in which we as human worshipers are willing to engage with the Powers we love. Please realize I mean no disrespect. Moving on.

The feminine Loki is not the masculine Loki in drag, not the masculine Loki’s alternative identity, not the masculine Loki’s feminine persona. She is Her own being, as distinctive a character as Her masculine face. He and She are the same creature and neither is more central or default or superior to the other. They are, however, somewhat different in personality and attitude and therefore deserve rather different approaches on our parts. I’ll talk about that at another time. First though, I want to talk about who She is.

She’s lots of things. She is a swinging hippie chick with tight jeans who kisses you hard in a field full of wildflowers and stale incense smoke. She is a pale leggy transsexual with beautiful tits. She’s a witch woman, hot and red and drenched in magick. She is an exiled queen keeping court in a cave embedded with crystals, dressed in rags and tatters because Her crimes negate Her tributes. She is an impoverished, lonely mother bent on survival at all costs. She is a tender, loving embrace to a monster who has known no family but Her.

She is mother, lover, sister, sweetheart, witch, queen, companion, heartmate, helpmeet. She is a trickster beauty, Bonnie to my Clyde. She is a bold and arresting presence, Sheila Franklin to my Claude Bukowski. She is sorcerous, Morgana le Fae to my Mordred. She is the hot red control of focused attraction, a vision in cherry red vinyl.

She is protective, loving, fierce, powerful, regal, scrappy, poor, lonely, forgotten, heavy, rich, deep, and lusty. She is red roses, fire-lit bronze, the sound of bells, the scent of incense, the rock wall of a cave, deep bioluminescence, the treasures deep beneath the earth. She is heat and pressure and the close spaces where magick is born.

She is beautiful and I love Her.

*****

Though my darling mylar-clad B-movie cosplay goddess is as brilliant as they come, She is also rather shy. He protects Her closely and She doesn’t come out to play with everyone (except when She does). In Her is much of the damage He carries. You have to be gentle and exceptionally loving when asking Her to visit. The best thing to do is to simply ask Him. She might show up, She might not. She might show up without even being asked (since She is Loki, after all). Offer Her light. Offer Her comfort. Offer Her a blanket and a soft place to sit. You can coax Her with compassion but be patient. Her blessed presence is shared on Her own terms. Let Her take the lead and She will show you many wonderful things.