Freya Aswynn was born in Holland in November 1949 to a strict, Roman Catholic family.
As a child she displayed natural psychic abilities, and this, combined with her reactions to a hostile family environment and subjected to serious physical, mental as well as some sexual abuse, which was not recognized by the system as it was then, prompted the official diagnosis that she was 'maladjusted'.
Entrusted to the so-called 'care' system, she was institutionalized for nine years.
From the age of ten to the age of nineteen . Her intelligence, combined with a capacity for aggressive self-assertion, allowed her to emerge from this ordeal more or less psychologically unscathed at the age of 19.
Deprived of any secondary education, she resorted to taking on cleaning work, until she met and married her first husband, George.
Somewhat older in years, George introduced her to the basics of philosophy (particularly the works of Friedrich Nietzsche) and classical music, predominantly Richard Wagner.
He also was the first person who ever spoke to her about the esoteric nature of the runes.
Sadly, after two years of marriage, George died of cancer; but he left her with a pension that, for the first time in her life, gave her a measure of financial independence.
Determined now to make good her lack of learning, she taught herself English and German by means of books and tapes.
At the same time, she took an interest in the development of her long-suppressed psychic gifts.
She received her first paranormal training in a spiritualist environment, and from there progressed to the study of Rosicrucianism, Astrology, Cabbala and Thelema.
At the age of 30, she felt unable to progress further in Holland and left for England, where she was soon was recognized by prominent magicians and witches as a natural.
With their help and training, she was initiated into the mysteries and made rapid progress as a ritual magician and High Priestess.
She was intitated into Wicca by Jim Bennnet under the supervision of Alex Sanders in 1980. She then in April of that year got involved with a Gardnerian coven and from there formed her own coven with the High Priest Lionel Hornby. This coven was active for a number of years. The next major turning point for her was a life changing spiritual and magical experience: an intense, spontaneous invocation of the God Woden. She took this to be a calling to open up the Northern pathway, which until then, was virtually non-existent within the occult community.
She then embarked on an intensive study of the runes and began work on her first book, “Leaves of Yggdrasil” (revised and updated in 1998 under the title, "Northern Mysteries and Magick".) Within Pagan circles, this initiative was at first viewed with skepticism and suspicion as to whether she had a covert political agenda (which at that time was often the case with some Odinists).
She soon overcame these perceptions and won the respect and affection of the majority of the Pagan and occult community.
Over the last 14 years I she has been extensively involved with lecturing and giving talks all over the world. It was her great fortune to become acquainted with ‘Hrafnar' a women's Asatru group where she was taught Seidhr or Spea craft.
She has many loving friends in the US.
In 1993, she had started up a UK branch of the Ring of Troth, originally an American organization founded by Edred Thorsson and James Chisholm. The UK branch soon attracted members in other European countries and, re-named the Ring of Troth Europe. It rapidly became a successful and progressive Northern Tradition group. Having led this organization as Steerswoman for a number of years, she recently stepped down from this role and other positions of power.
She now concentrates on teaching and guiding as an Elder in the Ring of Troth and is actively 'on call' to members for advice and counsel when required. She is in the process of setting up a facility for rune readings on the net, www.aswynn.co.uk.
She also runs a correspondence course, which at present is being updated.
She has just completed another book 'Principles of the Runes' in the popular series ‘principles of' published by Thorssons UK. This was a one book contract and she is now back working for Llewellyn on the second volume of ‘Northern Mysteries'.
Correspondence:
snailmail: BM Aswynn, London WC1N 3XX, UK.
