Njord's Stars: Lighthouse and Net
Njord, the God of ships, sailing, merchant trade, and fishing (and the father of Frey and Freya) has already been noted as Alhena for his Frith-Maker Star. However, he can be found in two other places as well. The first is Polaris, the Pole Star which he shares with another deity (to be revealed later). Polaris was known to the Norse as Nál, meaning “nail”—the nail in the sky where the star-globe circled around. It has been the pole star for the last millennium; before that was a period of ‘gap” when no heavenly body was the pole star, and before that was the head of the Dragon.
For some time, however, Polaris has been the Ship-Star. I get the feeling that it was not originally any part of Njord’s, but when it became the star that the sailors worked with, called upon by generations of navigators, he took partial command of it. Polaris is Njord’s Lighthouse, as he is honored as the Lighthouse God, showing the path to the shore. While it never rises or sets and thus cannot be used in parans, it can still be used in conjunctions to planets. Njord’s Lighthouse bestows the gift of a clear and focused path, and sometimes spiritual powers. It is a guide in the darkness.
The other star of Njord is his net, where he brings in the fish. This is the star known to the Arabs as Alrisha (“the well-rope”); they were not seafarers and pulling up fish from a well was more common to them. Njord’s Net was also called Ukda (“knot”), because it is the point in the constellation of Pisces where the strings holding the two fish come together. Traditionally this star indicates bringing together of opposites—earth and sea, country and country, exploring and coming home. It is the point of the fisherman pulling in the sea’s harvest. Modernly, it is said to be a bringing together of two kinds of knowledge, which also works for Njord the Frith-maker: Vanir and Aesir, Vanir and Jotun, ancient and modern. It is said of people with Alrisha strong in their charts that they have a better than average talent for knowing where they are, and where they are going, and for helping others to move forward as well. If Polaris is Njord’s lighthouse which shows the clear path, Alrisha is the compass which sets the course between shore and shore, past and future, bringing it all together into one whole as Njord pulls the fish in their various journeys into one net.