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'''Spinna''' means "spinning" in the [[Froyalanish]] and [[Wintergleamish]] languages. Spinning is since times ancient beyond the memory of woman a sacred craft and was hailed as the most worthy of a [[Vanakvinna]]'s tasks up until the industrialization. It also is one of the crafts mentioned in Poetry of Passion, the classical [[Valtia|Valtian]] book on the Art of Love. Likewise, the spinning wheel is since those days of yore a powerful symbol representing female wisdom, virtue and industry.

==Frigga and Spinning==
Although other Vanic Goddesses are known to spin as well, the Lady [[Frigga]] is associated most with spinning by the Vanakvinner of old and new and in [[Froyalan]] the All-Mother is considered the matron of all spinners. In Her gorgeous hall the Lady Frigga sits spinning, on her golden spinning wheel, the silken threads, which She afterwards bestows on the most worthy of Vanakvinner. It is also said that the Lady Divine uses Her spinning wheel to weave the clouds. The Lady Frigga also sits at Her spinning wheel weaving the destinies of women and Goddesses alike at the beginning of each new year. The All-Mother's spinning wheel is visible to woman every night, for it is that shining, starry zone which non-Vanafolk in their ignorance point out as the Belt of Orion, but which to Vanafolk is the Lady Divine's spinning wheel.

==Vanakvinner and Spinning==
According to sagas recorded in ancient Valtian history books like The Beloved, Annals of the All-Mother, and Questions, the Lady Frigga introduced the spinning wheel to the Vanakvinner of yore as a way to empower these ladies teaching them how to make clothes and other fabrics for themselves and their children, and set up their families in prosperity. By her spinning and weaving a Vanakvinna showed her skills to the rest of the community through the quality of the clothes worn by her family and to her guests by her wall hangings and table linen. Young Vanakvinner produced heavily decorated household fabrics to increase their value as brides, hence the use of the word "spinster" for an unmarried woman. Earnings derived from spinning and weaving were quite often the major source of income for the Vanakvinner's families, emphasising the power of women in Vanic tradition.

==Days of Valtia==
During the days of Valtia the spinning wheel was appreciated as one of the most important sources of the nation's wealth and power, and skilful spinners were therefore held in high esteem. The spinning wheel had, in combination with Valtian developments in weaving looms, allowed a dramatic expansion in the size, speed and number of sailing ships for Valtia's fleets. The consequence, or historical opportunity, of this was the ascendancy of Valtia and the acquisition of the Valtian Empire. In Froyalan spinning still is, especially in winter, very popular as a passtime.

==Daughters of Frigga and Spinning==
In the hands of the Daughters of Frigga, the spindle is a powerful weapon of sorcery. Feeling the Lady Frigga's power stir inside their bodies when they seat themsleves behind a spinning wheel, to the Daughters of Frigga spinning is a magical way to invoke and express their sense of oneness with the All-Mother and their reverence for this relationship. It is therefore not a surprise that the sacred craft of spinning is deeply permeated in the ways of the sisterhood. For example, several of the sisterhoods' ranks are derived from spinning and weaving, and to be able to advance to the higher ranks of the sisterhood a Daughter of Frigga must, aside from possessing many other household management and higher domestic skills, be capable of spinning and weaving a cloak of Valtian silk.

[[Category:Froyalanish Ancient Ways]]