Runes For All

The way in which the Vanir travel through the world is different from that of the AEsir, when you look at most of the journeys that the AEsir take, they generally have some kind of aggression or contest of wills connected to them in some way.  The stories in which the Vanir travel through the world generally have to do with seeking those whom they love, or bringing prosperity to the land, sometimes these themes can even be combined together. Raidho is not just about the mode of transportation that is used for the journey, but about the purpose of the journey and the outcome of it, at least in my opinion. A good contrast might be the instances of Frigg and Freyja dealing with the grief of losing their loved ones, Baldr and Odr. 

When Frigg loses Baldr, She is bereft to such a point that She seeks to bring Him back from death itself. This is something that is not within the wyrd of Baldr, but her grief is speaking deeply to Her and She will not hear anything less. So, after having Odin send a messenger to Hel, and finding out that if every living thing in the 9 worlds will weep for Baldr, Frigg sets out on Her own journey through the worlds, to beseech all those things to do what She wishes. This is an expression of grief enacted as a journey, one that hopes to bring change and a reweaving of wyrd. Setting ones' will against the established order. 

In contrast, when Freyja loses Odr, She too is grieving greatly and sets out on her own journey. This is one in which She hopes to reunite with Him and bring back the joy that They once had. She also goes over the land, as the tears stream down her face and touch the land, it responds to Her, gold veins form from her tears... And the land blossoms to her presence. Those lands which She leaves behind mourn for the lack of Her. Not because She has asked anything of them, but out of sympathy, and a kind of  need, because there is a bond between the land and Freyja.  Freyja is working within the natural bounds, hoping to find her love but not demanding that He be returned to Her. 

Both Frigg and Freyja come to the realizations that They will have to deal with their grief in it's own time and that they will have to ride it out.The way in which They process this is different for each according to their nature, but healing does take place...This is not only a difference between Asynja or Vana, but simply individual to individual.   A journey is not just traveled in miles, but often is internal as well. By making deliberate choices as to your path in life you can go much further than simply taking the random 'ride'.  

The Vanir have a way of slowly opening the proper ways, guiding the individual toward the paths that are most beneficial for them... Often you may not even see this happening until it is too late. Once you have begun making choices according to what is more natural for you, you never want to go back as it were. Many looking at it from the outside will see you as 'simply going with the flow' and may even envy you that 'relaxed pace', but the fact is that it builds as time goes on until it is a constant and you begin to find that you are capable of far more at the 'relaxed pace' than you thought you were when putting yourself under a great deal of pressure on the 'fast track'.