Sedna – Inuit Goddess of the Bounty of the Sea
Sedna, also known as Arnakuagsak, was the most powerful of the Inuit Goddesses. Legends tell us that this Goddess of the sea started out as a beautiful Inuit woman who had many male admirers. She rejected every single one of these admirers. In the end, she was beguiled by a trickster seagull who promised her a wonderful life if she married him. She agreed and accompanied him back to his homeland.
In reality, this turned out far from what she had originally thought. Sedna sent word to her father regarding her dissatisfaction. Upon receiving this word, he rowed to the island on his kayak to bring her home. On the way back, a fierce storm struck, causing the kayak to almost capsize. Fearing that it would, Sedna was thrown overboard by her father in an effort to fix the boat. When she tried to climb back aboard, he chopped off her fingers.
When Sedna sunk into the sea to the land of Adlivun, she transformed into a beautiful Goddess. She retained the head of a woman but sprouted a mermaid-like tail. Her severed fingers became the sea creatures that provided food for the Inuit people. According to some sources, if the people stop paying homage to her she brings storms and restricts access to fish, seals, and polar bears.
Arctic whalers may have brought the legend of Sedna with them in their journeys. They would often carry carved figureheads of Sedna on their ships. Her sacrifice produced the creatures of the sea and made up the diet that Inuit people who worshipped her. She is sometimes called Mistress of the Sea or Lady of Life and Death. She is a nurturing Goddess that possesses aspects of fertility and protection. She is also a deity of transformation because of her death making it possible for others to survive.
We suggest honoring Sedan with the Blue Lace Agate or with Larimar. Both bring the soothing essence of the sea to her spirit.