Runes 303 - Rune Art - The Wand

That's right.  I made a wand.  Last year, ebbed and flowed...and swirled...and cascaded over cliffs.  Good moments and bad.  And, I wanted to end the year on an upswing, so...yeah, I made a wand.  It's also why my post is coming in January instead f December, but it was worth the one day delay.

(As with all my artistic endeavors, I acknowledge that I am not a visual artist, but I do like to be creative.)

The wand is made from a piece of lilac bush wood that I cut last spring, just before the bush bloomed.  Lilacs are my favorite flowers and, while I'd love a set of Runes from lilac wood, I've never been able to get a satisfactory-sized piece from which to cut them.  I'm happy with the wand, and it does have six (actually seven) Runes carved into it, which I will get to shortly.

It was pretty easy to make the wand.  I cut it to size and smoothed the ends, then shaved all but the handle.  Next, I burned my first Rune into the handle end - Jera.  Jera, as many of you know, is my guiding Rune, so I wanted it to be at the wand's foundation.  I suppose you could think of it as the wand's core.  The wand shaft was pretty smooth after I removed the bark, so I didn't sand it at all.

With an exacto blade, I carved the simple design into the shaft.  This made the carving/burning easier.  (None of this work was visible int he pictures I took, so I didn't include any.)  The lines on the shaft are to move the energy through the wand and out the tip.  I made four lines following the natural curves of the wand, so they are not perfectly straight.  Using a few different wood-burning tips, I burned the lines.

All that was left was the Runes.  I thought about each one and its placement for quite a while even though I had been mulling over which Runes to carve since I cut the wood from the bush.  I want this wand to help guide me through 2019 and likely a lot farther than that.

I chose Sowilo, the sun, a beacon leading to safe harbor.  I placed it closest to the tip.  Ansuz was next on the same side as Sowilo.  For me it represents my writing, beyond the Rune's instinctive wisdom.  Turing the Rune one quarter, I added Tiwaz, Tyr's Rune.  I have a strong affinity for Tyr and appreciate the three aspects that I feel through his Rune - sacrifice, strategy, and perseverance. Another quarter turn and I burned in Eihwaz to remind me of and call on my inner strength, and Ingwaz for Freyr.  Ingwaz doesn't simply hold fertility, it's the way it feels comfortable to know that you are ready to take the next step in any endeavor.  It tells you that you're ready.  The last Rune was the toughest, but once I chose Kenaz, it felt right.  Kenaz represents the torch, human-made fire and, by extension, human ingenuity and creativity.  Kenaz has come up for me a lot in recent readings, so I felt compelled to see where my own creativity could lead in the coming months.

Runic details on the wand shaft

Once the Runes were carved, I darkened the handle a little bit by rolling the side of a hot wood-burning tip up and down it as I turned it to make the coloring even.  To complete it, I protected the wand with a nontoxic sealant.  And, now it has a place in my sacred space with other my other special items.

I want to note, that while I wrote about the Runes on the wand and why I chose them, for now at least, I will not be using this wand for anything other than ornamentation of my sacred space and a visual reminder of what I want to have guiding me through the coming year and beyond.

Runes 303 - Rune Art - Deeper Meanings

Through readings and rituals, the Runes can be very empowering.  They can also provide some great and consistent energy through art.  I've recently started using art to express that very thing and am excited to launch a new series on  this blog as a result: Runes 303 - Rune Art.  Though it wasn't planned, this piece of art turned into something far deeper than the artistic representation I thought I was creating.

I love the coast - the beach, the sea air, the expanse of the ocean, and the life the coastal ecosystem supports.  I wanted to choose three Runes to represent the major aspects of this beautiful natural setting.  I chose Laguz, Ansuz, and Sowilo.

Taking the blank canvass, I wanted to create a background to depict the sand.  Once that was dry, I started to outline the sea with Laguz in the center.  In the upper left, I painted Sowilo to signify the sun.  In the lower right, I placed Ansuz as the embodiment of a river delta or the mouth of the river.  Opposite Sowilo, I made splotchy dots to denote the stars in a night sky.  Opposite Laguz, I painted the tributaries that feed the rivers that leads to the sea.

As I added the finishing touches, I considered the three Runes I chose and realized that they are more than a mere representation of the coastal ecosystem.   I recognized a much deeper meaning to them, one of self-exploration and awareness.

Laguz, the water Rune, is central to the image and beckons us to explore and face the mysteries of the deep where the sea is a metaphor for our subconscious.  The Old English Rune poem warns that people who take to the sea in an unsteady ship will be terribly frightened by the waves.  Similarly, if we venture into new parts of our subconscious, though it might be scary, we must be prepared to accept what is there.  It does not mean that what is there cannot be changed, merely that what we find is the current state.  It is what we do with the recognition of the current state of things that matters.  As we explore, we must remember to look at the good as well as the bad, the accomplishments as well as the challenges.

Having Sowilo above Laguz brings comfort, for Sowilo represents the sun and feminine energies of support and caring.  It lifts spirits and gives hope.  Interestingly, Sowilo's Old English poem mentions the sea-stallion bringing travelers to land, to safety.  This is the same sea stallion mentioned in the Laguz poem that is not heeding its bridle.  When I made this connection, it strengthened the empowerment of the image I had painted.  With Laguz, there is exploration and uncertainty, but Sowilo watches over that uncertainty and provides the space for it to be processed and understood safely.

Ansuz, as the mouth of the river, feeds Laguz, creating an intriguing dynamic when interpreting the image beyond its face.  Ansuz is almost like the beginning, for as the origin of every language (according to the Old English poem), its ideal intention is to provide wisdom and build confidence through knowledge shared.  But, we know that communication does not always follow its intended path.  Though well-intentioned, Ansuz's message can be twisted and contorted in the storms of Laguz, thus creating the challenges an exploration of Laguz might uncover.  In this way, it counters Sowilo nicely to provide balance to the meaning of the image and remind us that we must sometimes pause and reevaluate certain parts of our lives.

I was pleasantly surprised to realize that, through this creative exercise, I had actually produced a piece of art that holds such provocative meaning and insight.  What is especially profound is that what the Runes in this art revealed is exactly the effect that the coast has on me.  When I go to the beach and look out over the ocean, my reality (my current state) becomes much easier to accept and address just by being there.

Runes 401 - Rune Rituals - A Simple Blessing

Back in May, my kids and I went for a bike ride and stopped at a beach by the lake.  I don't usually pick up shells or rocks or things like that to bring home; I'm of the take only pictures, leave only footprints frame of mind most of the time.  However, I was drawn to this piece of drift wood that I just couldn't put down.  I knew I had to have it and I knew I had to have my name and my Rune (Jera) carved into it.  My carving skills aren't great, so I asked a friend to do it for me, which he graciously did.  Nothing fancy.  Here's what it looked like when he gave it back to me:

It was the perfect starting point.  Then, I went through a ritual, similar to when I made my own Runes.  It needed to be painted and sealed.

First, I thanked Njord for providing the wood to me.  Soaked by the lake, smoothed by being rolled around near the shore, and left to dry on the beach.  It is perfect.

After I selected my paint, I invoked Heimdall and Odin, because they gave us the Runes.  Then, I pricked my finger and put nine drops of blood into the paint.  The sacrifice was to them.  As the drops fell into the bowl, I thanked Heimdall for sharing the Runes with Jarl and thanked Odin for his nine-day sacrifice to obtain the Runes, all their secrets and mysteries.  The blood was also my way of making the carving my own. 

This process strengthened my connection to the carving and to the gods.  Even though there wasn't enough blood to noticeably alter the color of the paint, I know that a piece of me now resides within the wood.

I let the paint dry over night, then sealed it with a non-toxic varnish, but not before I expressed my appreciation to all of the gods and goddesses.  This piece of Rune art and the process to create it was important for me in strengthening my connection to the mythology that I love.

I was especially pleased that, when I drew Runes as the final piece of this ritual, I got Perthro, Jera, and Berkana.  Simply put, Perthro represents my friend in this process who did the initial carving for me.  Jera is my guiding Rune; that's why it's on the carving.  And even though Berkana comes at the end, it symbolizes for me that this work of art represents a new phase in my relationship to the gods and the Runes.