Showing posts with label Standstill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Standstill. Show all posts

Monday, August 6, 2012

Temporary Runes

Once again, I am away from my usual computer on a posting day.  I will add the images when I return, but for now, I ask the question, "Did you forget something?"  This question is quite relevant this week, as I am also away from my Runes.  In all honesty, I forgot them.  So, my question to the Runes this week is - what do I do when I need something that I don't have?

Before I could address this question, I had to make a temporary set of Runes to use.  I divided a piece of paper into 24 even rectangles, then asked for a blessing from the gods (Odin, Heimdall, Freyr) so that I could write the Runes on the paper and they would be imbued with temporary power to offer guidance.  Once the blessing was sorted, I drew the Runes onto the paper rectangles.  Once they were done, I asked the gods for their guidance with the process, since I was working with temporary Runes.

My temporary Runes.  (Photo added 8/13/2012)
Fehu, Hagalaz and Isa offered the guidance to this question.  This was a difficult draw to interpret, but after some thought, I realized that, through the process of making my temporary Runes, I had accomplished my goal.

Fehu is the Rune of wealth.  From a strictly historical perspective, this referred to cattle or money.  However, we must think of wealth as having many potential definitions in today's world.  In this instance, I believe it means a wealth of resources.  For example, my problem was that I didn't have my Runes with me, but the solution lay within many possible choices.  I could have waited until I got back to my office, but that would have delayed my post, so I opted not to choose that path.  I have a very good friend that has a set of Runes.  I could have called her and asked her to draw the Runes for me.  Although I may try this one at some point in the future, I decided I wanted to fend for myself so to speak and not ask for her help.  In thinking of wealth as available resources, I thought of the simplest way to acquire a set of Runes without buying new ones, which was another option.  Thus, I made my temporary set out of a sheet of paper.  That is the perfect overview of this situation.

As is common, Hagalaz challenged me in this draw.  The Rune of hail, of destructive and creative force, is a good challenge.  How can we take a seemingly bad situation and turn it into a good one?  We get creative.  Not having my Runes was a challenge and could have thrown off my weekly posts, but, by being creative, I overcame the challenge that was threatening my plans.

The first two Runes took me a while to reason out, but as soon as I looked at Isa, I knew I had taken the right action.  The Rune of Ice encourages us to exercise caution, for while ice is beautiful, it can cause us to lose our footing quite easily.  This Rune is sometimes referred to as the Rune of standstill (which I used early on in my posts), but I realize that is an oversimplification.  The Runes do not tell us to stand still, but they do offer good warnings of caution.  When I decided to make my temporary Runes, I was very cautious.  Not only did I ask the gods for a blessing on the Runes, but requested their support throughout the process of answering the question as well.  The result is that the answer to my question is the process I went through to be able to answer the question in the first place.

I used the wealth of resources around me to create a  simple, yet effective set of temporary Runes.  I faced the challenge of not having my Runes by being creative and I was cautious while I was making the Runes, even asking the gods for additional guidance.  Most importantly, I did the first reading for myself.  Still, I hope this reading can help you too.

Monday, June 4, 2012

Life on the Fringe

Since high school, people have tried to fit me into a given group or set of people.  While I think I am pretty easily defined, that definition falls, in parts only, into various groups.  Lately, I  found a group to which I am very drawn by its openness, acceptance, and peaceful approach to life.  Still, there are aspects to this group about which I remain ambivalent.  I decided to seek guidance form the Runes on this issue, because I think this is something that many of us face or have faced in our lives.  How do I join this group as fully as I can and embrace it, while maintaining my individuality?
I was caught off-guard by Isa, the Rune of ice or a standstill.  However, after some contemplation, I realized that this Rune is a fair representation of my current situation.  For am I not looking at something I find beautiful and tempting, but exercising caution, because of potential risks yet to be revealed?  Still, I wonder about ice as one of the primal elements, which is another aspect to this Rune.  Could it be this question is asking about some primary thing I need to create my world the way that earth, air, fire, and Isa (ice) created ours?
As interesting as Isa is to contemplate, Eihwaz, as the challenge in this instance, peaks my curiosity even more.  This Rune of stability and the yew tree presents a tough situation, a test in a sense.  I believe this means that I have made my choice; I stand with and support this new group.  The next step is to stand my ground on the issue.  If I commit to this, I cannot turn tail when questioned about my choice.  Luckily, I find this new group quite welcoming and inspiring, so demonstrating my commitment to it to others will be easy.
I must confess, the Rune for the action around this question is quite pleasing - Sowilo, the Rune of the sun and wholeness.  Drawing this Rune lifted my spirits, just as it is intended to do.  Further, it allowed another opportunity for me to contemplate my question and how I will address it personally.  Becoming part of a group doesn't require me to give 100% of myself, rather to give 100% of the part I give to the group.  This is great advice, in general.  If you are going to participate in something, do it completely or don't waste your time and the time of others who are committed to it.  If you are going to engage, engage completely, but don't not feel like you have to engage always.

That's a good way to start this week.  I hope it helps you too.  Next week, I'm cutting my Rune staves, so stay tuned!

Monday, February 20, 2012

Making Alterations

I have started the search for a literary agent for my first novel.  I got some good advice from one of the agents who read the first fifty pages.  Yesterday, I initiated my plans to address her suggestions.  While the changes are not major, they do require some reworking throughout the book.  So, I asked the Runes what they thought of the idea of making these changes to it.  The response I got had less to do with the interpretation than it did to do with the images of the Runes themselves.  I drew Mannaz for the overview, Dagaz for the challenge and Isa for the action.

I like that the overview was Mannaz, the Rune of the Self, humanity, even culture.  This describes the situation perfectly; after all, I am talking about my own book and my own considerations of altering the work I've spent the last two years doing.  In many ways, this Rune is simply telling me that I already know the answer to the question I asked - it resides within me, within my mind, within my heart.  I can make these changes and it will improve the quality of the story if I make them correctly and wisely.  The requirement here is that I know myself.

As I mentioned, it is the images of the Runes that struck me before the meanings.  However, before I get to the images, let me explain the meaning of the other two Runes.  Dagaz is the Rune of Day, clarity.  This Rune allows for breakthroughs to occur, because everything becomes clearer in the light of day.  This is my challenge, to find the clarity as I pursue the alterations.

Countering Dagaz is Isa, the Rune of Ice and caution, even standstill.  While my challenge is to see things clearly and move forward, my action says that maybe I should sit and not do anything for a while.  How does that help me to have the breakthrough I need?  In two ways.  First, it tells me that sometimes the best action is to consider action.  What is the best way to move forward?  Weigh options, be content with slow or small advances.  Through this explanation, it reminds me of Jera, the Rune of the Harvest, which tells us that everything has a process through which it must travel.  As many of you know, Jera is my Rune; I draw it more than any other and even named my company after it, because I think process is so vital to success.  The second thing Isa tells me relates to its image and that of Dagaz, for while they seem to stand in contrast to each other, one claiming clarity and breakthroughs are required and the other saying be still, together, perhaps they balance out each other.  Why do I think that?  Because during the three years I spent in high school, this image covered my pee-chees (folders for those of you to young to remember a pee-chee) and notebooks.  I doodled it everywhere.  Isa on Dagaz.
It was my image; the image of my Self.  It was me - balanced, my symbol.  So, the overview of this draw suggests that I must know myself and the challenge and action Runes partner to give me the sense of myself that I had back in high school, when I became committed fully to being writer.  In this image, I found balance and focus.  This is why I started the alterations on my novel.

Two weeks ago, I presented all the Runes (Runes 101 - Runes in History 5) and asked what your Rune was.  Today, I wonder what Runes show up in your doodles.  Have a look at the Runes again and let me know if you can identify Runes that balance you.

Monday, November 7, 2011

The Path to a Career?


Two weeks ago, I talked about having a lot of balls in the air and how to prioritize them so that they can all get done.  With November, comes a slight shift in priorities, because I am taking the NaNoWriMo challenge.  For those of you who don’t know, that’s short for National Novel Writing Month.  The challenge is to write 50,000 words toward a novel in the month of November.  While I’m not doing too badly, given life’s little circumstances, I am a bit behind.  So, today I ask the Runes what I need to accomplish this task.  This is what they said.


Isa, the Rune of Standstill or Ice.  I’m not sure I like this overview on first sight, but I can accept what it represents, because it doesn’t mean that nothing is happening.  Instead, it can be a sign of caution or it can indicate, as the idea of ice brings to my mind, a sense of calmness or, instead of a standstill, stillness.  Of course, if I am traveling an icy path and must be cautious as I traverse it, the only way to succeed is to submit to it, give in and realize that this is the way I have to go.  Now I know I must find time to do this.  To be fair, this is true.  If my time were all my own, I would spend it writing.

No situation is without its challenges and my challenge in finding time is Ehwaz, the Rune of Movement and the Horse.  The theme of a journey continues with this Rune, likening to a close relationship such as that between a rider and her horse.  Ehwaz signifies things such as travel for pleasure and a new attitude about life.  In many ways, as I shift more toward writing as a career and not just a hobby, the journey does become more pleasurable and, with that, my attitude improves.  If I am the rider and my writing is the horse, then my challenge is to guide the horse where I want it to take me both within the story I am telling and in my career as a professional “rider”.

It seems as though my action has been established for me in the two previous Runes – I am on an icy path and I must guide the horse over it carefully to make sure I get where I want and need to be.  It is probably precisely because I think I have it all figured out that the Runes bestowed Mannaz, the Rune of the Self, Humanness on me.  What does this mean?  Every journey we undertake begins with the self.  As humans, we all possess strengths and weaknesses.  We are wise to inventory those aspects of ourselves before climbing into the saddle.  Therefore, while my path may be clear and I know I am in charge of reaching the destination I have determined, the only way I will accomplish this journey is by facing who I am, good and bad as I start out on this path.

Isn't it interesting that I asked the Runes about completing a single task and they presented it as a step toward something much more satisfying than finishing a project. NaNoWriMo may be only a month long challenge, but it is one of the important stops on my path to a career as a writer or rider if you prefer.  Giddy-up!