A Rune for Time

I know I am not alone when I say that I don't have enough time in my week to accomplish everything that needs to get done.  Something unexpected always seems to arise at some point and throws me off - the kids get sick, the car breaks down, I get sick.  The list, I'm sure, goes on.  Even when I try to set fewer weekly goals to compensate for these "unexpecteds", time still slips away.

When I realized all of the things I need to get done this week and looked at the "unusuals" (not unexpected, but something that doesn't happen very often) happening this week too, I started to make that age old remark - if only I had more time... But, I caught myself and decided, instead, to ask the Runes to give me a Rune for time.  When they gave me Raido, I asked how to use it effectively.

Raido is the Rune of riding or a carriage and signifies a journey, positive progress from where we are now to where we want to be.  That sounds about right to me.  Now for the second part - how to use it wisely.  What shall we do on this journey to be more effective with our time and accomplish the tasks we set for ourselves?  To answer this, we get Algiz, Tiwaz, and Kenaz.  (As an interesting side note, Raido, Algiz, and Tiwaz showed up together earlier this year, when I asked about A Healing Rune.)

Algiz is the Rune of protection and self-defense.  This Rune is appropriate here, because we are attempting to get ourselves into a better place.  When we don't accomplish the things we set out to do, we get frustrated and frustration can turn to anger.  Worse still, if we don't finish the goals we set in the time we've allotted for them, our tendency is not to say, "Okay, I need to slow down and get this done before I move on to other things."  Instead, we pile more stuff on top of our already uncompleted list until we overwhelm ourselves with a list of incomplete tasks and we start to fee like we are failing.  While on some level that may be true, what we fail to realize is why we are failing.  That is why Algiz is our first. Rune.  It reminds us that we need to take care of ourselves, if we are going to be successful in our endeavors.  So, maybe the Runes are asking us what we are going to do to protect ourselves from situations like this.  In other words, as we embark on this journey to be more effective, the first thing we must do is take care of ourselves.

The warrior Rune, Tiwaz, supports the requirements of Algiz.  To take care of ourselves, we must remember that we are warriors and part of being a good warrior requires some sacrifice.  I know what you're thinking - aren't these opposing Runes?  How can taking care of ourselves require self-sacrifice?  Excellent question!  What is the answer?  Self-sacrifice does not necessarily mean sacrificing our well-being; it means sacrificing some part of our life that we have grown accustomed to, but doesn't really provide us with benefit or well-being.  In essence, Tiwaz is saying look at your life, prioritize it, find balance.  I can use myself as an example here.  I am a writer.  I haven't always viewed myself this way, but it wasn't until I stopped spending time on so many things unrelated to writing that I became a writer.  Now, I have specific time set aside each week for my own writing and much of the work I do for others is writing and editing.  I would like to spend Mondays mornings doing pilates and socializing with my friends, but that is the sacrifice I have made for my writing.  Not only was it the right choice, but once I made it, I felt empowered.  By making it okay for myself to spend Mondays writing instead of hanging out with a few friends, I made it okay for myself to make other choices in the same vein and it feels really good.  Challenge yourself to make a sacrifice to get the time you need for your goals, tasks, and ambitions.

Our final Rune for dealing with our Raido-inspired journey, is Kenaz.  Kenaz is an interesting Rune, because it has two potential meanings, which I believe are both useful in this instance.  First is the idea of a child's illness.  In this case, I would say that childhood is full of challenges.  We are growing and learning and there are plenty of illnesses that can afflict children and make life even more difficult.  As adults, we are better equipped to deal with life's "unexpecteds", due in fact, to the things we've learned and the experiences we had as children.  Perhaps, as we try to find more time for the things we need to do as adults, we can think back to our childhood and remember the things we learned as well as the happiness we felt.  Because childhood (these days) is about having fun and being happy, which we did in spite of everything else happening around and to us.  The other aspect of Kenaz is that of a torch or light, which signifies creativity.  Can we take what we've learned and experienced in our lives and apply it to this?  This would demonstrate the crossover from childhood to adult, applying what we've learned in an effective and creative way.  You may even want to call it wisdom.

For those of us looking for more time, the solution is as easy as we make it.  Our goal is to be happy, to protect ourselves from stress and anger and frustration.  How can we, as warriors, do that?  We must make sacrifices and focus on our priorities, placing everything else on a shelf for another time.  We make those determinations through a combination of life's lessons to this point and our own creativity.  Once this journey is complete, we will find we have the time we need.

Compliment or Criticism: Choose Your Focus

For some reason, it seems humans are more inclined to focus on the negative, rather than the positive.  While we appreciate compliments, a single criticism, no matter how small, not only tends to erase the good feeling brought on by the compliment, but makes us angry, frustrated or sad.  I had this experience this morning.  I ran into a friend of mine, who told me that she started reading my novel last night and couldn't put it down.  "Really engaging," she said.  Of course, that made me feel great!  Less than thirty minutes later, I ran into someone else, who criticized something I did yesterday, behavior that he clearly misunderstood, but his comments were enough to piss me off.  At home, I came into my office and sat, staring at my computer screen for 10-15 minutes, so angry that every time I started typing something, I deleted it.  Nothing seemed right.  Then, I realized what had happened.  I decided to ask the Runes how to allow the positive into my life, while letting the negative roll away.

Othala, the last Rune in the Futhark, offers a very interesting overview, focused on the positive.  While Othala is the Rune of inheritance and the homestead, we must look beyond this face value to find its underlying meaning.  It is about the foundation for the way we live our lives.  It is not an entitlement, rather reminds us to appreciate the gifts we receive that allow us to create the life we want.  Although the meaning tends to be geared toward the gifts we've received from ancestors in the form of traditions, property, and inherited characteristics, when we are building our homestead (the life we want), we also receive gifts in the present from friends and family.  This is where our focus should be, but how do we do it?

Well, Raido reminds us that life is a journey.  The Rune of riding or a carriage, travels on the path we take to establish our homestead on a foundation of the gifts we receive.  We must move forward; that is how we progress.  However, what we must be aware of is that the path our journey takes us on is not going to be straight and smooth.  It will contain bumps, curves, dips, hills, bridges, a whole variety of things that make our journey interesting.  Unfortunately, we will hit potholes and other disruptive features in our road, but our challenge is that we must manage and get past those annoyances, so that we can enjoy the rest of the ride and the amazing scenery that surrounds us.  Again, we ask how to do it?

 Can you guess the answer?  It is, of course, Jera, the Rune of the harvest.  As we have seen many times before, a bountiful harvest represents the fruits of a long process.  This means that there is no easy answer to our question, that removing and not allowing negative energy to chip away at our homestead's foundation will take time.  What we can do is make a commitment to the process.  Realize that the power is within us to dwell on the things we choose.  Therefore, as I starting point, I choose to dwell on my friend's positive words about my novel and build on that.

Before I end this post though, I'd like to offer something positive to you.  Simply by reading my blog, you have done two positive things.  First, you made me feel good by reading my writing.  Second, and more importantly, you have given yourself a tool to help you shed negative energy.  So, when someone says something negative to you, stop and think about all the positive things people have said to you and feed on that instead.

Have a positively beautiful week.

Runes 201 - Individual Runes - Berkana

This week, I entered into a business adventure with a very good friend of mine.  I chose to say "adventure" rather than simply "venture", because she and I have worked together before and we did amazing things.  It was a great adventure and I am certain this time will be too.  To acknowledge this partnership, I wanted to look at Berkana, the Rune of birth and the birch tree.  This Rune symbolizes beginnings and beauty and is linked to fertility, creativity, and, of course, goddesses.  My question for the Runes this week is how she and I can make the most of this beginning.

Tiwaz provides the overview for our adventure and, for me, this is a reassuring draw.  I am strongly aligned with Tiwaz, Týr's Rune.  Not only is Týr the left-handed god (I am left-handed too), but he is the warrior god.  To me, Týr's left-handedness, represents bravery, because Týr lost his hand, because he was the only one among the gods with enough courage to put his hand in Fenrir's mouth while the other gods bound the wolf.  This signifies the necessity of bravery and self-sacrifice in this undertaking.  We must be brave and unafraid to take some risks.  Coupled with this is the warrior, who is someone who does just that - takes risk and is unafraid.  As warriors, we are not afraid to work hard or fight for what we want to accomplish.

As my friend and I live 4,500 kilometers apart, Raido symbolizes what is, perhaps, our greatest challenge in this endeavor - travel or progress.  It is the Rune of riding or a carriage, and reminds us that we must move, literally and figuratively, to advance and achieve our goals.  This means not only can we not allow the physical distance between us to hinder our progress, but we must find a way to use it to our advantage.  Interestingly, travel is a component that she and I have discussed to some degree already and we see it as an important factor to addressing our aspirations and being successful in this endeavor.

 Finally, I was quite pleased to see Sowilo as our action for this question.  Sowilo stands for the sun and symbolizes good fortune.  For me, the sun, in in rawest form, is energy and that is what we need to make our adventure together successful - sheer energy.  One other key aspect to point out about this Rune is that in Germanic traditions, the sun is feminine.  For two women to draw the sun as their action for a working relationship reinforces the notion of the warrior's strength.  Together, we will be a strong force of positive, creative energy.  Look out world!

While this week's draw is more personal for me than my usual posts, I hope that you have gained some insight into either dealing with a new situation in your life, making the most of a beginning, or understanding how the Runes offer guidance.  I am always available to offer you personal readings or to answer questions you have about the Runes.  Just leave a comment on this post or email me.  Have a great week!