Romancing the Runes

Seasonal Effective Disorder is definitely a problem for me.   The sun is staying up later and I can feel a return of positivism, energy, and getting work done. It also points to my need to get back on the wagon as far as my spiritual practice is concerned. Between the illnesses and the depressive swings my weekly meditations have become a few times a month when I can literally breathe without hacking again. I am very concerned about this since sticking longterm to a schedule has never been a strong point with me. I fall off the wagon at least once every six months and many times don't get back on for years. This is a huge problem given the current position I occupy and the responsibilities that I have. Not just to mention how much I want to keep doing what I'm doing. This passed year I have felt an intense connection to the land, the spirits, and specific gods.  I don't recall having a connection like this even in college when I was at my most active and open.  ...

I'm not going to do two separate posts for this one. The rune I pulled this time didn't seem to have any special timing or significance at this point. I have four more runes left to do in this series before I begin again with a different set of books. If I were to stretch a bit to pull some meaning out of this it might be a reference to dealing with mundane things, the task of being human. For the past four months I have been dealing with rolling illnesses. From October to just two weeks ago I was sick every few weeks.  It really sucked and I couldn't get anything done. My kid got sick too. She missed the entire last week of school before break. We are all fine now. I'm still a bit slow and tired but I think my immune system might be recovering enough that I might be okay from here on out. I certainly hope so since I have New Hampshire coming up in 4 weeks. Maybe I should take a closer look at Mannaz's murkstave properties. Perhaps that is what is at work here...

Translation : Germanic:  Nauthiz Old Eng:    Nyd Mod Eng:  Need Phonetic:   N                                                                                     ( Handbook , 37) Physical :   (2,2)                                                                                                           ( Futhark , 12-13) Divination : + resistance (toward strength), recognition of Orlog, innovation, needfire (self-reliance -  constraint of freedom, dist...

Translations :                                                           (In progress) Germanic:            Hagalaz Old Eng:              Haegl Mod Eng:             Hail Phonetic:              H                                                                                ( Handbook , 35) Physical :  (2:1)                                                       ...

I'm listening to this amazing music by Laboratorium Peisni.  Polish chanting music.  Really tribal and cool. It reminds me a lot of Medieval Babes who sing in Old English poetry and songs from hundreds of years ago.  Anyways, Hagalaz showed up first in my first pull a couple days ago for my next rune so I will deal with that one first. It also showed up today for my galdr rune in my meditation. The first rune I pull is the one that I galdr before my meditation. It helps me focus with the rhythmic breathing and the vibration in my chest from the chanting.  It sometimes provides a theme for my meditation as well. I can use it as a question to ask or with my pendulum, or sometimes it even leads me to a place like what happened with Laguz. During the galdr I pictured the rune and it's alternate forms. At one point the image of the Rune Mother morphed into a yin-yang symbol of fire and ice wrapped around each other.  It reminded me a bit of some of the feeling I ...

Translation :                                                        Germanic:          Laguz Old Eng:            Lagu Mod Eng:          Lake, Leek Phonetic:           L                                                                         ( Handbook , 59) Physical :           (3:5)                                                                   ...

I do have other rune books planned as I've mentioned in the first few posts in this blog. I am still acquiring rune books about the runes themselves, different series, and different applications such as rune astrology.  Thorsson in one of his rune studies talks about a spiraling upward in his discussion of Raidho.  I'm taking a similar path in my study of the runes. I'm doing one cycle of the 24 runes with Thorsson primarily.  The second cycle will involve two or three more books of a similar nature. I may do a few more basic books on runes before I move into books about meditation and galdr work. But the process of learning the runes will be a series of turns.  I won't go through the 24 and call it done. I'll go through them again with different authors or a different focus, and try to tie them to what I did in the previous cycle.