Dagaz

Dagaz is the tipping point, the moment the sands of time begin to shift if not entwine, when breakdowns become break-rhroughs. It takes radical trust to work with an atheist's sense of divine timing. 

Now is the moment to doubt your doubts, and come to your own conclusions, "Do what moves you and rationalize in Retrospect" - (8x10 Glossy)

Trickle, tickle
Don't get too comfortable
In the Middle

Everything shifts
Even when it seems fine
Discover
Sacred time

Algiz

In the early morning mist, there is a snorfling sound from the forest. A majestic head appears, in full antlered regalia. Here is wisdom, patience, and perseverance coming for a visit.

Allow yourself a sense of coolness, time and space. You know what you need to thrive, and in this moment, time is on your side.

Branch out

Sense

Trust

Endure

 

Yew Tree

In the beginning, or at least in my imagination, Odin hung upside down from the Yew tree, and there reflected in the waters were all of the runes. Like the Hanged One in the tarot, he was not in a noose around his neck, but around his ankle. In many cultural experiences, from downward-facing dog to the Sundance Ceremony, there is a clearing of energy when blood rushes into our head.

Echo 

Location

Tune in

Tune Out

Turn a blind eye

Discover

A more nuanced

Vision

Go out 

On a limb

After Winter

Ripe fruit

The week my Dad was dying, I felt in limbo. Played endless games of Solitaire, Sudoku, and Acrostic puzzles. I felt like the times when my flight was delayed, not just by hours, but by days. Camped out at the terminal. Waiting for that final departure.

This feeling lasted months. Everyone deals with grief in their own way - my deal was endless rounds of gin rummy, maybe a soothing way to beat the odds, at least for a while

Yew trees had sharp prickly leaves, being coniferous, as well as bright red berries. It is one of the longest-lived native plants in Europe, according to the Woodland Trust. To quote from their website, 

"Ancient, morbid, toxic. The yew is one of the longest-lived native species in Europe. This has made it a symbol of death and doom, but it provides food and shelter for woodland animals."

Journaling invitation: What would the YOU Tree look like? Roots, stem/trunk, branches, flowers, foliage, seeds? Any flora or fauna? Other symbiotic relationships?

And just like feeling a bit in limbo ( How low can you go?) Become aware of where you could be a little more soft, flexible, not necessarily pliant or defiant, the softness between.

Odin

Last winter on retreat, I painted my set of Ralph Blum's ceramic rune stones, using a combination of colors and copper paint. On the back of each one, I wrote keywords, using a Sharpie. Next, I will varnish them, one way or another. And this led me to my next painting project. Much to my cats' chagrin.

The first rune I pulled from the grey velvet pouch was blank - Odin, the Unknowable. All endings are beginnings, and beginnings are ending, so the Oroborous seemed like an organic symbol. 

Swallow me up

Swallow me whole

Create my destiny

Nothing foretold

I'm entering my second Saturn return, and I thought the first one was a doozy. I bought out my business partner, got divorced from my wife, and my parents separated. My Dad would come up every week from Carmel, we planted roses, put in the irrigation system, had lunch at either The Farm or Avanti, and basically became good friends. We both have Saturn in Pisces (as does my daughter). Mine is also conjunct Chiron (the Wounded Healer) opposing both Pluto and Uranus in Virgo in the Second house. If you know any astrology, this is a potent combo.

So here I am, the first day of Spring, thinking about all of the deaths over the last eighteen months. I'm still in grief, but much of the trauma and depression has lifted. Acupuncture, peer counseling, Ignatia, and St. John's Wort have been helpful allies.

As has deep cleaning - going from room to room, not just chasing dust bunnies and culling excessive hangers (my hang-ups) but getting into a creative mode - hanging mini solar-powered fairy lights in the upstairs bathroom and the back room, making a family jewels chest by repurposing the computer box, the simple act of chicken soup. Beginnings and endings.

Odin, the Unknowable, the Great Mystery. One can only wonder about all the worlds of possibilities.

Blessed be.