Yule Tradition: Divination

Last year I started a Yuletide tradition for myself that I am continuing this year. I know I saw the idea on someone else’s blog ages ago and I can’t remember where, but I thought it was a fantastic idea for seasonal divination.

Each night of the 12 nights of yule, I draw a rune for each of the next 12 months. I spend some time in meditation, draw a rune, and then journal about it and what it indicates for that month of the year.

I started last night, as it was the Solstice, and historically the Northern folks counted days from evening to evening, not morning to morning so while today is Yule, yesterday was the start, at least for me.

It is a simple thing, but powerful, and last year the tides and themes were on point.

I tweaked a bit from last year, doing more journaling and less focus on dreaming, as I rarely dream (last year I slept on each rune, but had no dreams I could recall). I had also been doing the draws in the morning rather than evening due to my ridiculous work schedule, so I was trying to record one new rune and dream journal from the night before.

The first rune jumped out of the bag. I had my selection between my fingers and half way out the bag when this one dropped on the ground and demanded attention, and glad I am of it – January looks like it will be a surprisingly good month.

gebo by RomOnFire on DeviantArt

Practical Rune Magic: Ior

Practical runic car magic: I have a friend who uses Isa as their go to protective rune for their car and while driving.

I can see why, since Isa, as the Ice rune, is a great rune for sliding on by and making sure you’re not seen (such as when you’re speeding, or parking illegally.)

However, the downside to that is the same as the upside – sometimes you don’t see ice. The few times I’ve used Isa and forgotten to remove it have generally ended with folks just missing me at the last minute.

Earlier this summer, I had a little incident with my car where the passenger side window would not roll up. I was not able to get this fixed for over two weeks because I didn’t have the funds to repair it. I also live in a somewhat rough neighborhood where leaving your car window open isn’t the best idea. Plus…rain was coming.

So I did all the practical stuff – removed my EZ pass, phone charger, anything I couldn’t afford to lose and locked the glove compartment. Parked on a main street with the window facing the one way road. But before that, driving home, I was angry and frustrated, particularly as had I been told by the person who gave me the car the motor was going, I’d have stopped using it until I had gotten it repaired!). In my frustration, I ran through the runes in my head looking for help, and bam, there it was. Ior.

Image from Shadowlight: Iormungand

Ior is the rune of the World Serpent, which is found in the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc set of runes (The Futhorc is 33 runes – the 24 runes from the Elder Futhark with an additional aett +1). One of my teachers associates Ior with the keyword of BOUNDARIES. Clearly – Jormungandr is literally the boundary between Midgard and Ginnungagap; encircling and protecting us from the void.

So I galdred Ior in my car, and I also like to make the Jotunmobile look like a great crouching beast that one wouldn’t want to approach.

Two weeks with no window and some really pathetic plastic coverings, and not a thing was damaged by human or rain.

I used it again recently which is what inspired this post.  I was desperate to get to my appointment. I had to pee and I was having a hell of a time finding a parking spot near my doctor’s office in Old City at night. I finally parked illegally on the block of the office, in front of a hydrant, and again placed Ior on my car before running in.  I figured I’d have a ticket by the time i left – in fact as I was stepping out my car there were cops both walking and driving down the street.  Not a thing.

I personally prefer Ior of Isa as a protective rune for items in motion, but I’d love to hear other folks experiences with both in the comments.

The Road to Hel

 

They say “The road to Hel is paved with good intentions.”

(Yes)

(And Intestines, the restless writhing mess,
it is paved with the teeth of the dead
from mouths made sour by words unsaid

Its paved with the sharp shins,
the straight spines shattered,
the knee of those who remain unbending

The Road to Hel is paved with the skulls of your enemies
If thy enemies are Cowardice, Shame and Fear
for it is that conquered road which will bring peace.

Its paved with the hands of many
untold ages, lifting you up
guiding you to a long Remembered place.

The Road to Hel is caked with the mud
of ten hundred thousand times ten thousand journeys
and the strange prints of those who came before.

Its lit with the stories
of the walks to this door:

“Life is a slow march towards Death”

and

“You have gone nowhere Someone hasn’t walked before”

and that on this road, is comforting.)

Yes.

The Road to Hel is paved with good intentions.

—-

The Road To Hel by Úlfdís is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.