Like Sunshine

   I awaken with waves of sadness, aware of life's impermanence as a very dear friend recently fractured her pelvis, and her recovery is not certain, not when one is 99.  I listen to a tape about noticing recent memories that are pleasant, to help shift one's emotional state.
   On line, several friends I've not even met are praying for Hilda, sending her energy and light.  I am not alone in doing  this for my friend.
   The grey, cold morning has shifted into sunshine, and outside the yellow leaves are becoming red, soon to fall to the ground, and I'll be able to see the mountains again!
    Already there is a reply to my ad to sell a recliner I am replacing with a firmer, smaller chair from Goodwill.  It's nice to have a quick response sometimes, and when he comes, I won't have two chair in my small living area for long.  It felt auspicious in the bright whispy clouds yesterday as I purchased the new-to-me chair.  Like sunshine, waves of gratitude for simple things can sure uplift my mood.
    Everything changes, including our emotions as we shift our focus!

Calling Forth the Wisdom of the Runes

         CALLING FORTH THE WISDOM OF THE RUNES

This quiet autumn morning I am drawn to seek and honor the wisdom of the Runes,

“to lend courage to virtue and ardor to truth” (Samuel Johnson).  In their time, the Runes

were the I Ching of the Vikings; they predate the Old Testament.   The runic standing stones can still be seen in the British Isles, in Germany, and throughout Scandinavia.  These prehistoric rock carvings are dated from the second Bronze Age, about 1300 B.C.              Only a few had the powers and skill to understand the symbolic markings to convey thought.  The Gothic runa means “a sacred thing, a mystery.” To pre-Christian eyes, the earth and all created things were alive.  The most common Runes were smooth flat pebbles with symbols painted on one side.  Years ago, I was guided in meditation to make my own runes of clay, and use The Book of Runes by Ralph Blum.  The Runes are a teacher, an ancient oraculum (in Latin, a Divine announcement).  Oracles are “sacred games, instruments for serious or high play.”  They are meant to free us from the effort of learning, to learn as children learn, putting us in touch with our inner guidance, the part of us that knows everything we need to know for our life now.  As Ralph Blum states in his Introduction,  “In the spiritual life we are always at the beginning.”  As we interact with the Runes, we are in a free zone where we are malleable, vulnerable, and open to change.  When the old maps are outdated, we require new navigational aids.  The Runes can help us modify our life course so we begin to hear messages of profound beauty and true usefulness.  As we invoke “Show me what I need to know in my life now” the mystery shall unfold.  In this spirit, I turn to the Runes I made decades ago.

     Today I am drawn to Laguz, a Rune that signals a time for cleansing: for revaluing, reorganizing, realigning.  Attributes of this rune are water, fluidity, the ebb and flow of emotions, of vocation and relationships.  It is a time to experience living without having to evaluate or understand as I awaken to the intuitive or lunar side of my nature.  The Sun strives for differentiation; the moon draws us toward union and merging.

       May I allow myself to flow this day, trusting unseen forces are at work within and around me.  It is not a time to push or have an agenda, but to be receptive and open to guidance from within.  May any merging I do be done with discretion, not haste, trusting my own navigational skills shall be assisted by the Runes this day and in many days to come.