On Consecrating Runes…
“A tree is the most perfect of spiritual beings, with its roots buried alive in Mother Earth and its limbs alive and growing in Father Sky.
According to the Song of the Sybil, when the earth was young, Odin and his two brothers found two trees: an ash tree and an elm, faint, feeble, with no fate assigned to them. Breath they had not, nor blood, nor senses, nor language possessed, nor life-hue. Odin gave them breath. Hoenir gave them senses (shape). Blood and life-hue was given by Lothur. We are the forbears of the trees.
One does not just carve runes, one recreates this ritual. By chanting the name of the the rune, one give the rune breath, the energy of its name. By carving it, one gives the rune senses (shape). By coloring the rune red (blood is optional), one gives it life’s hue. When you carve runes you create life.”
-Russ the Runester
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Hammer Rite : Hammarsetning
THE HAMMER RITE
This example is written in a northward orientation, and appropriate changes of course should be made in the order of galdrar in rites of an eastward orientation.
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Herb of the Month: Oatstraw (Avena sativa)
Oatstraw, Avena sativa, a blessing and gift to the endocrine system, full of calcium, and nourishing to the skin, we thank you!
Oatstraw is an herb that once grew wild, but is among the oldest cultivated grains. Oatstraw is from the same plan as oats themselves, but is the whole flowering top of the plant, not just the ripened grain. The flowering tops and grassy leaves are harvested in what is called “the milky stage” of the plant’s development, when the seeds are begining to swell and ripen, but are not fully ripe. This results is a lovely, grassy, green herb as you can see in the picture below. Oats are a grass, growing in meadows, banksides and grainfields.
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Herb Focus : Chaga (Inonotus obliquus)
Last week, I was given an amazing gift: a large piece of Chaga that my dear friend harvested while on a retreat in Northern Ontario. The following day I prepared some for myself and had the most incredible burst of energy that kept me going all day. I was really surprised because I didn’t know what to really expect. I did some research and found out why it had such a profound impact on my day.
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