In honor of our First Amendment rights to peaceful assembly and to petition the government for the redress of grievances, I present this powerful, and still timely, poem.

Happy Independence Day, America. Enjoy the barbecue and fireworks today; tomorrow, resistance resumes.

Secondary Boycott Ode
~ Sharon Olds

I had never seen anything like it. I was walking
out of the office of the braces doctor,
in the same building as the acne doctor,
I was on my way to the lunch counter
that had sandwiches on soft bread
with the crusts cut off—& people were blocking
the doors, following each other around
in a circle, like our junior high marching band,
& they were in the way, between me
& my sandwich. I went up to a lady who was watching,
& asked her what was happening,
& she told me about the segregated
lunch counters in the South—this was
a secondary boycott, of Woolworth’s. & I asked,
how do they choose who walks, & she said,
Anyone can. I had never seen anyone
saying no with their body, with their feet.
When I stepped toward the circle, a man walked a little
faster, & a woman walked a little slower,
& there was a space for me, to sing
without making a sound, at last to be
unfaithful to my family,
stepping out on silence.

You can also hear Sharon Olds reading this poem, courtesy of Knopf Publishers.

I was fortunate to spend a long afternoon with Karen Krebser of The Muse’s Darling yesterday. In addition to the gift of her delightful company, she presented me with this amazing Loki mask from ArtefaktumUA.

Loki Mask from ArtefaktumUA

It’s a bronze piece, but the color shifts with the light, moving among bronze, silver, and black. I’ve been unable to capture it properly with my camera, but it’s quite the hypnotic effect.

It’s perfect for Loki, and He seems quite pleased to have it on His altar.

Footpaths Cross in the Rice Field
~ Lin Ling
Translated from Chinese by Kenneth Rexroth and Chung Ling

From “The Penguin Book of Women Poets”: Lin Ling is also known as Li Chi. Both are pseudonyms used by Hu Yun-shang, a native Taiwanese poet. After she left Taiwan for the United States to do graduate work she stopped writing poetry, but her verse is considered important for its imagery and rhythm.

You are horizontal.
I am vertical.
We divide the heavenly bodies
And the four directions between us.
We come from the place of becoming,
Pass by here,
And encounter each other
In this final meeting
In a flooded rice field.
An egret descends on still wings.
We quietly chat about the weather,
And say, ‘I’ll see you again.’
Quietly make an appointment,
Climb to far apart hillsides,
And look back from the summits.
A pure white feather floats down.
As the feather floats down,
Oh, at that moment
We both hope that happiness
May also be like a white bird,
Quietly descending
We hope—
Even though birds
Are creatures with wings.

Rice field

Join me for a monthly rune workshop from the comfort of your home! Each month, we’ll look at a pair of runes in detail—their names, descriptions in the various Rune Poems, associations and interpretations both historical and modern, and ways of working with their energies to make your readings rich, deep, and meaningful.

This month, we’ll look at Ior and Laguz. Ior, the rune of boundaries, is associated with Jormundgand, the World Serpent. Laguz, the rune of flow, seems to be the opposite of Ior. We’ll explore how they work together to create a dedicated space for your work.

This online workshop is held at 7:00 PM Pacific Time, and runs for 90 minutes. We use a Google Hangout for real-time video and audio during the workshop. The link for the workshop will be sent the Monday prior to the event.

Each workshop is a stand-alone event, so you don’t have to attend all of them. It’s more fun if you do, of course, but it’s not required!

Register on the Tarot Media Company site:http://bit.ly/2rV3bym

See you online in July!

If you are new to working with bindrunes, I suggest you read the introductory bindrune post here, then return to this post to read about this specific bindrune. Remember that working with bindrunes, as with working with any kind of magic, does not carry guaranteed results, and may produce results quite different from what you expect.

Many people suffer from depression (my own self included). Some people find their way through with the help of a mental health professional, pharmaceuticals, the support of loving network of people, and/or changes to their living patterns. What works for one person may not work at all for another. Each person’s brain chemistry responds differently, and sometimes it feels as though you’ll never find something that really helps.

I devised this bindrune to help me deal with my own depression. The energy of the bindrune moves from the left, where you entered the void, through the center to the breakthrough, and out of the void and into life again.

Wan, Dagaz, Wunjo

Wan (left tile, grey in bindrune): Wan is the primal void, the emptiness before creation, which we call Ginnungagap. This represents the void you feel caught in when you are in a depression. You are surrounded by infinite potential, but you are unable to see any of it, or feel any connection to it. This is the dark, cold, desolate feeling of disconnection from yourself and everyone and everything.

Dagaz (center tile, orange in bindrune): Dagaz is the turning point, the breakthrough. The darkness gives way to light, night turns to day, and your energies return you to your self. You are back on your feet, and feel alive again.

Wunjo (right tile, gold in bindrune): Joy! You are once again able to feel joy, pleasure, happiness, love, passion, creative inspiration—the energies that help you take each day as a gift.

The bindrune on the left was done in colored pencil. The one on the right was done with fine point calligraphy markers. They are shown in two different media to give an idea of how the same bindrune looks different depending on how it is created.

You could put a drop of peppermint oil for emotional cheer, rose for self-love, or lavender for calm. You could also use your favorite oil on it to reinforce the energy with your personal scent. You can also use a magical oil, such as a hoodoo oil or other type of specially prepared oil.

Use this bindrune—and all bindrunes—entirely at your own risk.