The Giants’ Tarot, Raven Kaldera

Draw for February 9, 2017
Active Influence: Sigyn/Temperance
Rune: Raido/Journey
Hidden Influence: Aegir/King of Cups

Even though a lot is going on right now, keep in mind the importance of kindness. You are dealing with a lot of demands on a number of levels, and you may feel your strength is insufficient for the tasks ahead of you. Whatever is being asked of you, you can do; however difficult or overwhelming it seems, remember that you only have to do one thing at a time.

Set strong boundaries to protect yourself emotionally, and set strong boundaries around your time so other people’s stuff doesn’t become a distraction. It’s important to be kind to everyone you meet, and your kindness must include yourself. You need to focus on your work, and your progress, so today may require several kindly-stated variants of, “I’m sorry, I can’t take on anything else today”, followed by a suggestion of another person or source who may be able to assist.

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.

This bindrune helps ground you in yourself, and strengthen your identity in alignment with your authentic self. Before we can speak to express ourselves and present our self-image, our families and our societies bombard us with messages about who we should be and what we should do. This rune can help quiet those voices so you can hear your true self and express it more confidently.

Bindrune to strengthen the authentic self: Mannaz, Uruz, Ac

Mannaz (blue in bindrune): This is your true self, the beginning and sum of all that you are and can become.

Uruz (brown in bindrune): The primal strength of the aurochs, and the strength you have within you. This strength gives you the courage and the confidence to live authentically, and to take joy in that authenticity.

Ac (purple in bindrune): Ac is the rune of the oak tree, deeply rooted in the earth, its leafy crown sweeping the sky. Ac is also associated with Angrboda, the Hagia (Wise Woman) of the Iron Wood. She is a shaman, a magician, and a sorceress. She knows the power to be found in authenticity, and urges you to discover and use it for yourself.

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 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.

The Muse
~ Anna Akhmatova
Translated from Russian by Sophie Laffitte

When in the night I await her coming,
My life seems stopped. I ask myself: What
Are tributes, freedom, or youth compared
To this treasured friend holding a flute?
Look, she’s coming! She throws off her veil
And watches me, steady and long. I say:
“Was it you who dictated to Dante the pages
Of Hell?” And she answers: “I am the one.”

The Giants’ Tarot, Raven Kaldera

Draw for February 8, 2017
Active Influence: Fenris/The Devil
Rune: Erda/Earth (reversed)
Hidden Influence: Laufey/The Empress

Things are already complicated. Don’t make them worse by giving into self-destructive impulses and self-sabotage. Continuing on your path and focusing on your work may feel like more than you can do, or seem pointless. That’s your Inner Critic, and it needs to just shut up now.

Laufey reminds you that self-care is your primary task today. Take time to eat something that’s good for you and that tastes good; get up and stretch instead of staying stuck at your desk; drink lots of water and stay hydrated. If you’re feeling stuck, write a motivational quote on a note card and carry it in your pocket, and look at it every 20 minutes when you get up to stretch.

Take care of yourself, so you can take care of your dreams.

Blackberrying
~ Sylvia Plath

Nobody in the lane, and nothing, nothing but blackberries,
Blackberries on either side, though on the right mainly,
A blackberry alley, going down in hooks, and a sea
Somewhere at the end of it, heaving. Blackberries
Big as the ball of my thumb, and dumb as eyes
Ebon in the hedges, fat
With blue-red juices. These they squander on my fingers.
I had not asked for such a blood sisterhood; they must love me.
They accommodate themselves to my milkbottle, flattening their sides.

Overhead go the choughs in black, cacophonous flocks —
Bits of burnt paper wheeling in a blown sky.
Theirs is the only voice, protesting, protesting.
I do not think the sea will appear at all.
The high, green meadows are glowing, as if lit from within.
I come to one bush of berries so ripe it is a bush of flies,
Hanging their bluegreen bellies and their wing panes in a Chinese screen.
The honey-feast of the berries has stunned them; they believe in heaven.
One more hook, and the berries and bushes end.

The only thing to come now is the sea.
From between two hills a sudden wind funnels at me,
Slapping its phantom laundry in my face.
These hills are too green and sweet to have tasted salt.
I follow the sheep path between them. A last hook brings me
To the hills’ northern face, and the face is orange rock
That looks out on nothing, nothing but a great space
Of white and pewter lights, and a din like silversmiths
Beating and beating at an intractable metal.