The Giants’ Tarot, Raven Kaldera

Draw for December 14, 2016:
Active Influence: Loki, Angrboda, & Sigyn/The Lovers
Rune: Os/ The God Voice (reversed)
Hidden Influence: Groa/Nine of Wands

I admit—I pulled the Five of Wands out of the deck before I shuffled today, and suggested to the contentious sisters that they go get their nails done and have a massage, relax a bit. Because I really didn’t want to see them today. Cheating? Perhaps. Do I care? Not today.

The Lovers card is not without its conflicts, however. Like Loki attempting to balance his relationships between his two very different wives and sets of children, you are pulled in different directions, which may appear irreconcilable. Instead of either/or, however, see if you can find a way to create a both/and situation. You may not be able to do everything you want in both spheres, but there’s probably a way for you to do enough in each to keep the peace, internally and externally.

Groa says that, while the balancing act may be more work than you feel you can handle, you won’t know unless you try. You will need to keep strong boundaries around your time and energy, and move forward in confidence that you are equal to the task.

Os reversed is a caution to pay attention. You are being sent messages, and you are not hearing them. Listen to those who have something to teach (here we come back to Groa), and you will save yourself a great deal of time and pain. Remember that you have one mouth for speaking and two ears for listening, and act accordingly.

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 is not a bindrune for beginners, either those new to bindrunes, or those new to working with magic. If this rune doesn’t scare you at least a bit, you are not ready to use it.

This rune brings in fire for righteous destruction. My current goal: smash the patriarchy.

Bindrune of Sowelu, Teiwaz, Cweorth

Sowelu (left tile, gold in bindrune): This is the light of the sun, blinding your adversaries. This is the heat of the sun, burning down false structures. This is the intensity of the sun, revealing the lies and the liars who tell them, releasing the truth that has been held back for too long.

Teiwaz (center tile, brown in bindrune): The rune of Tyr, justice, and honor. Tyr does what is right for the greater good, regardless of the personal cost. Tyr will require you to do the same when you invoke Him. Also, Tyr will not fight for a bad cause, so if you call upon Him to help you do wrong, it will absolutely not work and you absolutely will regret it.

Cweorth (right tile, red in bindrune): The fire-twirl that starts the flames that feed the funeral pyre. All the tools of the oppressors, and the oppressors themselves, burn to ash.

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 cinnamon oil or other fiery oil to amplify the energy. You can also use a magical oil, such as a hoodoo oil or other type of specially prepared oil.

Sometimes the Tower needs help to finish burning. This rune will do the job.

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

In this month of honoring Holy Mothers giving birth to Light, this is a lovely moment.

Woman to Child
~ Judith Wright

You who were darkness warmed my flesh
where out of darkness rose the seed.
Then all a world I made in me;
all the world you hear and see
hung upon my dreaming blood.

There moved the multitudinous stars,
and coloured birds and fishes moved.
There swam the sliding continents.
All time lay rolled in me, and sense,
and love that knew not its beloved.

O node and focus of the world;
I hold you deep within that well
you shall escape and not escape-
that mirrors still your sleeping shape;
that nurtures still your crescent cell.

I wither and you break from me;
yet though you dance in living light
I am the earth, I am the root,
I am the stem that fed the fruit,
the link that joins you to the night.

The Giants’ Tarot, Raven Kaldera

Draw for December 13, 2016:
Active Influence: Gjalp & Greip/Five of Wands
Rune: Ac/Oak (reversed)
Hidden Influence: Fenja & Menja/Two of Coins

Can you hear the Cosmic Laughter? Gjalp & Greip appear *again*. Seriously, I am so done with this card. And yet. I am really trying to have a positive attitude today, in spite of this.

Arguments are in the air. Again. Still. Both cards show a pair of people, so, as much as you might want to be alone and be left alone, today requires dealing with others. Angbroda appears in Ac (which is reversed) as a warning not to waste your strength on pointless conflicts. Hold the line on what is truly important, and let go of what doesn’t matter.

Fenja and Menja remind you to focus on your work, in whatever form it appears today. The work won’t do itself, and if you don’t take care of it, you are the one who is going to suffer more than anyone else.

A poetic expression of the Sunday Night Blues many of us are feeling.

Drifting on the Lake
~ Wang Wei
Translated from Chinese by Tony and Willis Barnstone and Xu Haixin

Autumn is crisp and the firmament far,
especially far from where people live.
I look at cranes on the sand
and am immersed in joy when I see mountains beyond the clouds.
Dusk inks the crystal ripples.
Leisurely the white moon comes out.
Tonight I am with my oar, alone, and can do
everything,
yet waver, not willing to return.