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.

As the Wheel of the Year turns, many of us are looking at significant changes in our lives, sometimes multiple changes happening all at once. This bindrune is designed to help you focus your energies and face those changes with confidence.

Bind Rune for Confidence – Uruz, Ac, Teiwaz

Uruz (brown): As the base of the bindrune, Uruz provides strength and energy for movement. Once we have decided on an action, we must do something to start that action. Uruz gives the boost needed to begin our work, and to keep us in motion once we have started. This is the earthy, and yet wild, strength of the aurochs, and while it is a great resource, we need to combine it with other runes to channel its energy in constructive ways.

Ac (red): Strength in flexibility and persistence. We need the action energy of Uruz to start, and the adaptable strength in Ac to keep going. As we move forward with our plan, we encounter unexpected plot twists, both positive and negative, that require us to change our methods and timeline. Ac helps us make the best use of the positive developments, and to work around the apparent obstacles and delays. Raven Kaldera likens Uruz to the irresistible force, and Ac to the immovable object. We need both kinds of strength to build and maintain our confidence.

Teiwaz (green): We are more confident when we believe we are doing the right thing, and for the right reasons. Engaging in deceitful actions, telling lies, and manipulating people is one approach to getting what we want, but we don’t feel good about ourselves or our actions, and that undermines our confidence. Thus, we incorporate Teiwaz, bringing in Tyr’s energy of honor and duty to keep us focused on right action as we make our plans and move forward. Setting our intentions for the highest good of all is a direct way to remind ourselves that we are acting to make changes that are of shared benefit, not for our benefit at the expense of others’ well-being. Teiwaz helps to channel the wild energy of Uruz, and reminds us that true confidence comes from right action.

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

You could also put a drop of sage oil on the rune for a bit of aromatherapy reinforcement.

Wishing you a successful week!

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.

Everyone I know is going through some kind of major change right now–work, home, relationships, family–something. With so much intense emotional energy running through the air, this seems like a good week to create a bindrune for channeling that energy to help us stay calm and focused enough to deal with things.

Bind Rune for Calm: Eihwaz, Isa, Laguz

Eihwaz (purple): facilitates energy movement to keep energy flowing within channels.

Isa (light blue): acts as a boundary to contain the energy within Eihwaz.

Laguz (dark blue): allows energy to flow freely, so there is no build up of stuck energy to create anxiety or depression.

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

You could also put a drop of lavender or bergamot oil on the bindrune, as those scents have a calming effect on the human nervous system.

Wishing you a calm and pleasant week!

Destiny Books has my  number. They have released several titles relating to Northern Traditions this year, and kindly sent me a copy of Pagan Magic of the Northern Tradition: Customs, Rites, and Ceremonies, the latest from Nigel Pennick.

Pagan Magic of the Northern Tradition by Nigel Pennick

If you are not familiar with Pennick’s work, this is a very good place to start. Pennick is a serious scholar, and his work is peppered with notes and cross-references. The book contains a 15 page glossary and a 30 page bibiliography. Be still, my beating academic heart!

Pennick is also an entertaining writer, so the book, while densely packed with information, is pleasurable to read. The research is extensive,  the anecdotes are relevant, and the breadth of topics covered is delightful.

The book opens with an introduction to Northern Magic to acquaint the reader with basic concepts and terms, and sets an engaging tone for the text. Subsequent chapters cover a myriad of facets of daily life–measuring time, measuring distance, crafting, building construction, social justice, funeral customs, music, and countless quotidian details which add richness to our understanding of how people lived. Who knew that a simple pothook was also a powerful magical object? I didn’t, but now I do.

A plethora of photos, drawings, and diagrams are quite helpful for understanding some of the less-familiar concepts and narrative in the book, especially in the chapters dealing with measurement of distance and building.

Pennick explores how our ancestors used practical magic on a daily basis to manage their lives. Much was beyond their control, and much is still beyond our control, despite our scientific advances and technical inventions. Pennick draws a direct connection between us and our forebears:

“We are within our given circumstances, living in our own lives, and must endure their accompanying difficulties, but how we endure them and how we deal with our circumstances is up to us.” (Page 15)

Each chapter is a balanced combination of history, theory, anecdote, and philosophy. The definition of “Northern” is generous, and covers the expected Nordic, Scandinavian, and Germanic areas, and also branching out east and south to the Baltic and Slavonic territories, and west to the British Isles.

Pennick provides plenty of examples of invocations, chants, and common practices to give a full picture of our ancestors’ daily lives. Whether they were creating wooden charms to keep the horses safe in the stable, or building houses in alignment with earth energies and divine geometry, our forebears were using the tools and knowledge available to them create a human space in a wild world. They kept an amazingly accurate calendar of events to honor their Gods and the Wheel of the Year, and their adherence to these traditions to keep them grounded in a hard world gives us a strong example to follow in our own different, but not entirely dissimilar, world.

Where our ancestors used chants, sigils, and specific rituals, we have our own magic of wireless signals and social rituals. In their efforts to create a safe space for a happy home, to reckon time, and to honor life, we see our own efforts–the same intent, but rather different in form–as we practice them today. Pennick’s message of the need for “Keeping Up the Day” come through clearly, and his book is packed with ideas we can adapt to continue our ancestors’ traditions in ways that make sense for us and our world.

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.

Our first bindrune will be one to attract prosperity. Even though some industries are running hot and the companies in those fields are doing well, the rising tide has not raised all boats. This bindrune can help focus your energies to attract and maintain financial security.

Bindrune for Prosperity

The runes in this bindrune are:

Fehu (blue): A sign of wealth, possessions, tangible property. Whatever you have at present–even if it’s just one dollar–is a start. What you have will attract more of the same.

Othala (brown): This is seen as inherited wealth, that which we receive from our forebears. Even if you aren’t heir to a monetary fortune, you have inherited much from  your ancestors–your body, your world view, your very being and core self, from which you draw to create your life. Your hamingja, all that is truly yours by way of inheritance.

Berkana (green): The rune of the birch tree brings growth to what you already have. Berkana can also represent new opportunities for creating wealth, and new possibilities for improvement of a situation that feels stuck or hopeless.

You can add a drop of essential oil to strengthen the magic—cinnamon is good for prosperity work. You could also use a hoodoo oil, such as Money Drawing, if you work with those oils.

A Bindrune is a combination of runes drawn to create a symbol of increased power for a particular purpose–to attract money, love, luck, and other objects (obscure and otherwise) of desire, or to banish negative energies, avoid misfortune, and avert generally unpleasant things.

Wikipedia has a brief and useful article on the history of bindrunes for those interested. Authors with interesting ideas on working with bindrunes include Raven Kaldera, Galina Krasskova, and Nigel Pennick.

Bindrunes can be used for magical purposes–to attract something desired, to inspire qualities such as courage or creativity, or to overcome an obstacle or solve a problem. As with any magic, you must still do the necessary work on the material plane to accomplish your goal. Creating a bindrune helps to focus your energy so you can do the work–creating a bind rune does not replace actually doing the work. You must still study for the test, apply for the job, speak to the person who can make the right connection, or whatever action is needed. The bindrune is a tool to help with the work, not a substitute for the work.

Each week, I will post a bindrune for a specific purpose, as I explore working with them in my own magic. You can, of course, alter the bindrune to include or remove runes as they fit your situation. Once you have read a post, I suggest you draw the rune for yourself. You can make it fancy by using special inks and paper if you wish; a simple pen or colored pencil on plain paper works just as well. You don’t have to be an artist or calligrapher to charge the bindrune; your focused intention is the key.

You can also charge the bindrune with scent, either an essential oil, or a magical oil prepared for a specific purpose. Scent reaches parts of our brains on a physical level that no amount of focused thinking can reach, and can be a powerful way to boost the energies of the bindrune with your personal energy.

You can set aside quiet time and ritual space to create your bindrune in a magic circle or other protected space to more deeply imbue it with energy. Even if you are not able to do a full ritual to create your bindrune, do make it with thought and care. Light a candle, focus on what you want the bindrune to help you with, and draw it with attention. The ritual doesn’t have to be elaborate; ten minutes of good focus on your energies and intent is workable. The more time and energy you put into creating the bindrune, the more effective it can be–just as with any form of magic.

If you find a particular bindrune resonates for you, you can paint it onto fabric, carve it into leather or wood, or cast it in metal. Make it out of Sculpey or Das clay, or make your own clay. Decorate cookies or some other food, or twist bread dough into a bind rune, and make an edible charm. This can be a powerful way to quite literally take in the energy of the bindrune and let it feed your body as well as your spirit.

There are countless ways to work with bindrunes. Try different methods and materials, and means of setting the space for creation. The important thing is to find what what works for you with each bindrune you create.

Try one, and see how it works for you. All the posts will be in the “Bindrune” category and also carry the “Bindrune” tag, so they will be easy to find.

Do let me know what happens!