Divination Offering - Rune or Ogham Reading Through the End of the Year

[jprussell]

This offering is now closed for new questions, but if you have something pressing before I offer another, reach out by DM here on dreamwidth or through my email (linked at my webstead: https://jpowellrussell.com). Those of you who have already asked and not yet gotten an answer, I'm on it and will have those shared in the next couple of days. Otherwise, see you next time!

It's been a while since I've done this, so I figured I'd offer to do a divination reading on whatever questions you think I might be able to help with from now (Sunday, December 22nd) through the end of the year. Just post your question here or send me a dreamwidth message or an email if it's private. Just one question per person, please, but follow-ups should be fine, unless I get way more folks asking than I expect.

A few things on how I tend to approach this, though we can make adjustments on a case-by-case basis, if needed:

1) The two divination systems I'm comfortable with are the Runes and the Ogham. If you have a preference, let me know, but generally speaking, I prefer the Ogham for more magical/spiritual/psychological questions (unless they're specifically Heathen), and the Runes for most practical stuff or anything directly involving the Germanic Gods and Their worship. Not that they can't both answer a full range of questions, I just tend to find them easier to interpret that way in those situations.

2) For most questions, I find some variation of a three card/stave spread in the shape of (roughly) "Past/Present/Future" or "Situation/Action/Outcome" to be most helpful. Sometimes specific questions might call for something a bit different, but when in doubt, that's what I'll go with.

3) As a slight addition to the above, when cards or Runestaves draw attention to themselves in ways I didn't intend (popping out of the deck while shuffling, two cards drawn when I meant to get one, one of the lots bouncing out of the tray I drop them in, that kind of thing), I tend to interpret that as "you need this extra information, pay attention."

4) I'll do my best to convey both the specific cards/staves I got in what positions, and what their "generic" meanings are (at least to me), but then also to synthesize everything into a whole picture. This last bit is largely intuitive, and often is more precise at the risk of being less accurate (example of what I mean: "it will rain tomorrow" is less precise than "it will rain between noon and 1:00 pm tomorrow," but if it rains at 5:00 pm, the former was more accurate because it was less precise), which is why I give the choppier/less synthesized pieces as well as how I think they fit together.

5) I'll be doing family stuff for the holidays, including a bit of travel, so please allow at least 24 hours for me to respond with an estimate on when I'll answer your question. I anticipate being able to do the reading for most within 24-48 hours of posting, but again, if way more folks take me up on this than I expect, that might change.

At any rate, ask away, and a blessed (late) Solstice, merry (early) Christmas, and happy (early) New Year!

Jeff

Comments

Keeping faith

[(Anonymous)]

This request is tricky to word well. I'm married with children, and the marriage has been very different from my picture of good for several years. I think my question is:

"What responsibilities do I need to realize are not truly mine?" or alternately "How can I keep faith with my promises?"

(I always read and find helpful your comments on Magic Monday, and thank you for this offer.)

SamChevre

Re: Keeping faith

[jprussell]

First, I'm sorry to hear about your challenges - marriage can be tough, and kids can make things tougher, despite how wonderful they are.

Might I propose asking the Runes "What does SamChevre most need to understand about his responsibilities and promises?" with a spread of "Setting (what is going on around you and in your life), Responsibilities and Promises (a way of looking at these things that will help you think about them more clearly) and Outcome(s) (what is most likely to come about if you act on the insights from 'Responsibilities & Promises')."

If that works for you, I'll ask in the next couple of days and share the interpretation shortly thereafter. If you want to change anything about it to better get at what you'd like to know, no problem.

Also, thank you for the kind words, I'm glad to hear I've been helpful.

All the best,
Jeff

Re: Keeping faith

[(Anonymous)]

Thank you, that sounds like a good way of summarizing my question(s). I will look forward to seeing the spread and interpretation.

SamChevre

Re: Keeping faith

[jprussell]

Runes
Asking - "What does SamChevre most need to understand about his responsibilities and promises?"
Draw
Setting: Ansuz (Murky)
Responsibilities & Promises: Isa (Murky)
Outcome(s): Tiwaz

My Take on It

Alrighty, to do this reading, I opened a sacred space, called upon the Wyrds (Norns) and concentrated on your question while shaking the Runestaves vigorously. I then dropped them in a dice tray, said a prayer to the Gods who help me with divination, and then drew three staves without looking, using the spread "Setting (what is going on around you and in your life), Responsibilities and Promises (a way of looking at these things that will help you think about them more clearly) and Outcome(s) (what is most likely to come about if you act on the insights from 'Responsibilities & Promises')." If I drew the stave right side up, it is "bright," and if I drew it face down it is "murky," which is roughly equivalent to drawing a card reversed in systems like Tarot. In the system of interpretation I use, "murky" means either that the forces represented by the Rune are manifesting in an unhelpful or harmful way, or else that they are somehow "blocked" - not manifesting fully or at all.

For the reading, we got Ansuz (Murky) for "Setting," which means "Holy Ancestor/God" and is most closely associated with Woden (Odin), and so stands for His strengths - consciousness, synthesis, skill with language, and inspiration. For "Responsibilities & Promises" Isa (Murky) came up, which means "Ice" and stands for both the self, especially the self-conscious part of the self (the Ego) since it is the Rune for the sound "I," but also for that which tends toward fixedness (good or bad), stability/immobility, and "order" (again, good and bad). Lastly, for "Outcome(s)," we have Tiwaz, which means "Tiw (Tyr)," and stands for discipline, law, planning, self-sacrifice, but also, victory.

So, altogether, this is a somewhat harsh, but not wholly unfortunate reading. It seems that the setting relevant to this question is characterized by the blockage or misapplication of Woden's gifts - maybe you are applying intelligence or learning inappropriately, or someone persuasive is manipulating you, or else you feel confused and lacking agency or inspiration. For your responsibilities, Isa (Murky) implies that you may be overly or inappropriately focused on yourself, or alternatively, that you are not enough focused on yourself - in some way, your ego is out of balance with the situation. Another alternative is that you are "frozen," feeling stuck or maybe even lifeless. All of which sounds pretty bleak, but Tiwaz in the "Outcome(s)" gives some reason for hope, as it is, as I said, the "victory Rune." For this question especially, Tiw is literally the God of promises and responsibility, so that seems rather significant to me.

Putting this together, it seems that your sense of self is somehow out of whack with your responsibilities and promises, perhaps due to some outside influence, or perhaps due to pursuing the gifts of Woden (for example, you might have had some kind of initiatory or learning experience that brought previous promises or responsibilities into question). Tiwaz, however, suggests that if you stick with them, you will "win," but perhaps at a cost (He did lose His hand to the Wolf, after all). One possible reading of this is that the hoped-for benefits of keeping your word will not come, but staying true to it will benefit you in the long run somehow. Again, I'm sorry this is not a happier reading, but I hope it proves helpful nonetheless.

Please let me know if you have any follow up questions, and if you're willing, I'd very much appreciate hearing whether this struck a chord or felt off, and if so, in what ways.

Cheers,
Jeff

Re: Keeping faith

[(Anonymous)]

Jeff,

Thank you! I wanted to think this through carefully, seeing what insights I could draw, hence the delay in my reply.

The setting feels like an accurate "most of the above"; I think the central thing I note is that someone else "using communication skills to diminish me" is a very big part of my life. I want to keep an open mind to "misapplying Odin's gifts" as something I am doing as well--there are some places where I should consider how I'm using the insight/synthesis portion of those gifts well.

The "Responsibilities and Promises" feels fitting; it doesn't give a direction, but entanglement between my "who I am" - Ego - and "how I interact and have interacted with my responsibilities" is a very big part of my self-image and I think this points toward that being a weakness.

The Outcome is of course to be determined - but "You won't get what you want, but it will be for the good" sounds helpful.

Overall, my take-away is "keep trying, but re-think how your self-image makes you vulnerable to manipulation by words."

This reminds me of one of my favorite bits of poetry about the Norse Gods (Lewis)

...The weary gods,
Scarred with old wounds; the one-eyed Odin, Tyr who has lost a hand,
Will limp to their stations for the last defense. Make it your hope
To be counted worthy on that day to stand beside them.

Thank you!
SamChevre

Re: Keeping faith

[jprussell]

Thanks for your response, and most of all for the quote from the poem, it's lovely and does indeed seem fitting. I hope this reading continues to be helpful, and if you get any more insights from/about it, I'd love to hear them when they come up.

Thanks,
Jeff