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Divination Offering - Rune or Ogham Reading Through the End of the Year
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
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
Re: Times before
Thank you for this divination. And this most certainly struck several cords.
2025 is shaping up to be a crisis rich environment for me. There is the fallout of Covid19 to account for, a completion of a project, connected with a new job search. And as of late there is a baby on the way. Of course I live in central Europe, so there is that to account for. So much for "Hagalaz".
There is also a psychological problem to account for. Decades ago I had to undergo treatment due to burnout. and from personal experience I can confirm a self-sacrificing and self-destructive tendency in my personality. "Native Venus in 12. House Aries, as Ascendant" So this is certainly something to be aware of. Especially in times of stress. "Tiwaz (Murky)", two for two.
Now ever since the Covid crisis and before I have been doing druidry and in the mean time I have seen my fair share of TSW. There are omens/synchronicity pointing in the way, that events may be going their own way in a manner not apparent to me, but that One of Those I pray to deems good. And I have spent the last months working under the assumption, that I have to make it trough even if I do not see the end of it. I will tentatively say "Perthro".
Thank you, this most certainly rings true. 3 for 3; and an inspired analysis. :-)
And I appreciate your advice at the end.
For my part I did a parallel Ogham reading and got (situation), (self), (future): Luis(reversed), Mor(reversed), Straif.
"The situation is obscured, possibly because I am blinding myself, and something unexpected will sweep the feat from under me. But I just have to deal with it!"
Two questions if I may:
- Can you point me towards some lore regarding "the Germanic conception of Wyrd"?
- In situations like these, where a divination suggests a difficult road ahead, I like to ask a second question/advice: "How should navigate the path ahead?" (please only answer if you have the time after the requests bellow)
Thank you and best regards,
V
Re: Times before
As for your questions:
1) The single best-liked source among today's Heathens is Paul Baschatz's The Well and The Tree, which I wrote up here: https://jpowellrussell.com/#thoughts_on_the_well_and_the_tree
It's very hard to find for a reasonable price outside of libraries these days, but apparently Bauschatz has said he's fine with folks getting bootleg electronic copies, as the publisher has refused to reprint it. I'll let you decide how to weigh the ethics and legality of that one, if you want to track down a .pdf.
Also, Winifred Hodge Rose has a short collection of essays called Oaths, Shild, Frith, Luck & Wyrd: Five Essays Exploring Heathen Ethical Concepts and their Use Today, which is described here (and which includes a link to where it can be bought from her Lulu store): https://heathensoullore.net/oaths-shild-frith-luck-wyrd/ She's apparently working on a more extensive book on Wyrd, and some of that might be available on her website, but it's not out yet (I'm eagerly awaiting it, myself).
Other than that, it's mostly something I've picked up in bits and pieces from mostly magically-oriented heathen writings. I'd say Galina Krasskova and Edred Thorsson have likely done the most for me there. If you wanted to check them out, I'd start with Krasskova's A Modern Guide to Heathenry and Thorsson's Big Book of Runes and Rune Magic, which collects and slightly updates most of his earlier Rune books.
2) Sure, I'll be happy to do a reading on this as well, though obviously it's taken me a bit of time to get through the other requests. I'd propose asking "What does Vitranc most need to understand about navigating the path ahead in light of the earlier reading?" and drawing one Runestave for focus. I'll try to do so over the next day or so.
Cheers,
Jeff
Re: Times before
1. Thank you. From your interpretation I got the feeling that the complexities of Wyrd might hold the key for me.
2. Thank you for the speedy reply. I really appreciate it and will comment below.
Re: Times before
Runes
Asking: "What does Vitranc most need to understand about navigating the path ahead in light of the earlier reading?"
Draw: Isa (Murky)
Hmm, this one has been coming up a lot this go-round. Isa means "Ice," and so stands for the force which holds things still or brings them together - stasis vs dynamism, order vs chaos, fixedness vs fluidness, whether for good or ill. On the other hand, as the Runestave for the "I" sound, it also stands for the Ego (again, for good or ill), and the fact that it came up murky suggests something "not right" about these things - whether turning too far into yourself or not emphasizing your own identity and independence enough, or whether things being too "frozen" or else a lack of stabilizing influence. Coming up for this draw, that implies that what you need to navigate this is a healthy sense of yourself and/or stability - enough, but not too much, in either case. Given what you said about earlier encounters with overmuch self-sacrifice and burnout, my best guess would be that your challenge will be asserting boundaries/your own interests without becoming overly cut off or rigid.
Hope this helps, and again, any feedback or thoughts are much appreciated!
Jeff
Re: Times before
I sincerely thank you Jeff! This will be put to good use.
Best regards and may your new year hold good fortune.
And may you be successful in keeping your oath.
V
Re: Times before
Good luck, and keep me posted on how things unfold!
Jeff