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

[jprussell]

Hi FJAY,

Any specific question? I suppose I should have mentioned that in the post! If not, we can always do "What does FJAY most need to understand about what happens in [time period]?"

Let me know what you'd like!
Jeff

[(Anonymous)]

I'd like to inquire about the last decade of my life please.

So 'what does FJay most need to know about what happens in the last decade of her life'

Thanks muchly.

[jprussell]

Can do! Hmm, I don't think I've ever done a reading on something entirely in the past, so this should be interesting. I'd propose asking the Runes and using the spread "Wyrd, Werthende, Sculd," which is the Old English equivalent of the three Norns of Norse Lore, Urdh, Verdhandi, Skuld. Very roughly these are equivalent to "past, present, future," but with some nuance - Wyrd refers to what is "laid down" - already established and with force carrying forward (so, nothing inconsequential). Werthende means, roughly "becoming," and speaks to things unfolding, happening, growing from Wyrd. Sculd (pronounced "Shuhld" and etymologically linked with "should") is the most different from the rough approximation - it speaks not to what will definitely happen in the future, but rather, what "should" happen, with a meaning of debt, or obligation. In other words, from what has happened and is happening now, what is "owed" - the most likely outcomes as things stand.

Applying all of this to the past should yield something like this: what was the groundwork for the last decade from earlier parts of your life, what happened during that decade, and what kind of outcomes were/are most likely from all of that. This last ought to be especially interesting, to see if anything that seemed likely has already or might still be shifted.

Anyhow, if that works for you, I'll do the reading soon.

Cheers,
Jeff

[jprussell]

Runes
Asking - "What does FJay most need to know about what happened in the last decade of her life?"
Draw
Wyrd: Nauthiz
Werthende: Hagalaz (Murky)
Sculd: Ansuz (Murky)

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 "Wyrd (what affected the last 10 years from beforehand), Werthende (what happened during the last ten years), and Sculd (what is most likely to come out of the last ten years, either already passed from the standpoint of today, or still maybe to come). 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.

As for the reading, it sounds like you had a rough time! For "Wyrd," what was set down before the last decade that had a bearing on it, we have Nauthiz which means "need." You had a lack of something necessary, and felt that lack keenly, which was almost certainly unpleasant, but might have been a source of strength and determination. "Werthende," the happenings of the last decade, came up as Hagalaz (Murky), which means "hail" (as in frozen precipitation, not a greeting), which is the Rune of crisis. The fact that it came up murky implies that you were not ready for this crisis/these crises, and that rather than being the impetus for change and growth, it/they might have just left you unready and/or unwilling for what you needed to do. For "Sculd," what was most likely to come out of all of that, we have Ansuz (Murky), which means "God/Divine Ancestor," and of the Gods, is most closely linked with Woden (Odin) and His strengths/gifts. Coming up murky indicates delusion, confusion, or a lack of synthesis.

Putting all this together, it reads to me as if you were lacking something, and then got hit exactly where that lack would hurt the most, and this has left you left you at a loss for what to do. So, ouch. One point that jumps out at me is that Ansuz (Murky) can at times indicate Woden's gifts of persuasion and eloquence turned to bad ends (for you), and so it might be a warning that you have or might fall under the influence of someone who holds out the promise of solving the confusion and weakness that has come from your crises, but in a way that is ultimately to your detriment. To make all this a bit less bleak, I think the spark of hope in this reading is, oddly enough, Nauthiz in "Wyrd" - just as "necessity is the mother of invention," powerfully felt need can be a spur to determination and achievement. I'm going out on a limb a bit here, but this seems to say to me that you might have been given a test, and somehow turned away from it, rather than rising to meet it. To the degree that the effects of all this hardship are still shaping your life, look to your own strength for the way through.

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