![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jprussellThis 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
A new course for the new year
Date: 2024-12-26 03:37 pm (UTC)Anyway, my question. I'll keep it brief and vague, both to spare you a bunch of boring personal detail and to avoid interfering with the results of the divination. I've been looking for a new sense of direction in life for a while now, and next year I'll have the chance to embark on a study program that could well give me that. On the other hand, it's quite a long commitment, and it involves a field with some aspects I'm excited about, but others I'm deeply ambivalent about as well. So: what are my prospects if I commit to this program? If you don't mind I'd prefer the Runes over the Ogham, since I'm learning the same system, so comparing your interpretations to mine and seeing how they show up in my life might be helpful. Thanks again!
Re: A new course for the new year
Date: 2024-12-26 05:22 pm (UTC)As for the divination, of course, it's good practice. I'd propose for yours asking "What does Borealbear most need to understand about committing to the study program he is considering?" with the spread "'Setting' (what's going on around you relevant to the question), 'Work' (actually doing the work of the program), and 'Outcome(s)' (what is most likely to come about if you do, in fact, do the program)."
I'm planning on trying to get to a bunch of readings today, but if not, certainly in the next couple of days.
Oh, and as for doing it yourself, I'd say it's good to develop some confidence, but also, you'll likely want to offer something like this (or do a reading for a friend or something, whatever's a good baby step past personal readings) sooner than you might feel comfortable. I was pleasantly surprised how helpful some folks found some of my first readings for strangers, and it helped to deepen my intuitive feel for the Runes and the Ogham as well.
Anyhow, happy Yuletide!
Jeff
Re: A new course for the new year
Date: 2025-01-03 04:42 am (UTC)Asking - "What does Borealbear most need to understand about committing to the study program he is considering?"
Draw
Setting: Kenaz
Work: Mannaz
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 (context), Work (doing the thing you're considering), and Outcome(s) (whatever is most likely to come about if you do what you're thinking about). 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, "Setting" came up Kenaz, which means "Torch," and stands for creativity and passion. For "Work," we have Mannaz, which means "Man," and stands for the lot of mankind, for good or ill - our intelligence, potential, and fellowship, but also our suffering and mortality. For "Outcome(s)," we got Tiwaz, which means "Tiw (the God known to the Norse as Tyr)," which stands for justice, careful thought, planning, and sacrifice for the greater good.
Putting this together seems like a fairly, possibly extremely, positive, reading. For one thing, it's the only one so far that was all bright, with no murky Runes. Kenaz implies that something in your situation is characterized by creativity, willpower, or passion - what seems most likely to me is that you see this program as a way to strengthen and/or express your own creative drive, but it's also possible that you're in a situation characterized by it (maybe surrounded by creative/driven folks?). Mannaz for the "Work," and turning up bright, suggests that the work would, indeed, make use of your intelligence and help you along your path to individuation, it would increase your "humanity" in the old-fashioned sense of bettering and broadening yourself. Tiwaz for "Outcome(s)," is where I'm not sure if the interpretation is "good and worthwhile, but at a cost" or "victory," both of which are legitimate readings consistent with my experience. Tiwaz is also associated with a fixed point for navigation, speculated to be the North Star, via the "Old English Rune Poem." Given the rest of the reading, and my own intuition, I'm inclined to lean toward "this will take you where you want/need to go," but I bet that the undercurrent of discipline/sacrifice is at play as well. In other words, the program will indeed take you where you want it to, but along the way you may have to give some things up or make some changes that will be hard to get there.
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: A new course for the new year
Date: 2025-01-03 06:14 pm (UTC)Since you did ask, I'm happy to share some thoughts on the interpretation. Like most people, I have a bad habit of getting too verbose once I start talking about myself, so I'll try not to bog you down with too much detail.
First off, the program in question is for a teaching degree. Specifically grades 5-10 in our system, which should be roughly equivalent to the American ones. The ambivalence comes from the fact that I had a miserable time during much of my own tenure in public school, and I don't relish the idea of representing that system and forcing students who really shouldn't have to be there to conform to it anyway. Then there's how the school system is a sort of "ground zero" for socializing young people into thinking many of the absurd and dysfunctional things we do in industrial civilization are good and normal. As another long-time JMG reader, I know you know how that works.
I've settled on two important long-term goals for this incarnation: becoming a published fiction writer, including fiction for younger readers, and becoming a foster parent. Getting into teaching would obviously have direct bearing on both goals.
For the reading as a whole, Mannaz and Tiwaz make a lot of sense to me here. I'm a little more uncertain about Kenaz. It does actually fit rather well with my own interpretation of Kenaz, which is more based on Groa Sheffield's reading of the rune poem as "pale, otherworldly fire/grave mound/dwarves/the dead", and which I've extrapolated to a meaning of "liminal meeting ground, temporary crossroads" (see the shape of the rune itself too). That is, I'm at a point where I need to make a choice, and to get out of the liminal, in-between stasis I've been in for a while.
Still, this is your reading, not mine, and I'm not sure it's helpful or appropriate to try to overlay my meanings on it. So working with your take on Kenaz, I think it might point to my need for an outlet for creativity and willpower, to use it to change myself and ideally to do something halfway meaningful for other people.
While I'm comfortable in my own company, I'm not a misanthrope. Deep down I do appreciate people a lot, and for various reasons I've become more of a loner than I really want to be over the last few years. One of the things I wanted out of this program was to be forced to interact more with a variety of people and get more out into the world again, and I take the appearance of Mannaz as a sign that I'll probably get this wish if I do it. On another level, helping young people develop their intellect and potential (and humanity?) is of course the ideal of the teaching profession, and a worthwhile goal. I'm a bit tired of only doing things for myself, and this reading might say this is indeed one of the remedies I seek for that condition.
Again, the Tiwaz rune here seems pretty clear to me. Doing this will take a lot of work, both in terms of facing a bunch of demanding young school inmates and going back to do more academic writing, which I hated the last time around. It'll also force me to adjust myself more to other people and institutions and their rhytmhs, meaning I'll have to give up some of the freedom I have now. That's fair, since that freedom is probably unsustainable and undesirable anyway long-term. I want a firmer position in life, more stability and security, and doing this might get me there. I'll also have to face some of my prejudices against the school system, as well as all the things it does that I genuinely think are harmful. Maybe I need to know the system from the inside to really fight the negative aspects of it? That would also be a Tyr-like discipline and sacrifice thing, I think.
There's also another interpretation, even if it might be wishful thinking: by following this course I might be able to help some young people find justice in the face of a system that doesn't work for them, as it often didn't work for me. Ideally I'd want to do something like support homeschoolers or alternative education like Waldorf, so maybe I can get there after some time in the public system.
Hopefully that's not oversharing too much, but there you have some of the context. Again, thank you for the reading, and overall it seems on-point. I was already leaning towards applying for the program, if nothing else because I don't have too many other good options, but this is another useful point to consider.