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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
Re: Job search
Date: 2024-12-31 01:06 pm (UTC)Howdy Jeff,
I definitely struggled with how to ask the question, so thanks for your clarification about how to do this. Since I do not yet do divinations myself wasn't sure. As I'm a researcher I often think in probabilities, but get that divination systems likely don't 😀. Thank you for your generous offer to do this, especially when raising a young family takes so much time and energy. No rush.
Re: Job search
Date: 2025-01-06 11:07 pm (UTC)That said, on with the reading!
Runes
Asking - "What does MJ most need to understand about finding a good paying and enjoyable job in the right field in the first quarter of 2025?"
Draw
Timing: Nauthiz (Murky)
Seeking: Sowilo
Outcome(s): Berkano (Murky)
Other (Fell Out While Picking Up Runestaves after Reading): Fehu (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 "Timing (what to understand about the constraint of 'First Quarter'), Seeking (the work of the job search process, not called 'Work,' like I usually use for most spreads to avoid confusion), and Outcome(s) (what is most likely to come about if you follow the course you have in mind now/is described in the 'Seeking' part)." 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.
Putting this together, I'm sorry to say that it doesn't look so hopeful for your specific question, but that said, it indicates that maybe your goal is somewhat misplaced. Let me break down why I think so. For "Timing," we have Nauthiz, which means "Need" and stands for lack of necessary things and the drive to overcome that lack. For seeking, Sowilo, which means "Sun" and stands for the Sun as a source of guidance and life. For "Outcome(s)," we got Berkano (Murky), which means "Birch Goddess," and stands for birth, death, and rebirth. While picking up the Runestaves, Fehu (Murky) fell out of my hand, and I've learned to treat such "coincidences" as an overall commentary on the reading.
Nauthiz (Murky) says that you are feeling constrained by circumstances and unable to exert your will (no surprise there, I imagine). Sowilo for the seeking says that you will find a goal and/or your way to it, especially if you heed "higher" signs in that direction. Berkano (Murky) for "Outcome(s)," however, speaks to stagnation or getting caught up in the mundane. maybe due to surface attractions. Lastly, for a question related to money, getting Fehu (Murky) is extremely unfortuante - Fehu literally means "cow," but at the time the Elder Futhark was put down, cattle were the principle measure of wealth, and the modern word "Fee" comes from the same word, so it basically means the kind of power gained through exchange and generosity made tangible in wealth. In other words, getting this Rune Murky for a money question says "not going well."
What all of this suggests to me is that you might be overly (if entirely understandably) focused on the money side of things, and especially making it in the way you have done so before and know you can succeed at. It seems, though, that this obvious/safe path might not be the best for you, but you have an opportunity to find an unlooked-for way forward. Paradoxically, the advice seems to be that you should shoot for generosity as much as you can, despite feeling like you can't spare anything, and that a clear way forward will come out of the process of looking, but it won't be what you expect, and it might not come in the first quarter. As I said, unfortunately very likely not the answer you're looking for, but hopefully not without some consolation.
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: Job search
Date: 2025-01-13 09:29 pm (UTC)Thank you so much for doing this. Apologies for taking so long to get back to you. I am just recovering from the worst two weeks of acute bronchitis that I have ever had, EVER. Didn't have the bandwidth to absorb this information well and to comment on it.
That said-- now that I've had time to ruminate on this a bit, I will tell you that my first response was "I KNEW you were going to say that". [You might be a Runes idiot savant or something!]. I was not in any way surprised by the reading. I am definitely conflicted about returning to my career. It is lucrative, but supports the pharmaceutical industry, which is quite tedious. It's something I wanted to do for only 3 years however, as a last hurrah, so that I can get my mortgage paid off as expediently as possible.
So I'm wondering if you have any thoughts, based on what you know about runes and divination, about whether I could make this work but getting my will as undivided as possible. Gird my loins so to speak, suck it up and just get on with it, knowing that when the 3 years is over I can move on to other things that would be more interesting. I really do not want to be getting involved with another endeavour just now, because the financial goal is critical and will likely take too long with another route which would probably be less financially viable.
With respect to the generosity piece, I'm wondering if this is more about literal generosity in terms of giving money away or is it more about being more grateful for what I already have (and in the context of the LA fires I'm EXCEPTIONALLY grateful for what I have!!).
Thanks for letting me know about the cow/fee word etymology. I come from a very 'wordy' family-- we love knowing these things, so that was an interesting piece of trivia.
Finally, I read your essay about Texas recently, even though I know you wrote it awhile ago. I have a soft spot in my heart for Texas. I lived in Dallas a few decades ago and finished my undergrad at UT-Dallas; I'm a longhorn-- though I saw a picture of a longhorn recently; those poor creatures-- how dreadful for them to carry those ginormous horns!! egads and gadzooks!
Thank you again for your kind generosity!
MJ