Jeff Russell

Replying to the original question to avoid too much nesting.

A bit on my method, in case you're interested as a fellow practitioner. I opened a sacred space on my portable ritual altar (folding tray), made a drink offering to Woden and Frige, and prayed for their help and guidance. I then got all 24 of the Runes out, called upon the Wyrds (Norns) to help, and shook the staves vigorously while concentrating on the question before dropping them into a large-ish dice tray. Without looking, I drew them one each for each position in the spread - "Setting" (your overall context), "Work" (doing the action contemplated by the question), and "Outcome(s)" (what is most likely to come about if going through with the action contemplated). I then looked at the Runes in each spot of the spread and interpreted. If the Rune landed face-down, I consider it "Murky," which is roughly equivalent to a card being reversed in Tarot. In my system of interpretation, it means either that the qualities embodied by the Rune are manifesting in an unhelpful or harmful way, or that they are somehow blocked and not manifesting enough.

Asking 1 - What does open_space most need to focus on to move toward a more meaningful life?
Draw
Setting: Inguz (Murky) - "Ing (the God's name, most believe to be the same as Frey)"
Work: Kenaz (Murky) - "Torch"
Outcome(s): Gebo - "Gift"

My Take on It
I'm not sure if this reading is telling you all that much that you don't already know, but let me walk through it in case some part of that helps. This indicates that your general context is that you are somehow "bottled up" - either you are withdrawn into yourself and "holding still" when you should be either gathering strength or moving forward, or else "moving" in a way that doesn't actually accomplish what you're after. I'm getting a sense of "hiding" from something rather than either facing it or truly resting/recovering from it.

The work that this reading says you need to focus on is addressing a murky Kenaz. Kenaz, the torch, is the Rune of creative drive and passion - the urge to make something, but it is also the Rune of breaking things apart, as that is often a necessary step in the creative process. To have it murky in this position indicates that you are either feeling stifled creatively (which seems likely from your question and other discussions we've had) and/or that something is "breaking up" in a way you find harmful or unwanted - maybe relationships, maybe social positions or expectations, or maybe your view of yourself and where you fit in all this. Overall, given what I know about you and the challenges you're facing, the image that comes to mind is that of a welding torch - you've got the fuel and the spark, but it needs the right nozzle to be focused into something powerful (and a bit dangerous) that will let you get the real work done.

The good news in this so-far murky reading is that the Outcome is rather positive - Gebo, the gift, is an almost purely positive Rune when it comes up bright (face up). If you're familiar with the ancient Greek concept of Xenia, the sacred relationship between guest and host, which is re-affirmed by mutual gift-giving, that's the kind of energy Gebo indicates. So, if you are able to fix what's going on with Kenaz, this indicates that you will get and/or give a "gift", or else engage in some kind of positive exchange. This Rune can sometimes have sexual and/or magical overtones, as can Kenaz, so there might be an element of that there, but I'm seeing that more as one aspect of the wider vitality/life question than the specific focus of the reading.

A phrase that popped into my head as I was wrapping up this interpretation, that I can't "back up" otherwise: "Make something great, and then give it away to someone who's worth it." Do with that what you will.

Asking 2 - What does open_space most need to understand about moving back to Mexico?
Draw
Setting: Gebo - "Gift"
Work/Move: Laguz (Murky) - "Lake"
Outcome(s): Kenaz - "Torch"

My Take on It
Now, this is very interesting and very weird. Between readings, I took up all of the Runestaves and again shook them thoroughly before dropping and picking with my eyes closed, and two of the same Runes came up! This tells me that the Runes really want you to focus on Kenaz and Gebo in your life, at least in the part of it that these two questions touch. It's also suggestive how they have changed positions in the spread - the Outcome of asking 1 is the Setting for asking 2, and the thing to do the work on in asking 1 is the Outcome of asking 2.

Now, this reading is also somewhat the inverse of the first one. At first glance, it seems fairly positive and like it's exactly the answer to the first asking - this move would be within a context of some kind of beneficial exchange - maybe bringing things back to your community in Mexico that you picked up in the States, maybe being able to better introduce things from Mexico to the folks you've met up north. And the outcome of this would be precisely the Kenaz energy that it seems you need to find - you'd likely find the drive to start creating and making stuff. It's the "Work", though, which comes up as Laguz (murky) that gives me pause, especially as this is a questions specifically about taking a course of action.

Laguz, though it literally means "Lake," is better understood as "the Deep" - it touches on the archetype of vast, primordial waters. "Lake" in proto-Germanic was the word for any large body of water, including the sea. As such, everything Jung might draw your attention to in symbolism of deep, dark waters might be appropriate here, and it coming up murky suggests the downsides or blockage of those archetypal energies. Specifically, the word that seems most relevant here is fear. Laguz can have a meaning of "challenges" or "tests", and drawing it murky suggests an avoidance of such tests and the psychological or spiritual growth they might bring.

So, my takeaway from this is that moving back to Mexico, at least at the time/in the way you're thinking about it now, would be "the easy way forward" - it would indeed give you what you're looking for, but perhaps not what you most need. I might recommend thinking about or meditating on what it is you would be leaving/avoiding/sidestepping by moving back to Mexico in the way you're contemplating, and what lessons or tests might be there.

Okay, those were a bit longer since I know a bit more about you and your situation, but do please let me know what seems on/off about the reading and any follow-up questions you have.