Since I haven't updated in a while, let me just say that I have been SUPER busy with university and with lining up a great selection of shows to attend! Because I'm doing so many and they're all within a month of each other, I've decided it is time to post a schedule on my homepage with ALL of the details of the shows. I'm not sure if I should make a separate page for them or not... I'll probably do some posts about each show as they come up, but for now, they exist on the homepage. Don't forget to keep updated with my Facebook page as well. You can follow and like Runic Ashes for more information. I usually update Facebook first anyway. I also post links to the events that are coming up so you can be reminded through Facebook notifications if you say you are "going" or "interested."
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If you haven't been on my Facebook page, I have some news! I will be at the Great Conjunction Expo & Psychic Fair on April 1 (10AM-7PM) and April 2 (10AM-5PM) at the Holiday Inn Boardman located at 7410 South Avenue, Boardman, OH 44512. Admission is $5 and can be purchased online or at the door. I will be doing Tarot & Rune readings. I'll also be selling traditional Elder Futhark rune sets. I'm also going to be selling handmade crocheted bags to hold crystals, tarot decks or rune sets. I've been told that I am the ONLY Rune reader that they will have at this show... I bought business cards and a swanky banner for the show, too. I am SUPER official now! I hope to see you there! I've made a Facebook Event page you can look at as well. The TalkFebruary 9th, I attended the Introduction to Shamanism Talk at The Hidden Path in Struthers, Ohio hosted by Whitefeather Wisdom. She has studied at the Foundation of Shamanic Studies in California among many other places. Her teachers, aside from the spirits who she works with, are renowned in the field and include Hank Wesselman & Jill Kuykendall, Gretchen Crilly McKay, Amanda Foulger of the Foundation of Shamanic Studies, Ross Bishop, Larry Kessler and Daniel Foor. The Talk was a basic overview of what Shamanism is. In a sentence, Shamanism is a lifestyle approach to working with spirits as a healer. The archetype commonly associated with the Shaman is the Wounded Healer, who must heal themselves before they may heal others. We covered the following points in detail enough to define it and give a few examples of the work involved with it:
Power Animal JourneyThe Journey was guided through our set intentions of finding our Power Animal, the drums to alter our consciousness and keep pacing. We were also given a little synopsis of what was supposed to happen. It was to be about 15 minutes long. We were supposed to imagine ourselves in a place in nature we feel comfortable in. Then, we were to find a hole in that place (under a tree, through a cave, in the grass, etc.) and crawl down into it. We would pop out on the other side, into the Lower Realm of the Spirit World. There, we would [probably] meet some animals. We would have to ask them if they were our Power Animal or not. They would respond (perhaps verbally, perhaps telepathically, visually, through signs, etc.) with a yes/no/follow me. We could ask them anything we liked. At the callback drum cue, we would then have to go back through the hole we came from and back to our initial place in nature. WARNING: If you are not open to the idea of Journeying, please note that the experience of Journeying is rather strange. From the outside, without knowing or believing in the significance of it, it would seem like a Wonderland inspired fever dream. Do not be surprised by the unexpected tale in the remaining sections of this post. Please do keep in mind, that most of my interactions with my Power Animals are less verbal and more on the telepathic end of the spectrum, if that helps give you any indication of what you're in for if you continue to read. So, you've been warned. Believe what you want to believe, but for those intrigued, please feel free to read on. River to MountainI started out in my place in nature. It is a creek that runs through my front yard that I played in as a kid. I have a very close connection to it. I made my Runes there and found my first crystal, a piece of obsidian, there. I found those in addition to my RWS Centennial deck I use exclusively for myself and my other crystals. I collected them and found the green Garter Snake that I saw hanging around the banks of the river. I had noticed the hole where I found the Ash stick to make my Runes, but the Garter Snake was making its way over there, so I followed. I went to the hole in the river, between the roots of a tree and crawled in. It wasn't long at all, this tunnel, and I popped out on the other side on top of a mountain. I only had 15 minutes, so I decided to slide down the mountain to make my trip faster. It wasn't a terrible idea to my surprise. The RiverOn my slide down, I met with the River Spirit. Yes, the one from the creek I'd started at. He is a very derpy looking, softie and I love him for it. He looks something like this, but with less red... I'm not an artist, I just took this from a Google search, sorry. So he comes along and offers me a ride, seeing as I was just tumbling down a mountainside. It was very nice of him. We caught up with each other on the ride, when suddenly he decides to drop me off without saying anything. It's very like him. The KitsuneAnyone who knows me knows that I love foxes. And Japan. So it should come as no surprise, especially after showing you my main guide, that I would fall off of this River spirit and onto the butt-end of a Kitsune. This Kitsune and I have met before. She doesn't talk a lot, but she does make her intentions, advice and feelings known through non-verbal means. She was pleased to see me, but not pleased I landed on her. I thanked her for her help in the past and she and the River came with me exploring the mountain. The SnakeWe came across a cave and went in. We encountered this Cobra who was black all over with red eyes and very dark energy-wise. He said he was my Power Animal too and that he needed healing from me. If you recall, I had my stones, Runes and Tarot on me in the Journey but I had completely forgotten about them! In desperation, I used my bare hands to try to muster up some white light to give to to him. He was gigantic- his body was about as round as I am tall! The Cobra was not very receptive to my attempt to heal him at first and it was evident he was in shock. He bit me. His enormous fangs pierced my right shoulder and leg in one swift bite because I didn't move fast enough out of the way. My physical body was already numb because that's just what happens when doing spirit work, but now my spiritual self on this Journey was also numb. I have never felt like I couldn't feel my energy up until that point. In fact, usually I'm not very well grounded and "top heavy" chakra-wise, so I'm very aware of my energy since it usually causes me issues. This sensation, or lack thereof, was simply alien. I felt like a foreigner in my own spiritual body. At this point, I'm desperately trying to amateur-Reiki this Cobra and I can't feel my own energy. Great, right? I've never even tried, dabbled in or have had Reiki done to me. I haven't even read about it. I just know that it exists and that it's healing energy work. For me to do this under this condition seemed impossible, PLUS I had that 15 minute time restriction. I ended up grabbing this Cobra by both hands in my own state of shock, anger and haste, choking and shaking him as he shrunk to about a foot long and pencil thin. I gave him all I could and I was fairly confident I could handle the output level. It worked to my amazement and this Cobra became a cool white with beautiful ocean-blue eyes. He grew again to make his face about as big as mine. He coiled up as if to strike me again but he didn't. He thanked me and continued with me and my party along the way out through the end of the cave. I was still on edge and sill kind of pissed off. The CoyoteThe end of the cave led back to where I started at the River. On the bridge part of my driveway, there was a red fox. It was very odd looking- almost like a bad taxidermy. I made it known that I knew it was a trick and the fox revealed himself to be Coyote. He laughed and exclaimed that he could have done better if he wasn't rushed. So I thanked him and the rest of my Power Animals and went back to reality. Upon ReturnWe were able to share our experiences after we all came back. I chose to keep mine to myself, but I did want to share something one of the people had to share. She mentioned that she was a highly sensitive individual who could see other people's energy/chakras/auras. She was explaining how she could see everyone as energy balls getting sucked down into the ground. She looked around the room and depicted how she saw everyone, blue, green and even a purple aura sudden disappear. She looked right at me when she said "purple" and knew I'd been called out! It was just the thing to put the icing on the cake! I will definitely be learning more about Shamanism and continuing to Journey. I had a blast! I learned a lot, too! The environment of the Talk -the people, the place- were all so very inviting and completely open. It was definitely a non-judgmental zone, which is crucial to hosting a successful group Journeying event. Hats off to Whitefeather and the Hidden Path! Thank you for the experience! The Power of TarotThe power of Tarot cards is hardly debatable. Even without the belief in magic for yourself, the sheer amount of people that know of or use the system of Tarot is staggering and holds power in a pop-cultural sense just by being in the minds of the masses. Beyond that, many people, including myself, find that Tarot holds more than just an air of mystery. It is potent. For anyone that has ever had a good reading, you know that the cards can be eerily accurate, even over multiple readings, over multiple decks and even over multiple readers. If you have an exceptional reader, they can tell you more than what you know without you having to give anything more than your willingness to listen to their reading. Tarot can answer questions that you never knew you had in the first place. My Own StoryThat’s why I let my friend borrow it- I knew that having a deck was invaluable for trying to get through serious problems. It wasn’t until I had had a life-changing experience with my spirituality and with my Tarot practice that I got to this question about the Origin of Tarot Power. My only Tarot deck at the time had been… uh… broken? I had shared the standard “Tarot Total” Rider-Waite deck with a close friend during a time of need for them and the Four of Cups went missing after they borrowed it. I was crushed because that deck was the only one I had. It was my first and only deck that I got when I was 12. I used it frequently, especially during the time period my friend was borrowing it because I was also going through a lot- specifically with problems that were already in place revolving around our friendship. That’s why I let my friend borrow it- I knew that having a deck was invaluable for trying to get through serious problems. The deck was unusable. I tried working without that card. I tried working with the deck without the pip cards. I tried splicing the broken deck with a full deck that I bought. What did work was using only the Major Arcana. The problem was that the readings felt strained. I felt like I was beating a dead horse every time I touched the cards to even think about doing a reading. My deck was on life support. I couldn’t stand looking at it anymore. I was so defeated by thinking about what the deck had been for me and what it had been reduced to. I was looking at it like it was its own person, deserving of respect, honor and holding it accountable to my exceptionally high standards. I wanted to honor my deck for what it was and how well it had served me by ceremonially destroying it. I was stuck in a really bad place. I had two decks now, one broken and one I'd planned on giving the friend involved not but a week or so later that in the end I chose to not give to them out of fear they would use not be open enough to objectively and respectfully use the cards. That second deck, the Shadowscapes Tarot, ended up becoming a reminder of everything that I thought was terrible about Tarot and about my friend. Thankfully, at this point, I also had *just* finished my Elder Futhark Runes and they were ready for casting! I did a Rune cast, literally my first, and got some very interesting answers. I asked it about my situation with my friend and about what to do about my broken deck. The Runes were pointing me in another direction. They had a question to answer that I didn’t know I wanted to ask. I was putting all this emphasis on the “Power of the Tarot” and making the cards seem like they were their own entity. The Runes challenged me to question that. I was confused as I pulled some more and essentially got the “Try Again Later” answer that those in the divination community are all too familiar with. It wasn’t the right time or the right modicum to ask with. I decided to do a two-deck reading. One deck being the Majors from my broken deck and the other was the deck that at this point was just too far associated with my friend for me to objectively use. I pulled cards from both decks independently, in no particular spread, to ask about what I should do about the decks. I was to destroy the broken deck and the Shadowscapes was to serve me until the time I could properly connect to another deck, which I since have. I reshuffled each deck and then in the same manner asked about the Origin of the Power of Tarot. The Question I Never HadNo spread, no order, no words even. I asked in my own head, expressed through my own feelings and intuition, the questions that I wanted to learn the answers to. I asked where Tarot came from. I wanted to know what it was and where it was going. Was it the Higher Self? The Universe? Qi? The Force from Star Wars? I had no idea. I had always thought the cards had their own magic or force or will or whatever, but I never considered that it could be part of us, too. I don’t even remember the specific cards I pulled. I never recorded the reading. But that’s kind of the point! Consider the system of Tarot Reading. The cards are codependent on us. Sure, they have inherent meanings. You can define a card based on itself. You can say that all you have to do to read Tarot is buy a book and methodically list the meanings and symbols written in that book. But there’s more to it than that! The reader is also an active participant that lends varied meanings to the cards, interprets the reading in certain ways and creates connections between the questions and answers and to the situations those questions and answers are found. There’s more to the cards than just themselves. There’s an allure to the Tarot partly because there is no one, fully fleshed out way to do it. Everyone has a style. Everyone reads differently. Even the cards are vastly different from each other. There’s an entire system of creative channeling within Tarot cards, their readers, their querents and their interpretations. The definition of this system is the answer to this question. The whole inner-working of the Tarot’s intricate yet simple design is the key. Some people focus on certain areas. Some will tell you that Tarot is your Higher Self or even the Universe being channeled through the cards. Some will tell you that Tarot makes its own power that is only embraced, not generated, by readers. Others will say that the power is psychological and lies in you finding meaning in them. These people are all correct, but in a limited scope. It is important to answer such broad questions with broad answers so as to not dilute either. This is why, generally, broader questions are met with not-so-satisfactory answers in Tarot. In the same vein, that’s why the answer to “What is the Origin of Tarot’s Power” is more akin to a “Yes” answer than to any one location in that system because it IS the system. Rune Sets: This holiday season was absolutely crazy! I do not have my 15 or so sets of runes done like I had wanted and they need more work than the day or two here or there I could give up could provide. Those are on hold for now while I re-orient my life. I do have a few sets that only need painted, so commissions are open! More Spreads: I made a Couple's Valentine's Day Spread that you can find live on Etsy! I need to make a single's spread. I also want to make a more pointed, larger general reading. If you have any suggestions on what to include in that spread or if there's a spread you think I should add, please let me know! I'm always looking for new ideas. Remember, I do custom readings too so let me know if you'd like one! I can customize the reading by making a unique spread and incorporating your questions. You can email me at [email protected]. Tarot Course: Speaking of new ideas, I am going to make a class for tarot reading! I'm looking at getting everything put together for Mid-Summer 2017. I am thinking about dividing it up into "0: Crash Course for Non-Tarot Knowledge" with guides on very basic alchemy, numerology, astrology, etc. to get you accustomed to common concepts that are found in tarot but aren't necessarily related. Then, moving on to "1: The Fool's Journey," "2: The Court Cards" and "3: The Minors." It's very much in the works right now, but I'll keep you all posted on it! Introduction Runes can be used as a form of divination. In fact, it has been determined that runes were actually used as divinatory or magic tools before they were used as writing tools. There are variations of runes, but the most popular, and the one we will focus on here, is the Elder Futhark runes. These came from 1st-2nd century Northern European, Germanic Tribes. They were likely adopted in a way to be easier to carve into stone, wood and metal since the resulting runes use mostly vertical lines. We call them runes today because of the German word for them, Raunen, which means “to whisper.” The old Norse word for them is Runa meaning “mystery.” Elder Futhark runes consist of 24 letters. They are broken into 3 rows of 8 letters. These rows are called “ætt.” The first ætt’s first six letters are f, u, th, a, r and k, which makes up the word futhark is the equivalent of the word “alphabet” from the Greek, alpha beta. It is important to note that some modern interpretations of runes used specifically for divination may include a blank rune for use as Odin and is interpreted to be a beginning and an end, much like “The World” in tarot. There is no evidence this was done historically. The first recorded incident of the blank rune was in The Book of Runes by Ralph Blum in 1982. Mythological History The runes are said to come from Odin. Legend says he sacrificed himself to himself by wounding himself with a spear and hanging from Yggdrasil, The World Tree, for nine days and nights without food or drink. The origin of the runes is the Well of Urd at the base of Yggdrasil, guarded by Mimir. Odin stared, hanging downward, looking into the waters that held the runes and called to them. The runes, after these nine days and nights, accepted his sacrifice and gave to him not only their shape, but also their secrets. Odin, it is worth mentioning, also received knowledge from the water itself. In another story, whether preceding his discovery of the runes or following it is unknown, desired more knowledge. He asked Mimir if he could have a drink from the water, which was told to give the drinker immense, in-depth knowledge of the universe. The only way Odin was allowed to drink from this water was to sacrifice his eye, which he gouged out and dropped into the water. Regardless, Odin claims in the Poetic Edda, that he has the knowledge and ability to perform 18 different charms that he can use. Odin, in his knowledge of the runes, became a master of the practice a form of shamanism, called “seidr,” along with his goddess counterpart, Freyja, the Vanir. These two also jointly preside over the souls of fallen warriors in hopes of building an army to fight in Ragnarok, the apocalypse. Some of the runes will be of use in Ragnarok. |
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