S. Kelley Harrell's Blog: Intentional Insights - Ancient Healing, Modern Shamanism, page 58

The Weekly Rune

For the week of 25 December 2016

In which we reflect and flow.

Jera is the half-month rune through 28 December. Laguz is the intuitive stave, and Isa indicates the planet’s needs. Read right to left is Jera, then Laguz, followed by Isa.

The half-month rune is set by the runic calendar, and governs for a tad over two weeks. The intuitive stave (meaning, I draw it blind) indicates the life force most available to us, which brings the focus of the half-month rune into sharper focus for the present week. It suggests how we can handle these energies. The planetary stave (also a blind draw) indicates the state and needs of the planet.

Below is a summary of The Weekly Rune. If you’d like to receive the full runecast, subscribe  for as little as $5 a month. The full runecast provides more details on how the current runes impact human life force over the next week, and how to best manage the curves and twists therein. With a subscription, you also receive it on Sunday instead of Monday!

Approaching Solstice,  Jera set the tone for an intense time of assessment, purging, harvesting, and planning. Meaning “year,” Jera brings what I call Hearth Accounting to the fore, an act well-timed for the dark winter months. More than that, though, it comes at the time of the longest night, underscoring the deep human need to know that help is on the horizon–literally.

Jera brings a generally uplifting vibe, at a time when we most need it. It’s celebratory, albeit in a cautionary, methodical way. It encourages us to shift from the dreaming state of Isa to a bean-counting grounding that requires us to be very present. Even that chop-wood-carry-water task is appropriate during the winter. What else is there to do? All else is on hold.

It’s funny then, that Dagaz is the intuitive stave this week. Where Jera means “year,” and Hearth Accounting, Dagaz means “day,” and Heart Accounting–according to me, anyway. Dagaz is the distillation of all the harvest-mindedness we take into a year focused on one day. Our task is to find the meaning, what we value most at this time, and make it happen.

Laguz  as the planet’s advice to us, says our job is to go with what carries us. Yes, there can be some scary aspects of water. It can get away from us, turn us upside down, hold us beneath, and move way faster than we’re capable of going with. We’re the only ones who can determine what we can handle. Generally speaking, though, Laguz is a favorable stave, indicating that the elements are there to move with us. They won’t do the work for us, but they will facilitate our efforts at this time.

Of course, it’s up to us to take advantage of that offer.

Subscribe to the full runecast.

Learn more about the Reclaiming the Runes Intensive and preview course.

Originally published on Soul Intent Arts.

The post The Weekly Rune appeared first on Soul Intent Arts - Ancient Healing, Modern Shamanism.

Celebrate the Small Things – Gratitude

My weekly gratitude post, in the Celebrate the Small Things [ongoing] Blog Hop.

I’m grateful for a great haircut!

I’m thankful for moments of solitude.

I’m thankful for gaining insight into how to create my life the way I want it.

I’m relieved that Boswellia actually helps with pain.

What are you grateful for this week? How will you show thanks? Who is grateful for you? I am!

This post is part of Lexa Cain’s blog hop, Celebrate the Small Things, along with her  co-hostesses L.G. Keltner and Tonja Drecker. Participate by emailing laura.6eg(at)gmail.com to request to hop on, then post your gratitude every Friday.  Easiest blog hop ever! Thanks for coming with me on this journey of self-empowerment and collective awareness.

The post Celebrate the Small Things – Gratitude appeared first on Soul Intent Arts - Ancient Healing, Modern Shamanism.

The Weekly Rune

For the week of 18 December 2016

In which we reflect and focus.

Happy Holidays! My gift to you for this Solstice is the full weekly runecast below. What you usually read here is a summary of The Weekly Rune. If you enjoy the full runecast, subscribe to receive it every week for as little as $5 a month. The full runecast provides more details on how the current runes impact human life force over the next week, and how to best manage the curves and twists therein. With a subscription, you also receive it on Sunday instead of Monday!

Jera is the half-month rune through 28 December. Laguz is the intuitive stave, and Isa indicates the planet’s needs. Read right to left is Jera, then Laguz, followed by Isa.

The half-month rune is set by the runic calendar, and governs for a tad over two weeks. The intuitive stave (meaning, I draw it blind) indicates the life force most available to us, which brings the focus of the half-month rune into sharper focus for the present week. It suggests how we can handle these energies. The planetary stave (also a blind draw) indicates the state and needs of the planet.

This winter,  Isa set in motion an evolution of events that will culminate by May of 2017. Over the last week we greeted Jera, and now approach Winter Solstice. For the Northern Hemisphere and eastern time zone, Solstice falls on 21 December at 5:44am. The Southern Hemisphere celebrates Summer Solstice.

Isa to Jera is a logical progression. As we move from creating the cocoon of intentional space that will feed the sacred seed, we shift into accounting mode. I refer to Jera as the rune of Hearth Accounting (in contrast with Dagaz as the rune of Heart Accounting). Dedicated sacred space to accounting, curious that the Elder Futhark orders it that way. Logical, though perhaps not smooth. With Isa, we’ve been in this altered space, clarifying, creating intentions, setting boundaries, dreaming outcomes. We’ve been in a blend of potent and humbling ecstatic mania. Jera switches gears to the more tactile and earthly tasks of managing the harvest.

We can’t stay in dream mode, forever.

Jera means “year,” and portends a generally positive time. It’s the point that all effort has been distilled into inventory and we must make decisions around it. We must consider what about our season went well, what we should do again, what we never want to see again, what we’d like to try. It’s the point that we look back and assess, as we plan the coming year.

Likewise, Jera projects to a set, definable, measurable increment with which we can set attainable goals. There’s nothing nebulous or pie-in-the-sky about Jera. It functions on hard data, and encourages us to consider that data as we plan our goals. A year is a full cycle. We get to experience all the options and angles, so that we can set our intentions and plan the rituals to cultivate what we want to grow in our lives. We can plan it all, down to what rituals should be done when. All that’s left after the planning of Jera is to get off our butts and do it.

Jera is the year planner of our personal growth.

 

For now, Laguz facilitates the process of making that happen. Meaning “water,” in the place of the intuitive stave, it means that we are in flow with the elements at this time. We can expect what we need to be at our disposal, the support and momentum of Nature is leaning toward us, and we can easily find ourselves in that rhythm. Further, we don’t find blocks within ourselves to accept what we need. That’s perhaps the biggie, with Laguz.

Again, it’s up to us to make use of these benefits. That they are available is only part of the equation. Actively participating from the brewing of intention to the small daily acts we perform to further our dreams is required. Laguz indicates support for that entire process.

Curious, however, is Isa as the voice of the planet. We just shifted from Isa as the half-month rune, so its message here is that the wait isn’t quite over. Yes, we can assess what’s passed and we can set plans for what we’ll create, though that’s the extent of it, for now. The holding pattern of winter remains upon us, and our job is to sit gently with it to see what it has to teach us.

Isa is the last of the three-fold phase of winter runes. It comes, metaphorically, just at the cusp of spring. In this wisdom the planet encourages us to let the frozen dead die off completely. Let go of what shouldn’t be brought forward into the new year. Sit with what is, and be it. Feel it fully, so that it can move on without restraints on what’s to come.

Also, tend that sacred seed. What brings our deepest desires into being is that we tend them, ongoing. We can’t just set them in motion then walk away, anxious for their manifestation. Isa coming back up is a reminder to stay tuned to the process of creation.

Be creation, itself, by embodying its process.

In my tradition, Winter Solstice is the new year. It signals the close of the Dead Time that began the reprieve from normal time sensing at Samhain, and to returns us to the forward motion of sun time. It’s up to us to use this reminder of the light as an inspiration to continue shining our brightness on what we want in our own lives. As we emerge from the shadows, let the light shine with acknowledgement of what we’ve needed to know about ourselves, so that we can truly manifest our lives and selves as we want them to be.

Subscribe to the full runecast.

Learn more about the Reclaiming the Runes Intensive and preview course.

Originally published on Soul Intent Arts.

The post The Weekly Rune appeared first on Soul Intent Arts - Ancient Healing, Modern Shamanism.

Celebrate the Small Things – Gratitude

My weekly gratitude post, in the Celebrate the Small Things [ongoing] Blog Hop.

I’m grateful for the support from others in talking abut my health and diagnosis.

I’m thankful for insight into career path.

I’m thankful for growth, even when it sucks and hurts.

I’m thrilled to have completed several new pieces of art, which I hope to list in a totally new category on Etsy, very soon!

What are you grateful for this week? How will you show thanks? Who is grateful for you? I am!

This post is part of Lexa Cain’s blog hop, Celebrate the Small Things, along with her  co-hostesses L.G. Keltner and Tonja Drecker. Participate by emailing laura.6eg(at)gmail.com to request to hop on, then post your gratitude every Friday.  Easiest blog hop ever! Thanks for coming with me on this journey of self-empowerment and collective awareness.

The post Celebrate the Small Things – Gratitude appeared first on Soul Intent Arts - Ancient Healing, Modern Shamanism.

The Weekly Rune

For the week of 11 December 2016

In which we are changed and bared.

Isa is the half-month rune through 13 December, at which point Jera moves to the fore. Eihwaz is the intuitive stave, and Algiz reversed indicates the planet’s needs. Read right to left is Isa, then Eihwaz, followed by Algiz reversed.

The half-month rune is set by the runic calendar, and governs for a tad over two weeks. The intuitive stave (meaning, I draw it blind) indicates the life force most available to us, which brings the focus of the half-month rune into sharper focus for the present week. It suggests how we can handle these energies. The planetary stave indicates the state and possibly needs of the planet.

Following is a summary of The Weekly Rune. Subscribe the full runecast for only $5 a month, for more details on how these runes impact human life force over the next week, and how to best manage the curves and twists.

This winter,  Isa set in motion an evolution of events that will culminate by May of 2017. Such is the normal trajectory of the runic calendar. However, unlike other winters, this year we’re likely as fixed on personal growth as collective, which is a long overdue complexity.

We have carried the spiritual wisdom that we are all connected; however, now we’re demanded to live it. In this way, what we shape in this sacred seed of Isa has significant bearing. While we must shape it for ourselves, its bearing falls on us all. Its support, grounding, and blossoming impact us all.

Part of the task at hand is realizing that what we choose to create for self must have collective benefit. It is assured to have collective impact, so to ensure its benefit, we have to be attuned to what we’re creating from the get-go. It’s as simple as following the usual blessing or statement of intention, but instead of just asking for it for self, ask for it, for everyone.

Bless us all, every one.

Eihwaz suggests radical change is afoot. Maybe just bringing that collective focus to desires will be that change. It’s a pretty radical one, for those unaccustomed. Maybe it’s honoring desire, at all.

The point is, at this time, trauma is in the eye of the beholder. We don’t often get to stand in power on this one. We merely withstand. This week, we have an opportunity to realize radical change and go with it.

Algiz reversed suggests we won’t get to do this in comfort. Associated with shapeshifting because of its roots in the elk and sedge grass, this rune suggests being so comfortable with the concept of home that it’s embodied. We become it and take it with us wherever we go. That’s some pretty intense protection. Reversed, however, Algiz calls us to re-evaluate what the protection of home means, what it can bring, and if we’re truly embodying it.

Subscribe to the full runecast.

Learn more about the Reclaiming the Runes Intensive and preview course.

Originally published on Soul Intent Arts.

The post The Weekly Rune appeared first on Soul Intent Arts - Ancient Healing, Modern Shamanism.

Celebrate the Small Things – Gratitude

My weekly gratitude post, in the Celebrate the Small Things [ongoing] Blog Hop.

I’m grateful for fun trimming the tree, which I usually don’t find fun at all.

I’m thankful the best shrimp I’ve ever eaten, fresh from the coast!

I’m thankful for good friends and family.

I’m thrilled to have completed several new pieces of art, which I hope to list in a totally new category on Etsy, very soon!

What are you grateful for this week? How will you show thanks? Who is grateful for you? I am!

This post is part of Lexa Cain’s blog hop, Celebrate the Small Things, along with her  co-hostesses L.G. Keltner and Tonja Drecker. Participate by emailing laura.6eg(at)gmail.com to request to hop on, then post your gratitude every Friday.  Easiest blog hop ever! Thanks for coming with me on this journey of self-empowerment and collective awareness.

The post Celebrate the Small Things – Gratitude appeared first on Soul Intent Arts - Ancient Healing, Modern Shamanism.

What It Is Wednesday — Dauntlessly Dealt (diagnosis) Reality

A weekly dose of dauntlessly dealt reality from the What It Is Wednesday Blog Carnival…

Fifteen years

Twenty specialists.

Sixteen modalities.

Thirty-two diagnoses.

Countless labs, scans, tests, prescriptions, supplements, cleanses, detoxes.

Thousands of dollars.

One hour.

Those are hard calculations, and I’m not a linear person. There’s a point, though, that a thing drags on well passed its welcome, and I have to notice it isn’t getting better. I have to do the accounting. What perpetually shocked me in all this time is the number of doctors who didn’t.

In the teaching medical community is the phrase, “When you hear hoof beats, think of horses, not zebras.” It means look for the obvious diagnosis, and that’s all.

Fifteen years of hoof beats.

One hour

In October, in a riot of last-ditch angst, I saw a new neurologist. I spent one hour with him, and in that time he not only nailed the diagnosis that encompasses the vast majority of every symptom I’ve had in the last fifteen+ years, he quieted a long restlessness I’d accepted as normal.

I cried.

Right there in his office, I sobbed, because every cell in my body knew he was right. Because I felt a weight lift from my shoulders. Because he listened. Most specifically because he said, “You’re a nice young woman, and I’m sorry you’ve been in so much pain for so long.”

He said it on purpose, likely because he deals with a lot of un-diagnosable patients. He deals with people, particularly women, who have miserably fallen through the cracks of the system for years. Over and over he hears stories of other doctors missing the mark. He knew exactly what to say to tap into the fact that I needed to hear someone acknowledge this is real. This has been happening, every day. I needed to hear a doctor acknowledge that fact.

I needed a doctor to honor my humanity, not just diagnose my condition, and he did both.

Past all the angst, anger, blood work, and scans, are Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia and  Ehlers- Danlos Syndrome. Neither will kill me, they will just make the everyday fairly unpleasant. There’s no cure, no treatment, only suggestions–most of which I’ve already been doing for years.

So, nothing is different, except that it is. I now know what I’m dealing with. I know what my boundaries are, and what I’m up against to enforce them. I can’t say that I’m enthusiastic about it, or that I have a great attitude with how to go forward.

I can say now that I was heard.

If You Want to Be Real on your blog, visit the inaugural page —http://www.soulintentarts.com/what-it-is-wednesday/  and follow the instructions there to share your reality with the world! Read other blogs in the carnival, below:

The post What It Is Wednesday — Dauntlessly Dealt (diagnosis) Reality appeared first on Soul Intent Arts - Ancient Healing, Modern Shamanism.

The Weekly Rune

For the week of 4 December 2016

In which motivation is of the essence.

Isa is the half-month rune through 13 December. Uruz reversed is the intuitive stave, and Mannaz indicates the planet’s needs. Read right to left is Isa, then Uruz reversed, followed by Mannaz.

The half-month rune is set by the runic calendar, and governs for a tad over two weeks. The intuitive stave (meaning, I draw it blind) indicates the life force most available to us, which brings the focus of the half-month rune into sharper focus for the present week. It suggests how we can handle these energies. The planetary stave indicates the state and possibly needs of the planet.

Following is a summary of The Weekly Rune. Read the full runecast for more details on how these runes impact human life force over the next week, and how to best manage the curves and twists.

Last week,  Isa set in motion an evolution of events that will culminate by May of 2017. Focused on the proper cultivation of new consciousness, this last of the winter staves comes with a walk don’t run energy. Indeed, nourishment of the sacred seed can’t be rushed. It is the epitome of trusting right time, right place, right action. Nothing about this rune can be forced, coerced, or quelled.

Remember that sitting still requires as much effort as motion. Such is the mantra of this week.

The life force of the next week is characterized by an intense need to come into the fact that the personal truth bubbling to the surface right now must be thoroughly allowed. We don’t have to understand what it is just yet, though if we do, that insight can soothe the tension around restraint. Still, blatantly clear insight into that truth isn’t a green light to do anything with it, yet. Pausing, allowing its process to unfold in its own time–that’s the emphasis for now.

Think about it: freezing has to happen in order for chaff to die off, for new life to have space, nutrients, and motivation to form, to grow. In Nature’s cycle, what comes from that seemingly restful state of shaping doesn’t become apparent until the following spring. As the plant and animal life hibernates and comes back to life in warm weather, so do we. This is the trend Isa speaks of.

Uruz reversed only complicates feelings of tension around Isa’s frozen state. These two staves have a curious, though not evident connection. Read the Elder Futhark in terms of the Old Norse creation story, and it quickly becomes apparent that the elements–key characters in the narrative–are out of balance. When we think of elements, through our modern and often melting pot perspective, we think in terms of water, fire, air, and earth, with the occasional wood and metal thrown in. In the Old Norse observation, there was only fire and ice. In terms of the futhark, there’s a great deal of fire in the first ætt, with only a bit of ice (Uruz). This is significant, in that in the creation story, Muspelheimr existed first–the land of fire. Only when the icy run off of the rivers of Niflheimr–the land of ice–met Muspelheimr did creation as we know it occur. However, it isn’t until we get to the second ætt, that we’re greeted by an equivalent amount of ice. That correlation between Uruz as the only icy stave in the first ætt, then skipping all the way to the deluge of the winter trio of the second ætt reveals the need of motivation for the sacred seed (Isa) to be positioned well in order to form.

Generally an indicator of the drive to self-start, to self-motivate, and have the elements in place to do just that, Uruz reversed brings a different dynamic. It can indicate a molasses rolling downhill sort of lethargy, or it may point to a place in which energy is being misdirected. Either way, a vital misallocation of life force is ripe to occur, though we can be attentive to it. We can be aware of where we are most likely to misguide ourselves, and stay cautious about the places that surprise us. Keep in mind Uruz is about the creative force, and not what is created. For now, that’s Isa.

This week, we’re not well-positioned to form our personal truth, and we need to be impeccably aware of that fact. Monitor motives, and practice radical honesty. Ultimately, Uruz reversed is a cul-de-sac of creative force. It isn’t gone or lacking; rather, it’s not flowing on the plane it would like. I suspect like Isa’s incubation of personal truth, this realignment of life force and focus can’t be manhandled into right direction. Feelings of hurry up and stop will be rampant this week.

Instead of measuring progress, focus on its source.

Mannaz may help with locating that source. The planet’s message this week is to get out. Do new things. Avoid falling into a rut. Remember, Mannaz is the mid-point of Isa manifest. It is the point that the sacred seed outgrows its protective shell and must go out into the world. This week seek new social engagements and groups. The regular old interactions will not reinforce what’s needed to know about where all of this is going. They will not draw out what must be innate to nurture.

It’s going to be hard to put one foot in front of the other, this week. However, so much can be accomplished standing still. Embody that best of that stillness, and see what it has to share.

Read the full runecast.

Learn more about the Reclaiming the Runes Intensive and preview course.

Originally published on Soul Intent Arts.

The post The Weekly Rune appeared first on Soul Intent Arts - Ancient Healing, Modern Shamanism.

Celebrate the Small Things – Gratitude

My weekly gratitude post, in the Celebrate the Small Things [ongoing] Blog Hop.

I’m grateful for a great weekend with family and friends.

I’m thankful for my daughter feeling better.

I’m thankful for having good coping skills…

What are you grateful for this week? How will you show thanks? Who is grateful for you? I am!

This post is part of Lexa Cain’s blog hop, Celebrate the Small Things, along with her  co-hostesses L.G. Keltner and Tonja Drecker. Participate by emailing laura.6eg(at)gmail.com to request to hop on, then post your gratitude every Friday.  Easiest blog hop ever! Thanks for coming with me on this journey of self-empowerment and collective awareness.

The post Celebrate the Small Things – Gratitude appeared first on Soul Intent Arts - Ancient Healing, Modern Shamanism.

Life Betwixt – Divination as a Coping Skill

Throughout the Betwixt Series I’ve mentioned that spiritual chutzpah doesn’t necessarily equate to having solid coping skills.

There pervades the idea that simply by virtue of having a good relationship with spirit guides, which is the foundation of successful shamanism, the ability to cope with life around that ecstatic component just falls into place. Not so, and any spirit guide worth its salt will say so.

Given that fact, what role does divination play in shamanism? For many it occupies a position somewhere between engaging spirit allies and sacred aspects of the self. Reading the signs of the world around us serves to inform free of ego projection. In fact, I’d even say the relationship formed with a divination tool is a spiritual ally. From a shamanic standpoint, when connecting with a divination system, only part of that bond is based on the symbolism. The rest is with the spirit of the system, itself.

However, in our modern use of them, divination tools such as the runes, tarot, I-Ching, bones, or other oracle don’t widely carry that spirit ally assumption. Defined as the act of reading the signs around us, whether they are time-tested, handed down ancient glyphs, or contemporary markings of chaos magick, the system we work with speaks to us. Many assume such tools tell the future, and in truth, that’s what we’ve all been fed through the Magic 8 Ball, playing Ring-Around-the-Rosy, and reading newspaper horoscopes. The reality is, oracles give us a distilled insight into the present, from as many open vantage points as possible.

Through the allure of a visual component associated with a philosophical concept illuminating some facet of human life, both brain hemispheres are engaged, and we suddenly realize choices for the future that were previously hidden. When we’re in this state of full awareness, we enter the theta brainwave, or god state.

So, divination doesn’t tell the future, but it’s still pretty magickal.

That said, in and of itself, divination doesn’t solve everything. Years ago, I fell into a pattern of setting intentions to see the most likely outcomes of specific life dynamics through divination. It was an educational and often predictable exercise.  After all, most of us never veer from the same life patterns, making us pretty damn predictable. However, despite having that vivid glimpse into my grounding and possibility, I found my stress level climbing higher.

I assumed that by knowing the potential outcome of a dynamic, I’d be ready for it to actually come into being.

It seems simple enough, yes? What I Want+ Potential for Manifestation = Ready for Manifestation. No. Not at all. Why? Because just because I could see the potential of what was coming didn’t mean I was capable of coping with what was coming. I was using divination in place of coping skills, which is a tragic mistake I now see other seekers doing all the time.

New Age culture has programmed us that our problems stem from not being able to see what’s coming. We think if we can just see what’s ahead, we’ll feel better. If we can divine the future, purely based on that satisfying glimpse, we’ll be prepared for it to arrive. We live in a fear-based society that wants to prevent aging, death–anything unknown that lies around the corner. However, the unresolved hurts of our past are largely what cloud our present. Tools like divination align the brain not just with itself but with deeply ingrained symbolism that cuts through the past fog, so that we can  in the present come to better conclusions about our future. It doesn’t in any way make us ready for them. It doesn’t in any way give us the ability to deal with the changes ahead. We don’t get to skip the emotional and mental processes required to cope with change–even amazing, wonderful change. There is no substitute for drawing boundaries and holding them, gaining self-confidence, dealing healthily with conflict and confrontation, and coexisting peacefully.

This, of course, doesn’t mean that oracles can’t be tools to learn those things. It’s entirely possible to shift the nature of intentions brought to divination from ones of learning what’s ahead to seeking insight into how to best deal with what’s happening in the present. Yes, we can impact what happens in the future, though that impact comes through putting focused effort on the present. We can’t shape what hasn’t yet transpired by neglecting what’s happening now. Clean up the present to ensure the wanted future. Good intentions to make use of an oracle for support  or shaping the future are, “My intention is to learn how to best create boundaries for myself,” or “My intention is to learn how to stand in my power in this conflict,” or “My intention is to learn what I can do now to improve my self-confidence.” In using divination this way, the health and wellbeing of self is put first, which is the only assurance any of us really have for the future.

The only true point of power is in the present. By standing empowered in the present, the odds of what we want to come increase radically.

The next time it seems that learning the potential of what may come brings more comfort than actually dealing with what is, consider putting the oracle down, taking a long, hard look in the mirror, and honing what’s most needed to know about self.

The post Life Betwixt – Divination as a Coping Skill appeared first on Soul Intent Arts - Ancient Healing, Modern Shamanism.