For the Week of 4 February 2024

Showing Up At Home

Algiz is the half-month rune through 12 February. The intuitive rune is Othala. The earthly spirit of place anchoring the runes this week is American Sweet Gum Tree Seed Pod, in the direction of Beyond (Earth marble), with element Plant (caloglossa red moss), in the season of Winter (tree button). All are held by the etheric field casting cloth. From right to left are Algiz (carved reindeer antler slice), then Othala. 

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The etheric field casting cloth is where the intrigue starts. Years ago I handmade and sold them as chakra cloths to deepen oracle readings into the personal/transpersonal field. The cloth wanted to be the container for this week’s cast, which adds a layer of insight that we don’t usually have. Thematically, the presence of the cloth means we’re changing in our bodies this week, and how our fields are in relationship with other fields.

Because the cloth has specific use, the method for casting was different, in that it truly was casting. I let each component speak, then cast them to see where they would land on the cloth. The color bands represent the different strata of fields/chakras/hvels, so each runecast component is read within that context, as well. I don’t know if this is a one-off drive-by for this cloth, or a request to be included until further notice. We’ll see!

That said, Algiz landed in blue, which is the expression of the throat. This chakra is about speaking or expressing our truth (Ansuz vibes), which in the context of Algiz could imply that vows to land or oaths to ecosystem need updating, or that living animistic relationship more outwardly is needed. We can’t just keep it to ourselves or to philosophy. We can’t sustain relationship with ecosystem by hiding in it, or in the case of the protection Algiz offers, behind it. Ultimately all ecosystems are in relationship with each other, to be one ecosystem. This week we are being asked to expand our understanding of that relationship by being willing to be more bold in representing it. We are being asked to animism where our mouth is; have animism will travel.

Othala is the rune of eldering, being able to conceive of Self as descended of Ancestors and their dynamics, and a strong influencer of the descendants and their dynamics. It is the rune of getting our affairs in order and showing up to how we manage our positionality in family line, community tending, and expressing our calling. 

Othala situates in the teal strata of the cloth, which in my cosmology is the high heart. Where the traditionally observed heart chakra is just below that, is green, and holds space for giving compassion and unconditional love, the high heart holds space for accepting these.

When the high heart comes up we’re dealing with our relationship to feeling loved, seen, heard, and held. Challenges with these stem from unexpressed trauma around accepting unconditional love, and vulnerability is a key feeling that comes up in this chakra. Considerations that the high heart brings to Algiz via Othala, or eldering well, might include not believing that we can be a good elder, not feeling ready to be one, not knowing how to be one. It can also pluck chords around ecosystem needing us to be in a more confident place than we actually are, in terms of how we move in the world. Ecosystem may need us to embody belonging more, to live in interdependence more. 

These sound nice and desirable on the surface, but with deep personal reflection may be fairly triggering to actually accomplish because that means we have to be very aware of where our personal field stops and that of others begins. It challenges us to live more in the transpersonal than the personal, which means really walking it like we talk it.

The direction best holding space for us this week and most able to protect it is Beyond. 

Beyond/All is the container of all that we know and beyond. It is the direction of sacred order. It’s the realm of Watchers, Norns, Multiversal Jotnar who caretake the machinations of all life. Given that, it can also be the microbes, the mitochondria, the bacteria. It’s not just Out There, but also that strata of managerial oversight that aligns with respect for all life at all levels. It is the direction of Source.

Beyond fell in the yellow bands of the cloth, or solar plexus.This one is potentially full of ouch. The solar plexus is the point at which we begin to seek relationships beyond primary family. We’ve learned the places that we are supported by primary family and we aren’t, and we venture beyond the socialization of our formative years into the great unknown to find kin (lots of Mannaz vibes here). When we look at the Beyond through this energetic aspect, we are forced to come to terms with where we haven’t felt met by the pluriverse and why. What got in the way? What defenses were built as a result? Likewise, where were we perfectly met and our needs fulfilled by the pluriverse? 

This week is the time to explore where we are at odds with our Allies, deities, Watchers. It’s the time to sit with our faith and reality at the same table. It’s the time to acknowledge the distance we’ve felt from Beyond these last few months alongside the deep need for that intimacy.

Plant is our element this week. In many ancient creation myths, plants are the first allies of humans. They are food, medicine, protection, and conduit to the godden. They have feelings, intelligence, and awareness, and they have the ability to sense our intentions and respond to our actions. When Plant visits it’s time to bring our awareness in closer, quieter, and listen to what the smaller voices of our ecosystem are saying. 

Caloglossa red moss –  as the best elemental influence for how we reconnect with ecosystem Algiz-style suggests our best efforts will be behind the scenes. Moss isn’t a center-stage life force. It’s liminal, and as such, it occupies diverse space at once, and demonstrates comfort with both light and shadow, and everything between. It exudes calmness and soothing. This elemental support accepts all of who we are and encourages us to do the same.

In this cast, Plant is in the indigo strata, which corresponds with the third eye. It is the place that we are consciously and unconsciously creating the vision of our inner truth. What we feel is what we create. In a manner of speaking, just as moss is a smaller voice, so are our lesser conscious aspects. These behind-the-scenes parts need not only to be heard but be allowed to speak, which implies that we’ve done the work to be able to hear the smaller voices, and we’ve done the work to heal them. If we don’t have good ego balance by this point in our energetic growth, we may not understand why our lives are shaped the way they are. This doesn’t mean everything is our fault. Culture, colonization, all the isms are not under our control. Moss is whispering that we learn what is and play to those strengths.

The backdrop of Winter – vetr- brings a cloistered space, huddled for warmth, slow-moving, and ample stillness. The world gets smaller in winter. The forest becomes less approachable and perhaps even hostile toward human-persons. We are less involved with the outdoors, and must pay closer attention to our reserves. It is the time of the Wild Hunt and standing in the danger of our dead.

Winter is in green on the cloth, the energy of the heart. Even when it’s cold, even when resources aren’t assured, even when we are less able to directly access ecosystem, we still have to give love. We still have to be willing to allow our vulnerability and still have an open heart.

The earthly Ally walking with us this week is new. American Sweet Gum Trees (Seed Pod), also called Witches’ Burrs, are protective in nature. Their spiny pods protect the seeds until they mature and scatter, and the tree, themselves, can thrive under a wide range of conditions. As well their gum is used for treating wounds and respiratory conditions.  For these reasons they are known for their strength, resilience, and adaptability. 

The seed pod also fell in yellow, the solar plexus, which suggests that energy of reaching out, finding new relationships of support into which we can be more loudly who we are, is now. As challenging as it may feel, as terrifying as it may be, the tone of how we step out into the world with our true hearts leading the way has never been more needed or supported than it is now.

This runecast raises a lot of questions that don’t have answers and poses actions whose acceptance isn’t assured. It challenges us to raise our game in terms of our Algiz-ecosystem-protection relationship. Indeed, our ecosystem provides Naturekin protection and is ever-present with us. This week we’re being asked to be ever-present with them, deeply, completely.

Half-month Rune Prompts

• What does it mean to you to show up to your ecosystem?

• To carry it actively with you wherever you go?

• How do you carry your ecosystem with you and still respect the new ecosystems you enter?

Galdr

The way that I use galdr is through chanting. I find repetition of the base phonetic helps me feel the rune. Remember that the Elder Futhark isn’t a language. It was originally an alphabet, incorporated into mythical origin. It functions phonetically, both in spelling and pronunciation. Given that, galdr isn’t terribly different from the overall pronunciation, and the emphasis is on the intention of the chant, not so much the pronunciation.

My personal emphasis in galdr is on the vowels initially and I incorporate the consonants later. For instance, with Ansuz, I focus on ‘ahw-oo,’ before incorporating the middle ‘n,’ such as ‘ahwnsoo.’ There is no right or wrong with galdr (although I guess there could be a flat-out wrong?), though often the final consonants aren’t pronounced, as in ‘ahwsoo.’ Practice galdring different ways, and go with the way that you feel in your body.

• Algiz – Elhaz or Eolh, Awl, Awlyee, Ail, Ailhaw, Ailha, Elha, Elhwa

• Othala – Oadth, Oadtha, Oadthal

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S. Kelley Harrell, M. Div.

Kelley Harrell is an animist, author, deathwalker, and death doula held by Tuscarora, Woccon, and Sissipihaw land. For the last 30 years, through Soul Intent Arts she’s helped others ethically build thriving spiritual paths. Her work is Nature-based, and centers soul tending through the Elder Futhark runes, animism, ancestral tending, and deathwork. She hosts the podcast, What in the Wyrd, and also writes The Weekly Rune as a celebration of the Elder Futhark in season. Work with her in the Runes for Change community or in her intensive soul tending training, The Spirited Path.  Full bio.

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@kelleysoularts

Ancestor Well

So that your descendants never elder alone.