For the week of 1 May 2022
We Rise and Flow
Laguz is the half-month rune through 14 May. Uruz is the intuitive rune, Isa indicates Cosmology’s message to us, the seashell occupies spring, all on the active elements of wood. Read right to left is Laguz, Uruz, then Isa.
What's a Runic Calendar?
The Elder Futhark runic calendar I work with is based on the work of Nigel Pennick. It has the potential to provide humanity keys for how we live in season with All Things. Through #theweeklyrune I share the Futhark’s insight on how to live better as animists, to make better choices based on keen insight into the present, and to help each of us be more active in creating a better life for us all. That realization includes living with All Things as family, learning to tend what can’t just be fixed, and using every tool at our disposal to do so. The runes are such a tool, and in the Old Norse tradition, this process is wyrdweaving at it deepest potential. The runes provide one way that we can create ourselves as fit elders, so that upon our good death, we can be well Ancestors.
What’s a half-month rune?
“Half-month” is an astronomical concept in which each month is divided into two parts: days 1-15, then 16-month’s end. In terms of the runic calendar, each half-month rune is one of the 24 runes of the Elder Futhark, and governs for a tad over two weeks (14 and 1/4 days, or a fortnight).
How is the Runecast Done?
The Weekly Rune is a (mostly) three-rune cast. Those runes are the half-month, the intuitive rune, and the sacred overview. The half-month is a set rune, which for the most part follows the traditional ordering of the Elder Futhark. However, in the calendric ordering observed by Pennick, the order is slightly different. The intuitive stave (meaning, I draw it blind) indicates the life force most available to us, and suggests how we can best handle the half-month energies. The final rune (also drawn blind) provides a high overview of the current time, and speaks from different sacred voices. These voices have been Nature, Earth, Creation, though are sometimes others. I note who’s speaking each week, as it is revealed.
As the runecast has evolved its voice, other components have been added. Osteomancy, the elements, and directions were gradually added in to more deeply root the spirits of place into the cast, each bringing a nuance of how to work with the half-month rune, or how to engage forces of the season on a more personal level for the reader.
New to Runecasting?
- Catch a couple of my IGTV videos, which explain the intention and process behind the runecast, and what makes it different from other ways of casting.
- Listen to my What in the Wyrd podcast, which is available across all popular podcast platforms, including Google Play and iTunes.
- A few people have asked the reason that I switch between different rune sets for TWR. The short answer is: because. The more nuanced answer is, I ask which sets wants to speak each week. I don’t assume the same elements are in play according to the timing of the runes; I also don’t assume the same elements of my runes are appropriate to speak each week. I did a podcast on this subject, so there’s more info there. (See above)
- Also, for deep work on coming into relationship with the runes in season, check out my book, Runic Book of Days.
Why Join Patreon?
This is the free version of The Weekly Rune. Get the full benefit of the ad-free, detailed version every Sunday, by joining my private runes community at Patreon. The paid runecast includes:
- more detail
- ad-free
- audio blog, with galdr of the runecast and instruction on how to use each sound for felt sense resonance
- the current runes’ impact on human life force
- insights on how to best manage the curves and twists therein
- introspective prompts to nuance and tend self-work
Other Patreon offerings:
- Community connection via Discord
- live video classes
- runic insights, book excerpts, release news, free classes
- optional services with me
- discounts on soul tending services
The Runecast
By the time we reach Laguz, we’ve internalized the bumps and twists of the second aett, greeted the turbulent start of the third, and had time to form relationship to grief on all fronts. Part of what we learn in the third aett is that regardless of what happens in life, we’re still that stellar little spark that dropped into the first aett, but we need reminders to help us stay aware of that fact. Enter Laguz.
Learn more about this seasonal progression, and how to draw its insights into the personal spiritual path in Runic Book of Days.
What Does It Mean?
We reference Laguz as the water rune, though many of the mystical associations we make with water now have no precedence in ON culture. That doesn’t mean we can’t draw on both the emotional feminine qualities that we think of with water, and also acknowledge it as one of the two elemental sources of All Things (the other being fire, and a close third with poison) (and different forms of water were gendered differently in ON). In antiquity it would have encompassed more the ocean’s ability to feed and offer mystery and possibility with travel, but also its potential to unexpectedly change, kill, and destroy livelihoods. Water made humans feel small in the grander scheme of things, so when we arrive at Laguz we can take that complexity different ways: that we are small and need to move among with respect; that we are small and have some huge allies. This week’s runecast touches on both.
To continue reading:
- If you’re on a desktop, log into Patreon or become a community member with the buttons at the right sidebar.
- If you’re on a device, scroll all the way to the bottom of the page to find the buttons to log into Patreon or become a community member.
For more insight into the runes, tending your unquiet dead and Ancestors, and cultivating a strong spiritual path
join my community Runes for Change.
For suggestions on how to weather the season gracefully, subscribe to my private runes community on Patreon.
#beyourcommunity
S. Kelley Harrell, M. Div.
I’m an animist, author, deathwalker and death doula. For the last 25+ years, through Soul Intent Arts I’ve helped others to ethically build thriving spiritual paths as fit, embodied elders, who upon death become wise, capable Ancestors. My work is Nature-based, and focuses soul tending through the Elder Futhark runes, animism, ancestral healing, and deathwork. I’m author of Runic Book of Days, and I host the podcast, What in the Wyrd. I also write The Weekly Rune as a celebration of the Elder Futhark in season. Full bio.
#beyourcommunity ~ #youareecosystem
elder well, die well, ancestor well
Elder Well
To bear your unique gift to the world.
Die Well
To leave the planet better than you found it.
Ancestor Well
So that your descendants never elder alone.
