The Runemaster Himself?
Aug. 30th, 2007 05:56 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
qosI started reading Taking Up the Runes at lunch yesterday.
Paxson starts out with a conceptual overview of the runes, including what is known or believed about the religious and mundane roots. (I love Pagan authors who make a distinction between what is known and what is speculation!) She then goes on to describe how one makes and/or consecrates a set of runes, and includes a ritual to do to connect with the spiritual roots of the runes before working with them.
You can't talk about runes for very long without talking about Odin, who hung upside down on the World Tree for nine days to win them. As I've mentioned before, the Scandanavian gods have not attracted me until recently, and I've never thought much about Odin. He seemed far more perilous than most, a trickster. . . Not someone I felt drawn to.*
But Paxson made it very clear that if you're going to take runelore seriously, you need to get to know Odin and ask his blessing on your work. So I bent my head, closed my eyes -- yes, in the middle of the kitchen lounge at work, in the midst of people walking by and microwaving their lunches, and talking -- and began to offer a prayer of respectful greeting.
I'd barely begun when I had the sense of Him filling my mind. And he wasn't particularly interested in my words once I'd shaped and started to make good on the intention of addressing him. He was stern, and my primary perception was a sense of So, you're back. There were no actual words from him, no blessing, just a sense that he knew exactly who I was, and what I wanted and we had a history that I can't remember, and he can't exactly blame me for that at this point in time, but I'd better be clear that he has a claim on me that goes way back. And no, he wasn't interested in offering any explanations at the moment.
He wasn't interested in chatting. It was more of an official appearance, like a sovereign on a balcony. He was letting me know that damn straight he's here, and he's paying attention, which means that *I* had better be paying attention too.
I'm still feeling a bit of WTF?
I've never had a divinity come to me with this kind of "your ass is mine" attitude.
I've had divinities be friendly, tender, helpful, mysterious, indifferent.
I've been welcomed after seeking someone out. Isis has been gently pleased by my attention, and there are hints that I was a priestess of Inanna long ago. But neither of them have acted at all possessive. Tiwaz seems to have extended his goodwill to me as a courtesy, given my status with LM. Freyja accepts our offerings and seems to enjoy the worship, but hasn't made any indication that she's interested in a more personal relationship. Arianrhod is still a mystery, even though it's clear that she is a patron of my training.
Do I really have a past with Odin?
Or is he just being a stereotypical if-you're-in-my-territory-you're-mine patriarch?
Was it even really him?
I've had allies pretend to be deities at least twice in the past, teaching me that I can't trust everything I think I perceive on the inner. This could be another case of that situation. In fact, on reflection, the other two times I've been deceived it was with images of deities who were indeed being very possessive and demanding. Except that this wasn't the overwhelming, in-my-face tone of those situations. This being was not interested in getting right up in my face and saying BOO. He was vivid, but reserved. The point wasn't to intimidate me, just make an impression.
I'm feeling a bit nervous about sharing this, lest it sound like I'm merrily out collecting deities for my shelf. It's really not what I'm doing. I certainly wasn't looking for or expecting such a vivid encounter, nor do I feel any interest in 'expanding the roster' of the deities I'm working with. My plate is full enough already. My prayer was intended as a courtesy call, not a desire for a personal relationship.
Oh yes: yesterday was Wednesday. Wotan's day.
*LM shared a few memories of Valhalla with me (more on that when I continue his story). He didn't have many direct dealings with Odin, but described him as "both the wise and loving father you've always wanted and a dirty old man."
Paxson starts out with a conceptual overview of the runes, including what is known or believed about the religious and mundane roots. (I love Pagan authors who make a distinction between what is known and what is speculation!) She then goes on to describe how one makes and/or consecrates a set of runes, and includes a ritual to do to connect with the spiritual roots of the runes before working with them.
You can't talk about runes for very long without talking about Odin, who hung upside down on the World Tree for nine days to win them. As I've mentioned before, the Scandanavian gods have not attracted me until recently, and I've never thought much about Odin. He seemed far more perilous than most, a trickster. . . Not someone I felt drawn to.*
But Paxson made it very clear that if you're going to take runelore seriously, you need to get to know Odin and ask his blessing on your work. So I bent my head, closed my eyes -- yes, in the middle of the kitchen lounge at work, in the midst of people walking by and microwaving their lunches, and talking -- and began to offer a prayer of respectful greeting.
I'd barely begun when I had the sense of Him filling my mind. And he wasn't particularly interested in my words once I'd shaped and started to make good on the intention of addressing him. He was stern, and my primary perception was a sense of So, you're back. There were no actual words from him, no blessing, just a sense that he knew exactly who I was, and what I wanted and we had a history that I can't remember, and he can't exactly blame me for that at this point in time, but I'd better be clear that he has a claim on me that goes way back. And no, he wasn't interested in offering any explanations at the moment.
He wasn't interested in chatting. It was more of an official appearance, like a sovereign on a balcony. He was letting me know that damn straight he's here, and he's paying attention, which means that *I* had better be paying attention too.
I'm still feeling a bit of WTF?
I've never had a divinity come to me with this kind of "your ass is mine" attitude.
I've had divinities be friendly, tender, helpful, mysterious, indifferent.
I've been welcomed after seeking someone out. Isis has been gently pleased by my attention, and there are hints that I was a priestess of Inanna long ago. But neither of them have acted at all possessive. Tiwaz seems to have extended his goodwill to me as a courtesy, given my status with LM. Freyja accepts our offerings and seems to enjoy the worship, but hasn't made any indication that she's interested in a more personal relationship. Arianrhod is still a mystery, even though it's clear that she is a patron of my training.
Do I really have a past with Odin?
Or is he just being a stereotypical if-you're-in-my-territory-you're-mine patriarch?
Was it even really him?
I've had allies pretend to be deities at least twice in the past, teaching me that I can't trust everything I think I perceive on the inner. This could be another case of that situation. In fact, on reflection, the other two times I've been deceived it was with images of deities who were indeed being very possessive and demanding. Except that this wasn't the overwhelming, in-my-face tone of those situations. This being was not interested in getting right up in my face and saying BOO. He was vivid, but reserved. The point wasn't to intimidate me, just make an impression.
I'm feeling a bit nervous about sharing this, lest it sound like I'm merrily out collecting deities for my shelf. It's really not what I'm doing. I certainly wasn't looking for or expecting such a vivid encounter, nor do I feel any interest in 'expanding the roster' of the deities I'm working with. My plate is full enough already. My prayer was intended as a courtesy call, not a desire for a personal relationship.
Oh yes: yesterday was Wednesday. Wotan's day.
*LM shared a few memories of Valhalla with me (more on that when I continue his story). He didn't have many direct dealings with Odin, but described him as "both the wise and loving father you've always wanted and a dirty old man."
