The Runemaster Himself?

I 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.

( Be careful what you ask for )

Blessing the Moose: A Chaplain's Unexpected Path

I loved this article and thought many here would enjoy it, especially (but not limited to) havah_prewett and lovetakesyouin

( Personal tragedy set Kate Braestrup on her path to ministry. Kate Braestrup calls what she does a ministry of presence. )

Worked Late

I didn't leave the office until after 7pm this evening.

But I didn't get as much official overtime in as I might have because I took two hours off in the early afternoon to drive back to my neighborhood and meet my daughter's new teacher, then drove all the way back. Two hours off work for a 5 minute meeting.

Oh well, it's all part of the Being A Mother gig, and I won't be able to spend much time participating in her school life, so events like these are even more important.

It was actually kind of nice at the office once most of the other folks had gone home. I like the quiet.

But I am very tired now, and could use a hot shower.