Here’s your weekly update on what planetary movements are coming up. As always, Middle Earth Readings for the week is published at the bottom of the page after the live event.
Sunna’s Chariot (the Sun) in Isa calls forth the beauty and fortitude of the rune of ice. It calls us into mindfulness, stillness and presence to our current situation. This state offers both gifts and perils as we see ourselves clearly. Do not gaze too long or you will lose perspective and believe that this present moment is all that defines you. Meditation will be powerful at this time but it is imperative that it is followed by movement and warmth to revitalise the spirit.
Odin’s Chariot (Roman equivalent Mercury) in Isa brings introspection. Isa is the rune of ice, beauty and stability; it is also the rune of the ego and you can see it in the modern English word ‘I’. The desire for motion found within Odin coupled with the desire for control found in Isa may cause us to focus unhelpfully long on the things that are uncertain in our lives, or to quail at the scale of the tasks we see ahead of us. Sometimes waiting is the hardest lesson but this time is also part of a process. Resolve and fortitude are the seeds hidden within the kernel of the ice. We cannot defy the winter – only accept the purpose of its passing. What gifts could a period of stillness, rest, replenishment and review offer you?
The most famous story about the God Tyr is the sacrifice he makes of his sword arm to ensure the dangerous and ravenous Fenris wolf is bound. Tyr’s Chariot (Roman equivalent Mars) is now entering Nauthiz, the rune of necessity and desire. What you may not know is that Tyr and Fenris were friends, inseparable and bonded. Tyr’s sacrifice was not just his body, nor his status as a warrior but the implicit and sacred vow of friendship. Close as they were, Tyr recognised that the greater good required that the wolf be bound; he could have persuaded someone else do the job but chose to take responsibility for the truth he knew. Sometimes we are called to sacrifice our desires for the greater good. That sacrifice is hard. Tyr whispers to us that an even harder sacrifice, however, is to sacrifice the desire to please at the altar of our own truth. Our self-worth, our health, our sanity – how many times have you risked them for something, or someone, else? Society smiles on us when we give up our wants for others; the wound is soothed by external praise and admiration. Taking a stand alone, doing the ‘selfish’ thing without that sense that we will be approved of is much harder. Yet, when we recognise ourselves not as separate, finite individuals but rather as a connected and infinite collective then selfishness becomes irrelevant. Your need to express your truth is no less worthy than anyone else’s.
Manni’s Chariot (the Moon) moves through one rune approximately every 24 hours. The edge of the new Moon is as a scythe cutting through what has come before and reaching towards desire, hope and purpose. It forms a moment for release, clarity and intention setting. Manni’s Chariot in Isa draws us into stillness, mindfulness and a deep appreciation of the beauty all round us. Manni asks us to bring real presence and thoughtfulness to where beauty, love and the treasures of winter can truly be found. It is so easy to look for them in glitzy wrapping paper, opulent decorations and yet more food for our straining tables. Yet when we are quiet and peaceful our hearts open to see the birds feasting in our gardens, the patina of frost on the leaves and words spoken by the light of flickering candles. This new Moon says: connect to your true joy.
Frigg’s Chariot (Roman equivalent Venus) in Perthro reminds us that the most powerful voice connecting us to wisdom is always our own. Frigg is known both for the power of her seership and the completeness of her silence. Perhaps she knows that when we share our dreams too early, we risk them being swept away in the flood of the voices around us. Perthro, the rune of wyrd, mystery, laughter and play offers gifts from our dreams and treasures from the depths of collective consciousness. Now is the time to light a candle and simply honour the voice calling you deep inside yourself. Trust that there will be a time for you to give voice and a time for you to build; but for now let silence be your sanctuary.
We are currently in the half month of Isa, a rune that gifts us knowledge both of our strength and our fragility. The ice lures us with its beauty but, stay too long, and it lures us into fatal sleep. The ancient rune poems speak of the danger of the ice, especially to the blind. In the last century Isa came to be identified with the psychological construct of the ego; the place where we locate our sense of self. In the ego we can follow the path of self awareness or the path of self delusion.
Find out more on Isa here.
Middle Earth Readings
Join Maggie on Monday 29th November at 11:00 AM UTC for our regular Facebook Live sharing inspiration and insight for the week ahead. Don’t worry if you miss it, the video will be published at the bottom of this page once it’s finished. View the event in Facebook here.
