Found Runes
Blustery in season and mind of late. The world is in turmoil, as are many of us. While walking recently, I looked down to see this Othala. Usually I pick up and keep found runes, adding them to my altar. This one I left there, taking only a photo.
Othala. Heritage, home. This one seemed to be in flux; the peak at the top written as a leaf tip, and the legs of the "yard" not quite even. Unsettled home - coming or going? What makes a home, anyway? What do we bring to the future heritage?
I know we like to view Runes as something providing answers, and often this can be the case. A sign at the right time can settle the mind or ease the heart. But what if we need to be asking more questions and providing our own answers? Then, I think, Runes can provide guidance as to where we can better direct our inquiries.
So this Othala, catching my eye with its basic form, then stopping me when I absorbed the components has a lot of questions. Why the leaves? Indications of the need for growth? New and old- the red, for Fall, sitting alongside the green, associated with Spring, needing to be united to make a whole? The shortness of one yard leg turns what is usually a Gebo into a Naudhiz. Oh, I don't like that! But there we go. That's a thing about the Runes - they tell it like it is. Pick up your hammer, Foxnose, there's work to be done!
And, indeed, there is Home Work to be done. Beyond clearing out the end of the year stuff, there's rearranging of duties, people, and so much! So much I've been avoiding. In my avoidance pattern I had also been avoiding esoteric work and study. And then I found this Othala.
And now I get back to work.
How we set our literal houses in order today does have bearing on the inheritance we leave for the future, be it our children, or our community (or both). When my mother died unexpectedly some years ago, she left a lot of unfinished business. It took weeks to clear her apartment, and much longer to untangle the bureaucracy involved in certificates and such. The emotional toll was, of course, higher and is still being combed out. It is good, everyone will tell you, and everyone will be right, to get things In Order before you die.
Maybe more important, though, is getting things in order so you can live. Live your own life, and also live in a way that you would hope those who come after will see as a positive example of how to Be. What lessons are we teaching in how we go through our days? In avoiding the necessary work and living with the consequences thereof, what are we showing our children and those around us? In clearing up the difficult messes, both figurative and literal, what are we teaching? I would argue that we are teaching others valuable lessons about how to move forward well.
What are we teaching ourselves? This is something I think we don't ask enough. When I just come home and take off the day's clothes and add them to a pile, then just leave it all, until that pile of clothes gets so high it takes over the chair or sofa, what am I teaching myself? That my environment is okay to let slip into chaos? Maybe. That it's okay to sometimes just not do chores? Maybe. Maybe it starts as okay and ends up in chaos.
By folding all that laundry, what am I teaching myself? That I deserve a modicum of non-chaos. That the clothes I worked hard for should be treated well, as they represent my time and labor, plus, that dress is really comfy and cute and has pockets and I enjoy wearing it.
So, by taking care of the house, in the little and bigger ways, what am I teaching me? That I deserve a good place to be, and that I am capable of providing that space. And my son maybe learns that our space is calm and that calm is a normal and healthy thing. And the people we meet after having spent time in a calm space meet our better selves and see that people care. And they care for the people they then meet.
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