Rune Post #19: Berkano

Happy Wednesday and Happy Midsummer! Today's focus will be on Berkano, the eighteenth rune of the Elder Futhark, and second rune in the third aett.

Berkano translates as "birch," or "birch goddess," and connects to themes of birth/rebirth, motherhood, nurturing, creation, sanctuary, fertility, and the emergence of new ideas/projects.

Power of the Runes deck - Voenix

An Old Icelandic rune poem reads:

Birch is a leafy twig

and little tree

and fresh young shrub.

Questions:

1) What other meanings do you attribute to Berkano?

2) How do you utilize this rune in your practice?

3) If Berkano has presented itself in your rune work or castings, how have you seen its energy manifested, or experienced its impact?

4) What deities do you connect to Berkano? Frigg? Freyja? Holda?

Rising, Ever Rising

For day 12 of the Shadow Work October challenge, the task was to pull a card (or two, or three) on the following question:

What can't I accept about myself (and why)?

As I was shuffling, Judgement flew out of the deck at me, and I knew that it was the one. This is a card I really love in any deck, so I was immediately curious about what it would have to tell me. Turns out that it had quite a lot to say.

Tarot of Vampyres

My initial rumination: 

That life is a cycle of growth meant for learning and evolving, and that I don't owe anyone anything, not a single shred of guilt or shame. I'm allowed to release the past, to forgive myself and others, and move forward. I'm allowed to grow into who I am, into my calling, into my purpose, into my skin, fully and without apology. I'm allowed to rise again, and again, and again, and again. 

This pulled something from deep within me, and as I read over my own thoughts for the first time, I started to cry. It's funny, in a way. I love this card because of everything it represents: rebirth, evolution, heeding the call to our path, embracing who we are, truly. In many ways I feel I embody this. And yet it appeared as the thing that I can't accept, or don't allow myself to accept, about myself. And as I pondered, I knew it was true. In this image I see the vampire and the panther as my guides and support system. The moon above - my fears, doubts, uncertainties, the small hauntings in my subconscious Self - dissipate, are burned away by the fire of transformation. In the book, Ian Daniels writes that the vampire himself has just emerged from his grave. But when I see this card I see molten earth glowing, warning of my own impending emergence. He is there encouraging me, and awaiting me, as is the panther. The blood on his sword represents my old shell that he has done away with in order to make space for the new. 

There is a lot here. In what ways do I not allow myself to be reborn? In what ways do I shut down aspects of my own identity and growth in order to never create waves, in any way, for any reason? In what ways do I tell myself that I'm not enough, at least not yet? 

Judgement is a Trump of pure fire. Fire has been the overwhelming theme of late - embracing my own fire, and my personal power. Interestingly, all of this has brought up a lot of sadness for me. Some of it makes sense as I think about ways in which I've been limiting myself. But I can't figure out all of it - not yet. I pulled a card asking for the best way to process this sadness and out came:

The Hermit

Ah yes, of course! My friend, the Hermit, tells me that I've only just begun. In order to understand and come to be able to express the source of the sadness that has surfaced, I must keep digging. With my firebrand before me I must stride purposefully into the dark wood of my being. I love that there is a wolf here. As I was preparing the photo of Judgement, I felt an urge to include the bronze Viking wolf ring that my husband brought back to me as a gift from his time in Sweden. Viking and Norse lore, mythology, and culture form, in addition to Lukumí/Santería, an important aspect of my personal history, spiritual practice, and ancestor work, as much of the family on my father's side comes from Denmark and the small islands of the North Sea. I find great strength in the wolf, and it was strength I was looking for when I was drawn to include my ring in the photo. The wolf seems to have come to my aid here with the Hermit, assuring me that I'm not alone in my exploration. And when I've come through on the other side, there the black panther will be waiting. 

I had a lovely afternoon today with my husband and son, while our girls were in school. I was fortunate to have the day off, so we drove downtown and spent some time walking around the large lake there, filled with swans, ducks, ibises, and geese. As I watched a swan glide elegantly over the water I felt a sudden thirst for its energy - a soft-yet-sure, healing essence unique to this bird. I sat by the shore as one of them swam over, quietly watching me, asking for nothing, yet staying near all the same. 

On our way back home, we stopped by a local shop so that I could pick up a couple of stones that I am feeling drawn to use at this time: Morganite and Ruby.

A large piece of morganite, and a small ruby

As I work through this month, and this challenge, I often think back to the card I'd originally picked as representative of this month: 10 of Swords. A new word has surfaced for me in light of it: purging. I am airing out my heart and soul, cleansing, purging, examining and releasing like I never would have imagined I could do, or would even need to do. I'm amazed with what I've uncovered so far, and grateful that the journey has really only just begun.

Crow's Easter Message

Today's Easter, an overcast, cool morning. The kids are slightly hung-over on a dawn feast of far too much candy, and I'm on my second cup of coffee. Later this afternoon we'll have an egg hunt, with the little ones wading through purple wildflowers in the back yard in search of one of their magical, painted masterpieces created the day before in anticipation of this annual event.

I participated in the Ostara blog hop several weeks ago which focused on rebirth as a theme. This year Ostara and Easter, due to the transient lunar calendar, fall at some distance from each other, so once again I find myself considering death, resurrection, and the ever-spiraling cycle of life. These are universal truths that accompany us always. We tend to think of them in terms of major life events - death, divorce, house moves, births of children, leaving an old job for a new career or educational path, major work transfers that include an overseas relocation, and on and on and on.

In truth, death and rebirth are constants, and on a minute scale we are always experiencing them….when you learn something new about an important person in your life, when you mull something over and make a decision, when your plans change and you adjust to your new course, when new information or a sudden whim cause you to change your mind about an idea, belief or behavior - shifts in perspective. In these smaller contexts death takes the form of transition, the change inherent in life, the momentum that keeps our universe in flux. Without movement things stagnate - we thrive on change, even if it's hard to embrace at times - this is requisite for growth.

Today, in honor of change, transition, death and rebirth, I pulled a card from my Medicine Cards, asking for insights into what new era is unfurling for me now. I know that change is happening in my life, in some ways both big and small. I feel it trembling around me, the earthly manifestation of the 2 of Disks. The card I pulled was Crow.

Medicine Cards - J. Sams, D. Carson

The first thought I had when I turned the card over was: change. Right on cue! On page 134 of the book, it says, "Crow is an omen of change. Crow lives in the void and has no sense of time. The Ancient Chiefs tell us that Crow sees simultaneously the three fates - past, present and future. Crow merges light and darkness, seeing both inner and outer reality."

It goes on to say, on page 135: "Be willing to walk your talk, speak your truth, know your life's mission, and balance past, present, and future in the now. Shape shift that old reality and become your future self. Allow the bending of physical laws to aid in creating the shape shifted world of peace."

Sigh. It's a profound energy, so vital and pertinent to this moment, and yet not without some degree of pain - like all change. The Crow on the card peers at its own reflection, looking deeply within, facing truth with honesty, embracing - and really embodying - sacred Death.

As I move through my Easter Sunday, I'll hold these thoughts within me, pondering, processing, and reflecting on how Death, transition and truth are impacting me at this moment - somehow a perfect match to the energies being cradled and nurtured and honored across the globe on this holy-day.

Ostara Blog Hop - Rebirth

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This Ostara we're celebrating the cycle of life, and in particular that part of the cycle that speaks of rebirth. Our wrangler this time around is the lovely Joanne Sprott from Cosmic Whispers Tarot. Please see the links at the top or bottom of this post to access the other posts in this circle!

This blog hop I want to share some aspects of rebirth that have been living most vibrantly in my mind recently. The first comes from my work, of late, with the New Orleans Voodoo Tarot (and if you want to see my review of the deck, click here) which has been a deeply rewarding and meaningful experience. "Rebirth" (also called Judgment) - both the card and the concept - is a beautiful and integral part of who we are as human beings, and as spiritual beings stumbling and dancing through life. It's often the first card I look at in a new deck. The New Orleans Voodoo Tarot is the first deck I've worked with where absorbing the eloquence of the accompanying book made me feel like I was receiving sacred knowledge and wisdom that nourished me and opened my eyes a little wider at the same time (not unlike the impact of reading an excellent poem, but hold that thought for just a moment!). I want to share the first paragraph in this book, in the entry regarding card XX - Ancestors:

"The voices of thousands of souls cry out within us. The hands of the ancestors weave our destiny with threads whose beginnings are dipped into the waters of creation. To hear the cry of these souls, to feel the twistings of this thread, is to know our Name in its most pregnant fullness. We are heir to a largeness that knows no end and is touched by no beginning (1992, Martinié; pg. 82)."

New Orleans Voodoo Tarot
Martinié/Glassman

The great circle constantly expands, folds back onto itself, and reaches out again into the universe. I love the essence of this particular version of XX - that we are fundamentally connected to those who came before us, (their realities and experiences as much as our own), that everything we do falls in the context of a great Cycle that our actions indeed impact. We move forward insofar as we recognize and respect where we've come from. There are many layers to that concept!

Rebirth, choices and actions. Sometimes transformation happens to us unbidden, and sometimes we invite it in. In both circumstances a decision is involved - we choose to put our full awareness to the newness coming into our lives…or not. We choose to back-pedal, or go with the flow. We choose how deeply we will accept the transformation into our lives, what we learn from it, how it changes us, and how we integrate that into our hearts, minds and spirits. In this light, as a second offering I want to share an excellent poem (a favorite of mine since I was a child, and perhaps a favorite of many people), The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost (1920), that also reads like sacred and wise text:

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;        5

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,        10

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.        15

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

To close, I'd like to offer a very simple exercise you can do with your cards (or runes, if you like).

Consider these questions: What are you being called to at this moment in your life? In what way are you experiencing rebirth at this time? 

Take your favorite deck, and with this thought in your mind, select a single card. What does it tell you? Do you recognize the message, or is it a surprise? How does it resonate with you? What does it underscore for you? How does it make you more aware of the transformation flowing through you?

I drew Congo 3 - Manman Brigitte. She is a loa (spirit) of feminine power, wisdom and death, married to Baron Samedi, her male counterpart. This card is about right judgement and balance. We can only be truly free to enjoy life's pleasures when we accept the inevitability of death, and the endless cycle of change that moves through the universe. This loa shares some similarities to Kali's intense power - she brings change - sweeping, deep change, so it's better to go with the flow rather than resist!

This card is inherently about change, so it fits very well with the topic of the question that I posed. I've been working through a period of significant change for the past year, or a little over a year - a slow and powerful unfolding of a new phase of being that has touched many aspects of my life in very positive ways. I often do feel like I'm in the process of being reborn, with all its discomfort, excitement and mix of shadow and light.  Manman Brigitte affirms for me this transition, and its inevitable and significant nature.

Even looking at this card as the 3 of Cups (its sort-of counterpart), there is meaning here for me. Recently I've been undergoing a process of growing new friendships and connections with people who share interests and understandings that are similar to my own. It feels like a bright and welcoming new phase, after having been quite secluded within family life for many years, so it does have a sense of metamorphosis. I like being private, but I've realized that some of my privacy has been due to not feeling able to speak openly about my experiences (especially in regards to spirituality and divination) with almost anyone except my close family members. Becoming aware of those invisible restraints was good for me, and I'm enjoying the feeling of being able to really share with and learn from others. There is something rich and sustaining in community, and it's not lost on me that this blogging community is just another meaningful and nourishing layer.

Happy Ostara, Happy Easter Season, and Happy Hopping!

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