This year for the Summer Solstice, I tried something new: Runic Yoga.The runes seemed so...archaic, and outdated...and how could the possibly be useful? Cattle, wheels, agriculture...I live in a world far from that, I had no idea how they could apply to me.
But from my love of Freya and the myths, I figured I'd give it a shot. And I already do yoga, so...what the heck. If all else failed, I'd at least be more bendy.
I started with Fehu. In the dim light and calmness of night, I prepared for some meditation. I twisted up my arm and leg into the shape of Freya's rune. The small bit of pain, from the stretching, I gave up to her...a little sacrifice for my Craft.
This rune I have read to represent Freya, and cattle. It’s a strong indicator to me that Freya and Fehu both begin with Fs. The cattle element reminds me of Hathor, the Egyptian goddess of love and fertility, who was a cow Goddess. It also reminds me of the primordial cow who gave birth to the Norse people, in their mythology. Cattle are not the mindless, fat/ugly beasts we’ve come to see them as. They are symbols of fertility and feeding the world, with their meat and milk we still consume. The mother cow, with bloated udders and milk for her calf and even more for the people who care for her, is above and beyond just a simple mother figure. They changed hands as dowry, ultimate boons for brides. The cow - Fehu - Freya, are all intertwined.
That's when the electricity in my house started to flicker from the electricity I felt in the air and in my body. My icemaker started popping out ice cubes. I knew it was turned off, and I got up to check it. Twice. But it kept going. It was such a thrill, and a peaceful and calming joy, to be joined.
Night two was a meditation on Isa. This rune I’ve known to represent ice. I’ve read that it
represents the frost giantesses (which, I don’t remember) and freezing in position. A sort of peaceful, don’t move before you think mentality. Ice, however, is a creating force, carving the landscape into lakes, like the lakes of my hometown, and fjords. It is always moving, always alive. In having this meditation, a vision came to me, one I'd never seen. It was in perfect color, moving and alive - of a Norwegian waterfall of such height and beauty that I'd never seen it before. I never knew Norway had waterfalls like oasises. The next day I looked it up, sure enough, the land is full of them. One of these I'd been to, I knew it! (There would come a time, I hope, that I will go back.)
And so I've been having awesome experiences with the runes. Sometimes nothing comes. (Mostly when I fall asleep.) Sometimes everything does. One, the divine twins, Contrasting the horse and rider ehwaz, even came into perfect clarity during a sexual experience! I know this is a practice I will keep with me.
