Runes to my memory

I was wondering the other day how best it is to learn the your Runes.

Now I began learning my runes many years ago now, and it's process that is still ongoing ( and hopefully always will be ). When I started in my teens there was no web (no, I'm not THAT old but just old enough to remember a world pre-web and pre-mobile) and finding a reliable source of information was difficult to say the least (although I'm not sure that it's any easier in these wired days - beware what your search results give you).
The limited number of books that were found in my local library offered a small amount of books that both supported and contradicted each other.
This turned out to be quite beneficial as it meant that I learned early on that the feeling you get from the runes as more important than what is necessarily written down by others.

So how best to learn?
On one hand the best method for learning the runes would depend on your own predisposition to learning so I would encourage you to embrace that aspect however it presents itself to you.
On the other hand you'll know early on if the Runes are for you from how they feel to you.
For me it's always been the Elder Futhark runes that I have worked with (in many ways they chose me but that's another story) but I encourage you to not shy away from trying a number of different runes to find the ones you work best with.

As well as hitting the reading material you should spend as much time as possible with your rune, handle them often and generally have them around you. This will help you build a strong connection with them.

The thing that I think rings truest though is not to rush it. If you give it time and keep practicing then if it's meant to happen it will.

And if it doesn't then don't be hard on yourself, not everyone can read the runes. Your destiny may be something completely different but just as important. :)

Blessed be and Rock on!
\m/

A return ( of sorts) to Pagan ways.

It's been a while since my last Pagan themed post and there's a good reason for that...... kind of.

Life has been pretty hectic ( mostly in the right ways ) and blogging about most things hasn't really been possible. During this time my faith doesn't take a backseat but it becomes quite introspective, focussed on myself and those close to me. In the last few weeks I have taken the time to make more room in my new, slightly more mental rhythm of life, for my spirituality and my practices.

This has led to a number of significant discoveries:
I'm a lot more at peace with myself and the events around me.
I sleep better on a night.
And finally the biggie.....

And this is something I have always known but had kind of forgotten......

When you listen the universe speaks.

It's true, as daft it may sound to some of you reading this, if you learn to listen and observe whilst going about your day to day lives the universe, the fates and the Gods and Goddess's of this place will communicate with you.

Try it :)

May blessed you be.

R.T.F.O.
\m/

Depression: the lurker in the shadows.

I write this whilst off sick from work (thanks to a respritory infection exploiting the damage done years ago by pluerisy) and emerging from a very dark place.

I find that, at times like this, this is when depression steps forward from the shadows where it lurks and gets you at your weakest.
And boy has it had me.
By the start of this weekend my self esteem had evaporated, my outlook on the world was beyond grim, positivity could not be found and I felt a total failure.
That's right, a failure. How ridiculous, in hindsight, is it to feel a failure for something you have absolutely no control over!
But that is how I felt.
I'm lucky though.
I have a wonderful wife, great sons, a supportive family, fab friends, a supportive employer and the tools that the NHS have given me to help get through it.
Make no mistake, without my wife I'd still be in a very, very dark place.
I'm eternally thankful for her love and support and it makes me feel for those without their own pillar of support and love.
So how about now?
Well I'm still unwell, but on the mend, and I'm still in a grim place, but I'm heading out towards the light once more.

There is always hope, the dawn always follows even the darkest of nights and things do get better. :)

The time is now!

The tragic death of Gary Speed, like Terry Newton and thousands of other people, has once again brought mental health to the fore.

Now I have long been quite a low key advocate for talking about Mental Health and fighting the stigma that exists around it. Those that know me, know that I am happy to talk about my own mental health conditions and how we can change the way that mental health is dealt within society.
I believe that via education we can make a massive positive difference to the world.

Today's news has made my mind up to try and make more of a difference.

At this point I'd like to say that I live with OCD and Anxiety and fight an on/off battle with depression. I am by no means perfect and I have my bad days as well as my good.
I have no qualifications other than having lived with this for most of my life.

I am willing to stand in front of any size group of people and talk about my experiences and share what I have learned in therapy, in the form of tools, that may help them.

If I can help with something you are planning then drop me a line.

I'm going to try and blog some more about mental health related stuff and will end this with one thing.......

There is ALWAYS hope, talk to someone (anyone) and please don't give up.

Lost Generation? Hell no!

Why oh why have the media started labelling the young unemployed as the lost generation?
Talk about kicking them when they are down.

But more to the point it's not true.

We should be telling and showing them that a tough start does not mean the end of everything. If anything it will make you stronger and prove to future employers that you never gave up.
Yes it's crap, and I am not trying to say that there is any spiritual wealth in hardship and poverty, but the sooner that you realise the life is often going to be crap the happier you will be in the long run ( sounds crackers but it's true believe me).

So if you are young (or not) and struggling to find work then don't give up, never give up because it will come good in the end no matter how unlikely it may seem right now.

R.T.F.O

\m/

A quick post to freshen up the page

Hello dear reader,

I just wanted to quash rumours of my demise with a quick post.

The world at the moment fills me with both joy and despair in equal measure and I can feel my writing mojo returning so expect more updates soon.

Rock on and take care out there :)

\m/

My thoughts on the French ruling on veils

What I feel is wrong with France's decision to ban on Muslim women wearing viels is that it is a blow against individual and religious freedom.

As a person who relys on lip reading in noisey enviroment and as someone who is not Islamic, I may find the wearing of the veil inconvenient and the motives behind it hard to reconcile but I can respect the right of someone to wear one, especially if it is not preventing them for carrying out a particular function (for example, not obstructing the field of vision when driving).

Now I'm not French either, and therefore the arguement could be raised that it's none of my business. Fair point, but it does raise important questions for people outside of France.
The law further adds fuel to the fire of extremeists across the world.
Islmaic extremeists will quote France's law as an example of the "West's" intollerance of the Islamic faith.
Far Right Extremeists will quote France's law as an example of how their country should be run.
It further polarises the extremes of this argument and makes the middle ground harder to find.

The last government to actively, negatively, target a particular religious group in it's law making was the German government of the 1930's.

Make no mistake this is a step on a very dangerous road.

As someone who likes to have the freedom to decide what to believe and what I wear that denotes my beliefs without the fear of official pressure to dress in way that is deemed correct.

If you think that what the French Government has done is a good thing then consider this:

I wear a pentagram, a charm of a dragon and several beaded wristbands. These are often combined with T-shirts that are of a nature that the more conservative members of society may deem unsuitable.
These things display both my beliefs and my freedom to express myself.
All these things could be deemed as preventing me from integrating into society if the people making that decision wanted to a society of button down, suit wearing conformists who attend a christian church on a weekly basis.

And if you're secular rather than spiritaul think of it like this:
How would you feel if you were told that wearing replica football shirts was to be banned because it emphasises the divisions in society?
or
How would you feel if you were told that wearing your hair down in public was no longer appropriate because it contravened a state ruling on decency?

You might think that my examples are far fetched. I disagree.

Rather than alienating Islamic women that choose to wear the viel can the state not alternatively raise it's concerns and maybe pass a law saying that, where there is good cause, a Muslim woman wearing a viel must reveal her face to a government official to confirm her identity?

If there is really an issue with the viel causing rifts in society then surely it is better to broker a compromise and educate both sides of the argument to help them understand the issues that each have.

I can't help but think that no good will come of this.

And if you don't think it's your problem then read this and think it over.