As a student of A Course in Miracles, I relate my work with runes to the basic premise of the Course.. “Nothing real can be threatened. Nothing unreal exists. Herein lies the peace of God”. A three rune spread works well for this purpose.
I felt moved to use an amethyst set of runes today instead of my usual apple wood set. Amethyst is a stone of protection and spirituality, fostering spiritual growth and a connection to the divine. Today, I pulled Fehu, Jera, and Dagaz. Typically, a three rune spread will involve Issue, Action and Outcome.
Fehu is represented by cattle, or the herd. It’s the first rune of the first Aett. It’s where we begin in life. We begin our corporeal existence as one of the herd. Fehu suggests that we become more independent with time. Time is the key word here which will have more meaning when I discuss the significance of Jera. Fehu also represents wealth, earned income, position, status. But as we know from the Course, these things are illusions created by the ego, using the past to judge, furthering the separation from each other and the Creator. In my view then, Fehu suggests that true wealth is spiritual in nature and cannot be threatened by the illusory nature of this world.
Jera is represented by time..in this case the Year. It suggests the universe is indifferent to what goes on here. Another way of saying this, is that the Creator makes no judgement. The Course teaches that judgement belongs to the Creator and not to us. That does not mean that the Creator sits around judging any of us..because She does not. Time is attached to the past and, therefore, judgement. Time is a linear construct, relevant only to this world. It doesn’t exist in spirit. It is of the ego; therefore, it is not real. Because as we know, “nothing unreal exists”. Fehu represents not only growth and development, but also erosion and decay...the essential impermanence of this corporeal existence.
Dagaz is represented by the light of Day. Transcending time, it suggests realization or enlightenment. One would think this is the result of a journey, and I suppose in one sense it is, except it’s a journey to what already is. It’s a shift in perspective, or perhaps a realization that perspective is judgement and not relevant at all. We live along the horizontal plane in this life, but as we realize what we actually are, miracles collapse time, and eventually all that’s left is the vertical plane where we truly reside. That’s what’s meant by As Above, So Below..the oneness of the vertical plane where All are One. Where “herein lies the peace of God”.
To sum up, we are one. We can delude ourselves into thinking this isn’t true, or that it takes time to work out all of our problems so that we can then become one. Actually, the problems we believe we have are actually illusion. The Creator doesn’t even see them. Our wealth, our Fehu is spiritual in nature. It’s our reality that never ceases, no matter how hard we try to forget it. The action in this case, Jera, shows us that time is an illusion and we have only to remember who we are. Time collapses and we move closer to truth. Which brings us to the outcome, Dagaz. It is who we are. We live in the peace of God because we are the peace of God.
This was a wonderful runecasting today.
Quotation from A Course In Miracles..
To recap a bit, I began this blog last December. Over the past year or so I've experienced so much drama..and not of my own making. Well, I'm sure I participated, I just didn't cause any of it. So there's that. My landlord evicted us from our commercial space, which also ended our business. We couldn't find a place that was within our budget and given the seasonal nature of our business, we simply didn't feel that we could sign a lease with someone else without knowing how we would pay for it. Neither of us is irresponsible like that, so we took the burden that we're still coping with, both financially and emotionally.
In
July, my father died who was also my abuser. Six weeks later, my next door neighbor
apparently thought it was just fine and dandy to send his friend over
wearing a pistol in plain sight to talk about getting irrigation water
on his "crop". I had no idea who that guy was and now we don't speak to
the neighbors anymore. If my neighbor had actually done his irrigation
over the years, he would know that the properties are sloped in such a
way that run off will get on his property. It was why he agreed that we
could put a culvert in our driveway so that the run off could irrigate
the lower part of his field where water didn't reach. Well, water could
get there if they ever re-dug the ditches and actually irrigated that
section, but that's another story. So, now I'm the bad guy who
apparently needs to be confronted with weapons. Needless to say, now
they're allowed only five feet from either side of my ditch and that's
it. They're not allowed to be anywhere else on my property, especially
at my front door...with a gun.
After my abuser died, his wife began sending me the bills associated with his death. I cut off contact with him over twenty years ago because I had to. The pressure became too great and I wasn't functioning at all. So back to the bills. I've never met this woman. At first, she used her own name in the return address section of the envelope she used. Then, she used his. Time out for a panic attack.. okay..breathing better now. It's as if my abuser is reaching out from the grave to abuse me some more using his wife as proxy. I haven't responded to her. They keep coming.
And then I received a bill from a hospital with my abuser's name on it and my address. She has evidently contacted these places and told them to send the bills to me. I called the hospital while in a panic attack - my heart raced so much I could barely breathe. They were really nice to me and they took care of changing the address back. They won't be bothering me again. Then the helicopter service sent me a bill as well. Another call, another panic attack. They understood as well. I told them everything. I don't go to the mailbox anymore.
I've worked with runes for over thirty years, but not consistently. The same is true for A Course in Miracles. Since losing our business, I've felt compelled to return to the study of both to find my center again. I had no idea all these other things would happen as well.
Today, I pulled Nauthiz, Fehu, and Ehwaz in a three rune spread. A three rune spread is useful when needing insight on Issue, Action and Outcome. Anymore, that's a daily event for me...
Nauthiz refers to need or necessity. It's the struggle to discern need from desire and the conflict that results when we choose wrongly. The Course would suggest that it's the difference between the ego and our focus on God or source energy. It's living along the horizontal plane instead of the vertical. The Course says that if something isn't of God, it's not real. So in light of the Course, Nauthiz refers to where my focus should now be..away from events caused by man and on the understand that:
Nothing real can be threatened.
Nothing unreal exists.
Herein lies the peace of God.
Fehu, as the action, represents the collective, or in the case of the Course, the sonship. The sonship refers to mankind. Fehu's energy moves us from the pressure to remain with the expectations of the whole to individuality. Fehu also refers to wealth. But wealth doesn't always mean money. Sometimes, as in my case, it refers to something more metaphorical. Abundance can also mean what we give to others. The Course continually brings us back to extension of love and unity as a means of atonement..of bringing the sonship to wholeness, again, living along the vertical rather than the horizontal plane. Fehu also talks about debt or baggage. What do we owe each other as we remember each of us is holy, and an essential part of the sonship? Removing the veil of perception is required so that the individuality Fehu speaks of doesn't make us forget our responsibility to the sonship. If anything, it reinforces that responsibility by illustrating that true freedom and wealth is found in unity with others.
Ehwaz, the outcome, refers to trust and partnership. It's the ultimate outcome of the struggle represented by Fehu. Mastering our reactionary emotions and behavior, and uniting with others is key to a positive outcome. It's also key to our survival, according to the Course. It's understanding that if it's not of God, it's not real, and we can all move past the hurt and the pain and bring about the atonement. We do this by seeing everyone as holy and without error. It involves not judging others, for to do that is to judge ourselves.
This runecasting is significant particularly when considering what's happening throughout the world today. It essentially follows the three lines above. Nauthiz becomes..nothing real can be threatened..Fehu becomes..nothing unreal exists..and Ehwaz becomes..herein lies the peace of God. We must understand that the reality is we're all one family. As such, we need each other. As we begin to see this truth as fundamental, the need for separation will will end and compassion will be a given.
And as for me.. my struggle is to see that the past doesn't need to control my present. And that the only person who defines me is me. I'm stronger than I ever believed I could be, because I'm still here. I choose how I define myself. No one else. I survived. And that's everything.
Excerpts from A Course In Miracles, Combined Volume. Foundation For Inner Peace. 2007
