This Rune casting is available early to all those in the Under The Willow tier and above. It will become public at Samhain.
The ancestors have been chatty. They are wanting me to take a class I really can’t afford, but I’ve got some time for creative problem solving before I have to register for said class. This train of thought lead me to honing in my question for this seasonal full moon Rune casting for y’all. In short, this is for the full moon; but also a special full reading for Samhain.
During this season, working with ancestors comes sharply into focus. This practice is a foundational facet of a Craft Practice that many Witches do. My ancestor practice has grown significantly in the last ten years. As you age and you wrestle more with your own mortality the realization that you one day will be an ancestor seems to begin to align your energy for ancestor work. Your mileage may vary, but I’ve found this to be true with many a Witch I know.
I’m also beginning to feel the weight of The Big Dark. Running away to the Mojave is on my mind as the sun sets earlier and earlier each day. We are barely at 10 hours of daylight per day and losing more quickly. As I write this I am under the glow of my happy light, aka full-spectrum light to curb the coming of the annual bout of Seasonal Affective Disorder, which feels ominously like victim blaming anyone who moves with the seasons against capitalism.
Regardless, each year I deal with this I get better and better at living in harmony with said condition. I’m still affected, and some days I lose the battle, other days I am the conqueror. And once again, this too shall pass. Where my attention goes, my energy flows. Part of my success of surviving this annual hit to my mood, energy, and well-being is the heavy leaning I do on my ancestors during the dark-half of the year.
So we enter this Rune casting with the query:
What wisdom are my ancestors inviting me to carry into this darker season (or carry for me, as the case may be)?
Before the casting, I connect with the Runes and we ‘chat’ about the query as I hold them in the casting horn.. Details found in Alt text.I approach doing readings with the knowledge that a Rune casting is not fate, but more like a weather report. The Runes like to show us the energy and likely direction to navigate our queries – in this case about the overwhelming newness of your life. This reading does not remove your agency or lock anything into place. If rain is predicted, you can bring an umbrella, change your plans, or dance in it. In short, a casting reflects probabilities, patterns, and influences, not certainties. You drive the outcome with choices, timing, and knowing what’s best for you.
After the Runes that fall ‘blank’ are removed, we were left with ten Runes for our message. Starting at the top center (notated by crystal) and moving clockwise from the outer to inner – the cast revealed: Thurisaz |ᚦ|, Algiz |ᛉ|, Kenaz |ᚲ|, Dagaz |ᛞ|, Gebo |ᚷ|, Laguz |ᛚ|, Raidho |ᚱ|, Naudhiz |ᚾ|, Berkano |ᛒ|, and Ingwaz |ᛜ|.
Thurisaz |ᚦ| is sitting on a Dagaz |ᛞ| on the casting cloth, which suggests to me that protection should be a focus in this darker half of the year. It’s a good time to re-up wards, review both spiritual and physical safety parameters in our lives. Got a black tourmaline you can stick in your pocket? The ancestors are clamoring for you to listen to your intuition, too. Like if you suddenly feel an inexplicable urge to check your front door, only to find it unlocked, and quietly securing it with a sense of gratitude for the warning from Those Who Have Come Before.
Algiz |ᛉ| is at the southern tip of the casting cloth and sitting on Eihwaz |ᛖ| – this is the dream Rune, both for what you want in your life regardless if it’s emotional, physical, or spiritual, as well as any dreamcraft you do. With the Elk Rune sitting on top of it, means that ancestors are happy to add their energies and guard us, but we need to use our energy wisely and not wast the inherent gifts we received from them. Your modern agency is a fulfillment of ancestral hope. Simple things like the ability to read and travel are things that many of our great-grandparents labored to make possible. Be mindful of the partnership between you, your ancestors, and those around you. Recognizing where you have agency and resources that were well beyond your ancestors is fuel for our motivation in life. Revel in it during this dark season.
A close up of where Kenaz, Thurisaz, Dagaz, and Naudhiz landed on the cloth after being cast from the casting horn. Kenaz |ᚲ| is a reminder from the ancestors that our creativity is power to harness. Transformation to our most authentic self and best life starts there. During the dark season, this Witch’s new year, if you will, prioritize the activities that fulfill your creative need. Be brave and share it. Each time we work with our creativity, we are simultaneously creating a more confident and honest versions of ourselves.
A close up of where Raidho, Naudhiz, Dagaz, Gebo, Berkano & Ingwaz lay on the casting clothDagaz |ᛞ| sits aloft the branches of Yggdrasil on the casting cloth as if it were the sun, or the new dawn that the Rune represents. Security is not an in-the-clouds or outer space thing. It happens each day, with awareness, clarity, and embarking on a plan. This is not the time to shoot from the hip and roll the dice on how you move forward in your life. The dark season is for planning. Need a crew to get you through? Remember your ancestors. And then look in the mirror. Our internal wholeness allows most relationships to become more fulfilling.
The position of Gebo |ᚷ| on the casting cloth makes me feel like the Gift Rune is going to land us on a bit of a side quest that may just being new interactions in our relationship. Looking for love? This dark season may surprise you on just how you can up your self-love game first. Partnerships are only as strong as the holders’ weaknesses. Work on self. Work on your interactions. Gift yourself new energy-multiplying relationships, and shed the ones that steal your joy and peace. Release them back to the Universe. It’s not yours to carry the crazy-makers.
Laguz |ᛚ| sits on the casting cloth as if a fruit hanging upside down on the left side of the tree as you look at it. I’m reading this one Merkstave*, as that’s the energy its giving me. Laguz is the fluidity of life and a reminder that not feeding your creativity creates feelings of despair. If it’s been a hot minute since you took a moon bath, perhaps this full moon/season is asking for you to do so.
Raidho |ᚱ| seems to be backing up Naudhiz |ᚾ| , and they remind me of a bird in the tree taking flight. Raidho is the Rune of travel and Naudhiz is the Rune of Need. Are you in need of an escape? Can you take even a small retreat this dark season? Something that gets you closer to seeing the establishing shot of your life, or even the things you love? What does even a few hours you steal away to find some calm, some inspiration look like? Your ancestors are cheering you on to progress on the things you’re passionate about, as they will birth freedoms you haven’t known before now. Say yes to the coffee date. Book the trip. Go to the conference. Hide out in the woods for a weekend, whatever flies your broom, Witches. There’s an entire cheering section in the spirit realm lining up to egg you on.
Finally at the base of Yggdrasil is Ingwaz |ᛜ| and Berkano |ᛒ|. Carrying yourself to safety of home, the people who make you feel at home, as well as the liberation we’ve achieved beyond what our ancestors could is the message here. Ingwaz is the Rune of relief. The dark season relieves of the extraness that is the light-half of the year. We can spend our time studying, planning, recuperating, and laying the ground work for even deeper protection in our lives. That safety can be as simple as doing an extra load of laundry today because you were gifted extra time because the harvest is done, no fields need tending, or your boss let you take off a bit early…and – what do you know, the washer is unavailable the next day. Preparing for our dream life – which is beyond the wildest dreams of our ancestors often – sometimes looks rather mundanely like taking the five minutes to do the dishes. Prosperity builds when we’ve taken care of the basics, say the ancestors.
This Samhain, this Full Moon in Taurus, gives us an opportunity to get grounded, to reset ourselves before Yule, and certainly before Imbolc. Tend to your body, your mind, and your spirit. Journey where you can. Feed your creativity. Re-up your wards, and take a moon bath. Want to get fancy? I encourage you to create a bindrune out of all the Runes in this reading and carry it with you until Yule. Then, watch that energy, prosperity, and freedom reign.
If you want to ask the Runes something more personal, remember as a member of Patreon, you receive a constant ten percent discount on anything in my Creative Crone shop. This is a great time of year to get a year-ahead or a quarterly reading.
Diviner’s Note: These materials are sustainably and ethically harvested. No animals were harmed in the gathering of these Runes.
*Merkstave: Reversed and/or In Opposition