Raidho and The Hanged Man – The journey within

My rune for today is Raidho (wheel), the rune of traveling and movement. The question I like to ask this rune is: "Where do I go from here?" and I pulled The Hanged Man. 

So physically I am going nowhere but that doesn’t mean I am not going on a journey. The Hanged Man tells us it is time to take a pause and reflect on what we need to hold on to and nurture and what we need to let go off. What is bringing deep fulfillment and is contributing to our purpose in life? What is helping us to step into our authentic power?  How can we respond to life with Love instead of reacting in fear? So many questions, so many things to ponder about. To find the answer to all of this we only need to quiet down and listen. This can be done during meditation, or while taking a walk or just sitting in our garden and let the beauty of nature sink in.

The Hanged Man of the Rider Waite Tarot shows us the effect of this inner journey. Just look at the halo around the man’s head. In the Wild Unknown Tarot we see how  by hanging upside down the bat keeps his head in the light too and in the Vision Quest Tarot the Hanged man is replaced by a Native American who is indeed going on a Vision Quest, an inner journey of self-discovery and spiritual growth

All the cards, however, show in their own special way that what is unconscious and hidden deep within needs to be brought into the light. Not to get rid of it but to truly own it and transform it from something we fear into something we are able to love. 

Raidho and Six of Wands - Rise up!

When I pulled my rune for today, my first thoughts where: “Not Raidho again!" But then I pulled the Six of Wands from The Wild Unknown Tarot to go with it and I realized how a single rune contains such a wide variety of meanings.

Raidho is the rune of movement, journey and travel and since I am on a sort of spiritual quest as of late, it is a very fitting rune for me these days.

The Six of wands is all about success and victory. Now you might ask if this means I have completed my quest? No, not at all but I can say I have escaped the tangled branches and the lost feeling this dark place entails.  Now the butterfly is flying upwards into the light. Although it is a beautiful place to be and it is tempting to find a spot to stay there forever, the butterfly will have to keep moving on to become the best butterfly he can be.

How often do we resist to leave that safe place of victory? It can be so scary to continue our journey with the possibility of failing or getting lost again? I am positive that if we keep this moment of success in our thoughts, it will build up out inner strength and trust, and then moving on will become a bit less frightening

Of course this card also reminds me of the devastating storm our dear friend Bev of By theSycamore Tree and her family and community had to endure yesterday.  I hope and pray together they will be able to rise up (again) from this terrible experience.

Raidho and the Queen of Cups - Trusting you inner Compass

Last weekend I have immersed myself in Norse myths, the Edda, and my rune studies. It seems that a light snowfall is all it needs to awaken my love for that part of my ancestral heritage. So with that in mind I wanted to pull a rune for today’s post and I got Raidho (wheel, travel). This rune is not only about physical travel and all the preparations this involves but maybe even more so about spiritual travel; about finding our path in life and following it. Both kinds of travels require some similar attributes which are a.o. resourcefulness, determination and flexibility.

So which aspect of ourselves can help us to keep moving forward in the right direction?
And I got the Queen of Cups form the Shadowscapes Tarot. I love that in this depiction she has risen from her throne and is walking the path with one carefully placed step at the time. She has no need to watch where she puts her feet. She is following her inner compass, which tells her exactly where her companions will emerge. It looks so easy, almost effortlessly. She is dancing on the waves for as long as she keeps moving forward because in movement we can find our balance.

I think our intuition is our most important guide on our journeys. It allows us to travel with ease. If we can muster the courage to trust this sometimes elusive part of our soul, we will able to  dance through life and over whatever waves we will meet. I also believe we can trust that we are carried when needed.