Month: May 2004

Thurisaz (reversed)

(Also called Thorn; Letter: TH; Old Norse name: Thurs)

Thurisaz is a very ancient name for Thor, so it’s not surprising that it is a most powerful rune. Thurisaz can be used and interpreted as a protection rune. Plants grow thorns to protect themselves, so the logic is clear. Drawing a ring of Thurisaz runes around something is an excellent protection spell. However, Thurisaz has a dark side. After all, thorns protect by pricking and drawing blood. One should step carefully with this rune and treat it respectfully. It can backfire just as easily as it can work for you. In a reading, Thurisaz upright stands as a warning to the querent, especially if the querent is acting as though his run of good luck is neverending. Thurisaz often suggests that the querent is being wrongheaded about the issue at hand, and advises the querent to maintain status quo until the period indicated by the runecast is over. Thurisaz reversed means much the same thing as it does upright, except that the querent may be much more difficult to counsel, much more stubborn and unwilling to heed Thurisaz’s warning.

(Nauthiz)

(Also called Nied; Letter: N; Old Norse name: Naudr)

Another somewhat negative rune, the meaning of Nauthiz is apparent in its other spelling, Nied-pronounced “need.” When Nauthiz appears in a reading, it almost always indicates something that the querent needs. What that something is will often be spelled out in the surrounding runes. Most important, though, is that until the querent does something about this need, she will be restricted or constrained from moving forward. Sometimes Nauthiz will appear as a warning of upcoming trouble, delay, ill health, or shortage of some kind, and because of this, Nauthiz can be interpreted to mean “maintain the status quo.” As a result rune, Nauthiz indicates that the querent will get what she wanted, but what she wanted may not have been what she needed, and the situation may continue. Nauthiz is associated with Skuld, the Norn of the future.

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A flash animation based site devoted to world Creation Myths.

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Just stumbled across a website for The Alphabet vs The Goddess, which is a book that I read recently on the topic of Matriarchy vs. Patriarchy, and whether the shift from Goddess centered fertility cults to male Warrior God based religions had to do with the shift from pictorial and iconic forms of “writing” and expression to the use of a phonetic alphabet. Which is kind of an odd possibility, considering women tend to be more verbal and are generally found to be more capable of mastering the subtleites of literacy, whereas men respond more easily to visual stimuli and videographic type images. But what do I know, I’m no brain surgeon. And the author of this book is. Literally. A brain surgeon. Dr. Leonard Shlain. He in fact developed his theory partly based on his knowledge of the differences in function between the two hemispheres of the brain.

In any case, this is a very interesting book, rife with interesting minutiae in the realms of cultural history and sociology, et al. One learns such things as that while our nearest primate cousins are still somewhat polygamous, human societies became prone to pair off as a sort of “sex for meat” exchange. The point is made that the current trend toward greater status and independence for women has coincided with the refinement of the photographic image. This is a varied and interesting little tour through several centuries of progress in the arts and humanities. But ultimately I feel he fails to adequately prove his point. I failed to encounter any evidence that was non anecdotal in format. I realize this was hardly an academic treatise or anything, but still, aren’t doctors supposed to be scientists? I expect scientists to support their proposals with factual evidence and not interesting coincidences. But it was an entertaining read nonetheless.

For something in a similar vein, but better researched, I’d suggest Mother Nature : A History of Mothers, Infants, and Natural Selection, by anthropologist Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, which explores the biological motivations of human parenting and sexual behaviors in the contexts of both history and evolution. Hrdy being one of those rare individuals who has mastered their field of expertise (in this case anthropology) and is able to write about it as if she were a writer first and foremost. Much in the tradition of Carl Sagan.

Another little gem, not so meticulously researched, and with a a bit of an unapologetic femisit bias, but well argued and most enlightening is The Myths Of Motherhood by Shari L. Thurer. It examines attitudes throughout the centuries in regards to what makes “a good mother.” I read it while pregnant, as a counterpoint to the guilt inducing condescension of many of my pregnancy manuals, many of which instantly doomed your offspring if you failed do such things as eat only whole wheat baked goods and read to your unborn fetus.

So, what we’ve established here so far is that:

a) I’m a bit of a feminist (shocking!)
and
b) I like books that use the excuse of a “serious premise” to explore interesting historical trivia.

Still, I’m sort of proud of myself just for publishing an actual critique on my opinion site, which is supposedly what it’s here for.
This was beginning to turn into the “what I had for breakfast blog,” which is just sort of a sad commentary on the state of my life as a whole.

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Had one of those dreams where I’m in school again, but a couple of weeks into the semester and there are classes I’ve forgotten to take,etc.

Only add to this a temporary amnesia factor, as if someone else has taken over my life and when I get back to it, I don’t the way it’s been handled, but am forced to deal with cleaning up the mess they’ve left for me.

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Depressed people tend to gravitate to other depressed people, and somehow they expect the other depressed people to make them feel better. The sick thing is that about half the time it actually seems to work. Which makes it all the more depressing the fifty percent of the time that it doesn’t work.

Why does it work at all? My theory is twofold: a) for some reason depressives are more responsive to and aware of humour, particularly the sarcastic kind, and b) intelligent people are more likely to be depressed and being intelligent, they are also easily distracted by intellectual matters.

Or whatever. Antidepressants work better, but they never introduce you to new bands or authors or anything…

Made grilled cheese sandwiches for breakfast. Semolina sourdough bread with cheddar cheese and real butter. Then grated a baked potato into the still-hot frying pan and made hash browns, salted and heavily peppered. Sprinkled the potatos with a bit of hot sauce and ate it with a coke and a dill pickle.

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