The tears of Rangi fall
Unbidden to the ground
Such an awful severing
All colour gone
Ra hides thier face
From the monochromatic reminder
Of all Rangi and Pāpa did for their children
As the clouds whisper of Pāpa’s love
This is why sadness comes with the rain
So I know this w/press seems a bit, higgildy-piggildy, and I was thinking perhaps I should clarify some stuff for anyone interested.
Personally, I follow the Norse Pantheon. But my introductions to Deity were Bast, and the Morrighan (She will come up later). But I am part Polynesian (Not Maori, but the Mythology is very closely tied), so am exploring that Pantheon at the moment, to see if They want anything to do with me. So I will share some of that stuff, if I feel it has some inspiration in it, or is meaningful to me.
I’m going to try and be better with posting here, and maybe getting some cohesiveness to this blog, hopefully. At this point, I think this is just a bit of an inspo-board. We’ll see what it becomes.
As you can probably see Bast has come back into my life again. To be fair, the whole ‘She was there the whole time’ schtick is probably correct this time. I don’t think She ever went away. But She’s been the background so long, I’m feeling a little unfaithful to the Gods I’ve built, or been trying to build relationships with, for the past almost decade.
Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE that She’s back, and I’m determined to build a strong relationship with Her again.
I guess maybe the Virgo side of me has always told me “You need to stick with x pantheon”, which is why I jumped into the Norse pantheon (Though I have been getting to know what I call my Polynesian pantheon in the past few years too).
I began in the Kemetic/Egyptian pantheon, which is where Bast came in (one of my earliest memories was feeling sad for Her in a Museum because She had no one to worship Her anymore), but part of me has always felt that I needed to follow my ancestry to find my Gods, plus I was feeling a need for more of a connection with nature and the land which I wasn’t feeling from the Kemetic Gods – then Odin turned up, and did a bait and switch with Loki, and the rest is Polytheist history.
Truth be told I’m struggling with what I feel is a higgidy-piggidy mish-mash of Deities that I have in my life, when I feel like the bread and butter of Polytheist life is; you find a Pantheon and that’s yours, with a little bit of ‘I’m not African, how can I work with Their Gods’ (Though there is a story in Fiji that they had ancient Egyptians come and live there, but apparently they brought the Ark of the Covenant with them, so who knows).
I know there’s no right-way, or wrong-way to do Polytheism, I am the biggest advocate for that there is; if someone said to me ‘This is how you do x’, I would totally take it with a grain of salt knowing it won’t work for everyone. But I guess, for myself, I had an idea in my head of my personal practice, and it was quite different from where I am now. I thought I’d have my little Pantheon of expertise that I would have studied that butt out of, and I could share that with anyone interested in that Pantheon. Instead I feel like I have all these bits and pieces from here and there that I don’t know what to do with, and I don’t feel gives me enough to speak to anyone with any type of knowledge on any Pantheon.
I know this is coming off as ‘poor me’, but I’m interested to see where this ends up and venting into the void helps a little. I think this is why I’m currently in talks with Bast, She’s good at helping me with direction.
You who brings the Light and dispels the Dark
I call out to you
Lost in this void, as I am
Shine on me
Light my way
Clarity us what I crave for my feast Lioness Mother
Lead me along the moonlit sand path that is my life
Your eyes see so much more than mine
I am a cub who barely has her claws
Teach me how to use them
How to use my teeth
How to walk strong
Teach me Life
Guide me
I am yours
Your cub is waiting
Her ears open
Travel to meet the Sea
There
Meet the Snake
It is still, it waits
Waits in Silence
Slit aqualine eyes watching
Waiting between the rolling waves
Amongst the billowing foam
Twisting slowly, tongue tasting the air
Watching the waves kiss the shore
Waiting to show you the way
Asking you to face each breaking wave head on
Float in the lulls, but don’t be complacent
As another wave forms for you to battle
Laguz is water, the ocean. It’s the well of Mimir, where wisdom is gained; the well of Wyrd where your future lies. It’s the vast oceanic nothingness that was, before Ymir died to create the worlds.
Potential is it’s watch word. That which will become, which is becoming. All the strands that the Norns are weaving, and all the strands They will weave. It’s the Ocean that connects us all and shapes us, even as it divides us.
So, decided to give it another go; plus for extra credit take a pic. The same general question to the one I asked the Norns.
We have Ansuz, Othala and Gebo
Ansuz – (A God) Odin’s rune
My first thoughts were Wot??? Am I supposed to ask Odin then? Which is a fair call, but I feel more that it came up to show its connection to the last reading. This rune is a rune of the ancestors; your personal ancestors. Still I will chat with Odin about it too.
Othala – property, land
Everything that has been earnt by previous generations, and by this one; spiritually and physically. Past and present. The overcoming of many obstacles, so that now you can enjoy your life. Recognizing the importance of home and family. There is greatness in small things.
Aside from it’s obvious callback to the past gens, I wonder whether They are asking me to connect more with the Land, or ancestral Lands? Will get more clarification on that.
Gebo – gift
Every gift demands a gift, don’t ask if you are not will to give in exchange. This rune is about reciprocation and hospitality. This way is balance, this way is honor.
This is pretty clear cut, I can’t expect an answer for nothing. I need to start getting off my butt and start honoring my ancestors. Then they might help out and communicate more clearly. A gift, for a gift.
This mostly revolved around me asking Them, as the weavers of out Wyrd, what path I should be following – via the Runes. The reply was an inverted Tiwaz (I don’t usually invert, but it seemed right in the case) which basically interprets as; don’t force it, it will come. Typical Norns; I could hear the laughing.
Don’t try and make it happen, don’t push it. It will happen how it’s supposed to happen. Ok, Ladies but just a little guidance??? Even the tinsiest bit???
The next rune was Perthro, the literal rune of the Norns. I like Runesecrets little quote
The beginning and end are set. What’s in between is yours. Nothing is in vain, all is remembered
That pretty much says it all, huh? Don’t ask, do what you want, we’ll remember it. Comforting but then the Norns are definitely not the coddling grandmother type.
There was a little pointer in the final rune though, at least in how I interpreted it.
I got Ansuz, Odin’s rune. Which, a part from being about communication and breath, is about the ancestors. In my interpretation, communicating with my ancestors. Could be as simple as the Norns saying “Go ask your ancestors dammit, stop annoying us”, but it seems to me it’s more about reaching out to my ancestors more. So I am going to take that advice, cause I should. They know where’s it at, thank you Ladies.
Several versions of the parting words of the ex Dawn Maid to Tane are recorded, as, “Farewell, O Tane! Remain here to bring forth progeny to the world of life, while I will ever draw them down to the Po.”
So we see that Tane (the sun) pursued his daughter the Dawn Maid far away to the westward, where, at the edge of the world, she turns and commands him to retire. This he does, for his task is an endless one; he has to beget other Dawn Maids, who, one after another, retire westward and pass into Night; they descend to the Po, the shadowy unknown underworld.
she who bounds night and day, and of whom it is said “Titama te Po, titama te Ao”—Hine the Dawn Maid.
Which translates as
“Tītama the dark/night, tītama the light/day”
In another part of the book we have
Hine the Dawn Maid. In an old song we note the following lines:—
Koia i noho ai Tane i a Hine-titama i konei
Ka titamatia te po, ka titamatia te ao.
Which Google translate, translates as
That is why Tane lived in Hine-titama here
When the night is over, the whole world is shaken.
I’m working on translating this myself, because we know the Google translate is not always the best. I will add my translation here once it’s done.
http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Bes01Reli-t1-body-d3-d15.html
Conversations with the Gods 