A Few Perks

From the Victorian Fairy Tarot, the Three of Autumn (Pentacles); from the Handl Rune Cards, Nauthiz:

Not even Ares battles against necessity.

— Sophocles

The apple harvest has come in, and the fairies quickly get to work so that little is wasted. The elders could probably do these tasks blindfolded - having done them so often - but they teach the younger ones the steps of the process. It's hard labor, but when the snow falls, a cup of hot apple cider will be appreciated by all. Nauthiz is associated with need, hardship, and constraint that can encourage growth and transformation. Like Aesop's lesson of the ants and the grasshopper, adulting is not always fun, but it does have its perks.

The Resource of Friendship

From the Animal Totem Tarot, the Puffin/Three of Cups; from the Blum/Gern Rune Cards, Nauthiz:

The puffin spends a solitary life on the ocean until it is breeding season. On island colonies they become social birds, often placing their nesting burrows within a couple of body lengths of each other. This fits with the rune Nauthiz, literally 'needs-fire,' a lesson in constraints and hardships. The sociability of these birds come at a vulnerable time; they need each other for support. As Rick Hanson wrote:

 There's a fundamental model in the health sciences that how you feel and function is based on just three factors: your load [current challenges], the personal vulnerabilities it wears upon – such as health problems, a sensitive temperament, or a history of trauma – and the resources you have. As a law of nature, if your load or vulnerabilities increase – over a day, a year, or a lifetime – so must your resources. Otherwise, inevitably, you will get strained, depleted, and ground down. 

Ears Up

From the Victorian Fairy Tarot, the Knight of Spring (Wands); from the Haindl Rune Oracle, Not/Nauthiz:

The Knight of Wands is much like his mount, given to zig-zagging all over the place rather than going anywhere in a straight line. Anything new is a distraction, and any adventure must not be postponed. This is the son the Empress never sent to the store for any need. He doesn't do this on purpose; he's just too full of energy and excitement to be tethered in any way. Not/Nauthiz is often translated as 'need;' the Old English Rune Poem implies that it is not necessarily destitution:

Need is constricting on the chest

although for the children of men it often becomes

a help and salvation nevertheless

if they heed it in time.

In this case, the rune cautions us to slow down and pay attention to what our body, mind and heart is trying to tell us. There is something important that needs our attention so that it doesn't become a bigger, more problematic issue.

An Honest and Gentle Look

From the Animal Totem Tarot, the Hermit; from the Blum/Gern Rune Cards, Nauthiz:

          The mantis has developed the art of camouflage and stillness; its lesson is to withdraw from the chaos and constant distractions of our lives in order to perceive life with more clarity. Do we have a purpose in life beyond simply surviving at one extreme or accumulating the most toys at the other? If we have ethical guideposts, such an assessment of our lives so far and the direction we're headed is likely not to be pleasant. Which is why Nauthiz - 'constraint' - shows up to put a leash on us before we dive back into our daily distractions. It represents those times we get sidelined, perhaps due to an injury or illness, and don't have a choice other than to slow down. Yet in the long run, we will reap the benefits from our self-inventory. As Pema Chodron explained, "The most fundamental aggression to ourselves, the most fundamental harm we can do to ourselves, is to remain ignorant by not having the courage and the respect to look at ourselves honestly and gently."

Hellish Inner Landscape

From the Shadowscapes Tarot, the Four of Cups; from the Cedar Runes, Nauthiz:

 Hell is real, but it's not the biblical hell. It's the hell of those who get lost inside themselves.

― Marty Rubin

Everyone occasionally gets in a blue funk, though for different reasons. Some compare their lives to another's and feel they've been given a raw deal; either they don't have things as good as they think they should, or they feel like life has been unfairly hard on them. Other folks may have worked hard but were left with expectations unmet. A dark dissatisfaction with life can be created when we feed the funk, regurgitating and re-swallowing the past over and over. Nauthiz means 'need' or 'necessity' - in this case, the need to stop thinking so much about ourselves and think of someone else for a change. This kind of self-care seems paradoxical, but even some small act of kindness will remind us that we are not alone.

Verification

From the Animal Totem Tarot, the Ace of Swords; from the Blum/Gern Rune Cards, 'Nauthiz/Constraint:'

The Panda spends up to fourteen hours a day eating to stay healthy. Likewise, sometimes we have to consume a lot of knowledge to find the information we need. The Nauthiz Rune of Constraint suggests this is not going to be as simple as a Google search. We must make sure of two things in our quest for information. The first is that we validate the source and the information we are drawing from; just because it is in print or on the internet does not make it true. The second is that we need to look at our object of study from all sides, without letting our preferences and prejudices determine the type of information we study. There's a big difference between wanting to find the truth and wanting to verify our opinions.

Aristotle maintained that women have fewer teeth than men; although he was twice married, it never occurred to him to verify this statement by examining his wives' mouths. ~Bertrand Russell

Not a Waste of Time

This week I'll be using the Shadowscapes book and deck set published by Llewellyn. The artwork is done by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law and the book is written by Barbara Moore. I'll also be drawing from a set of Cedar Runes made by AlaskaLaserMaid; The Serpent and the Eagle by Chris Travers will serve as an accompanying text. Today's draws are the Page of Pentacles and "Nauthiz:"

          My first glance at this Page landed on the owl and missed the dragon that winds around the rock on which she rests. Moore suggests the sleeping dragon represents an opportunity for growth. But before she takes flight, studies and skills are required. Knowledge should be distilled and techniques honed to successfully care for the huge beast. This meaning connected nicely with the rune Nauthiz, which is often translated as necessity or restriction. Travers' translation of the Old English Rune Poem reads:

Need is constricting on the chest

although for the children of men it often becomes

a help and salvation nevertheless

if they heed it in time.

I've yet to do my sketch prompt (Interior) for tomorrow, and I need to read and make notes for my portion of the discussion at book club on Wednesday. Part of me feels the constriction that comes when I make time for these things. Yet as soon as I sit down to study or draw, it is as though I'm sitting in meditation - a salvation indeed!