Good Monday Morning! I hope you all had a good weekend listening to your inner voice and building Self-Esteem. Because today’s weekly message will take a bit of courage. I took to the Runes, as they called me this morning, gathering the stones in my warm hands, I tossed them…and the Rune that presented itself is (from “The Book of Runes” by Ralph Blum):
Othila: Separation, Old Skins
Message (paraphrased): “This is a time of separating paths. Old skins must be shed, outmoded relationships discarded. When this Rune appears, a peeling away is called for. The proper action here is surrender, and quite possibly retreat – for there is wisdom in knowing when and how to retreat and possessing the firmness of will to carry it out.
The separating and retreat is associated with old beliefs, old ways, which we may be called upon to give up, in order to move forward. You must look closely now at what you may have proudly called a part of your background. Whether it is your attachment to your position in society, the work you do, or even your beliefs about your own nature…the separation called for now will free you to become more truly who you are.”
from The Desk of MarDrag:
As we move along our life path, we gather information, wisdom, and form a belief system that we use as the foundation for building our life, and our path. As we grow, change, and gather more information and wisdom…those beliefs often change, or need to change. It is sometimes difficult to see this, or acknowledge that a certain belief or way of life needs to change or grow with us. We become attached to these beliefs because at some point, they served us.
We wear the skin of all our past accomplishments and failures, and carry them with us as evidence of how we have formed our path. Othila tells us today that…some of those old skins, old beliefs, and old ways of walking our path have become outdated, and it is time to shed those that no longer work for us. It is often difficult to see this…and even more difficult to let them go, because they have been a part of us for so long…and we think if we let them go, they will change the foundation of who we are.
But the truth is…we change. We live, learn, grow, and change…and sometimes we need to allow all of that to catch up to us, and make room for the new energy that growth brings. It does not mean we lose anything of ourselves…it simply means we recognize that the peeling back of layers of old skin, old beliefs, uncovers the new, fresh, growth beneath that wants to emerge and blossom…like the new shoots of Spring. So…this Rune is timely, as we move into the season of Spring when we pull the old, dead weeds of winter from the ground, plant new seeds, and tend to them as they shed their seedy shell and shoot up from the soil, blossoming into the beautiful foliage they always have been, tucked inside that seed.
Othila calls for us to have the courage to shed old skins, so that new cells and new life may grow. And this will, indeed, free us to be truly who we are. As the seed is truly a blossom.
Blessings!