Windy
Newbie
Posts: 31
Pronouns: She/Her
Religion: irish polytheism
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Post by Windy on Feb 17, 2015 21:03:29 GMT -6
Hi,um, I am in a bit of a quandary. You see, I have always been drawn to Ireland. As a child, I listened to a cassette tape of the Clancy brothers till it broke. I have always felt a special connection to Brigid, and it just seems to be calling out to me; however, I am also equally fascinated with the Norse Runes. When I started (and take note, I started my initiation) my journey, I went with the Norse Pantheon, simply because my pull for the runes was so strong, and I only decided that in January. But since I made that decision, it feels like celtic and Irish references have been popping up everywhere. I was looking for some magical crystals/stones that I had collected, but all I've found was my chunk of conemarra marble. I went grocery shopping with my mom, and on a whim she stopped and looked through every single recipe of a traditional Irish cook book. Looking for embroidery inspirations, I found a book of Celtic knotwork My question, I guess, is this. Can I still use runes but worship the celtic gods? I don't want to insult anyone, and I'm honestly so confused right now....
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Post by brimstonne on Feb 18, 2015 13:13:40 GMT -6
Personally, I feel that while using runes to communicate with the Gods might not be traditional, it can be done. However have you looked at Ogham sticks? Theyre kind of like Irish runes, and a lot of people use them for divination. The thing about the Tuatha De Danann (The Irish Gods) is that what you do can differ from deity to deity. For example, in my practice my main deity is the Morrigan, 99% of my prayers to Her are very formalized and ritualistic (the 1% is basically when Im super super low on spoons and praying for help) But in my prayers to Lugh they are very laid back and almost conversational. Since you said you are interested in Brighid, from my understanding of her, she is very easy on people new to the religion, as she is patient. Personally, my advice would be to light a candle to her and offer up some prayers or poetry, and then use flame divination to see what her response is. (In case you dont know what flame divination is Ill explain it ) So youll have to make sure that you are in a room with no drought, and have a lit candle. You then stare at the flame and go into a meditative state. Once you are you can ask questions. My methods for divining the answers are Flame shoots up: Yes Flame dies down: No Left: Maybe Right: Unsure Leans back: Definitely no Leans forward: 'Im listening' (Others may have their own ways of flame divination and meanings, and its always a good idea to get meanings from multiple sources to increase accuracy, and do what ever feels right to you. These are just ones that Ive learned in my practice through trial and error.)
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Post by Allec on Feb 18, 2015 15:24:15 GMT -6
(Thanks for explaining flame divination Brim! That's super interesting and I might try that...)
My personal concern with using Norse Runes is that Odin went through hardship to get the wisdom for the runes, so to use the runes without paying any mind to Odin feels...really wrong. That's why I don't use runes, anyway.
I think my advice would be to just keep investigating runes alongside studying Gaelic (or specifically Irish) Polytheism. And perhaps don't use the runes to commune with the Irish gods because it just might not work. I have tried to use Tarot in the past to communicate with Lugh and things just got confusing--because the Tarot isn't from the Gaelic framework! Though since Norse is closer to Gaelic point of view, I don't know if you'd have the same problems? Interesting point to consider. But I'd definitely investigate and understand how Runes came to be and the myth involving Odin, since I think that's important for anyone who uses Runes.
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seamu5
Junior Member
Posts: 55
Pronouns: Barbarian
Religion: Gaelic Polytheism
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Post by seamu5 on Feb 18, 2015 17:44:30 GMT -6
You don't need runes to talk to the gods, they already are talking to you. Watch the world around you. It sounds like you're more worried about mixing cultures. Don't be, look up the Hiberno-Norse.
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wickedlittlecritta
Full Member
A tempest in a teacup
Posts: 169
Pronouns: she/her
Religion: Gaelic polytheist
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Post by wickedlittlecritta on Feb 18, 2015 18:19:39 GMT -6
I use runes as my primary form of divination, since that's what I have. I was gifted a set, and I haven't made or purchased an ogham set yet.
I don't feel terribly awkward about using them even though I don't work with Odin. I do my best to acknowledge the cultural context of the runes and Odin's sacrifice, and so far they've worked fine for me. I haven't used them very much for communicating with any gods (I tried, the whole thing felt awkward to me, more than the tools, and I've decided that if they need to get in touch with me, they will), but for other stuff they work just fine.
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Ciar Lionheart
Junior Member
And I love you like a mountain.
Posts: 89
Pronouns: Ey/Em or He/Him
Religion: Irish Polytheist
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Post by Ciar Lionheart on Feb 18, 2015 22:52:46 GMT -6
I have basically no input on this question because I am 100% always Irish no mixing cultures except for mixing my own modern culture with historical Irish polytheism, but if you want to learn about ogham, which is kind of the "Irish runes," feel free to ping me, I'm super involved with Ogma and ogham both.
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Post by Allec on Feb 19, 2015 0:08:54 GMT -6
I use runes as my primary form of divination, since that's what I have. I was gifted a set, and I haven't made or purchased an ogham set yet. I don't feel terribly awkward about using them even though I don't work with Odin. I do my best to acknowledge the cultural context of the runes and Odin's sacrifice, and so far they've worked fine for me. I haven't used them very much for communicating with any gods (I tried, the whole thing felt awkward to me, more than the tools, and I've decided that if they need to get in touch with me, they will), but for other stuff they work just fine. Yeah, the discomfort is mainly from me and I realize that a lot of people use Runes just fine without honoring Odin or anything like that. But I'm glad they work for you!
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Windy
Newbie
Posts: 31
Pronouns: She/Her
Religion: irish polytheism
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Post by Windy on Feb 19, 2015 9:32:12 GMT -6
Oh wow! Thanks for all the input! I was primarily going to use them in a divination sense, but I will definitely try flame divination. And I will check out the ogham sticks. Thank you for all the responses! It is absolutely incredible. I have never been apart of a real community before, but this is amazing!
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Post by brimstonne on Feb 20, 2015 2:24:03 GMT -6
Were hereto help and Im so glad that weve got such an amazing community to give input to questions like this
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wickedlittlecritta
Full Member
A tempest in a teacup
Posts: 169
Pronouns: she/her
Religion: Gaelic polytheist
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Post by wickedlittlecritta on Feb 21, 2015 9:19:49 GMT -6
Yeah, the discomfort is mainly from me and I realize that a lot of people use Runes just fine without honoring Odin or anything like that. But I'm glad they work for you! It's totally understandable. I've honestly been a little more wary of using them since I found out from a couple Norse polytheists/heathens that Odin has a tendency to come poking around when the runes get used. Hopefully I can find enough decent sticks this spring to make an ogham set and get more comfortable using those. They look super easy to make and I'm thinking I'll probably end up taking pictures and making a process post. I miss woodworking, so fun small project.
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