The Spark in the Wind
As I shuffled the deck of The Mystical Shaman Oracle cards I felt the cool breeze of the cardstock against my hands. Light gusts as each card layered itself quickly upon one another, and then bending into a new form as they arched into bridge being brought together. Even in a different form, the trees still flex and arch in the movement of air. I cut the deck and pulled a card. Wind.
How fun! I have been working with the spirits of wind recently and have taken to them well. Over the past few months I’ve been working with a unique wind spirit and learning from it over that month. The lessons have been soft and cooling, aggressive and cold, fast and furious. Each one leaving me disoriented or in a place of peace.
Wind. I expected to pull Ansuz as this is the rune of messages, the breath, and spirit. Ansuz is said to be connected to Odin as it was he who gave the first two humans Ask and Embla the breath of life and their spirit. I was shocked when I looked down to see Fehu smiling at me. What I thought would be an easy blog entry has turned out to be one of complexity and making me use more of my senses.
There are several runes that are said to be claimed by gods of the Norse Cosmology. Ansuz and Othila are said to belong to Odin, Tiwaz to Tyr, Hagalaz to Heimdallr or Hel, Ear to Hel, and so on. Fehu is said to have strong ties to Freyja and to some Freyr.
Freyja is a Vanir who is accepted as an Aesir along with her brother Freyr. Both are children of Njord, a Jotun of the sea and sky. His children represent the earth as they both hold aspects of fertility, earth, war, and love, very visceral elements of humanity and the flesh. She was the one to whom Odin gave the runes to after he snatched them from the void. She was the one to unlock their magickal potential and is one of the first Seidkonas if not the first Seidkona. Frejya embodies elements of war. She is the first to take her pick of the fallen in battle and will choose the generals and other leaders along with those who express medical intellect and experience. She is a goddess of love and fertility. She holds the mystery and magic of the runes and offers her experiences and wisdom in conjunction with the Nornir on those mystical and spiritual properties. These are a small portion of what she offers to us.
Fehu is her rune. It is a rune that represents wealth and an exchange of energy to obtain that wealth. It means cattle. Cattle is a source of wealth as long as you take care of it. Because of this Fehu presents itself as a rune of what we place value in. Is it material objects, our physical well-being, the well-being of others in a physical form or their property? What about our pets, the business we work for or own? What value do we place in those, or better yet our morals and spirituality? What value do we place in those and other concepts like love, family, and relationships?
Fehu has also presented itself to me as the spark. It is that spark that lights the torch of Kenaz and our inner knowing. Without this spark we may find difficulty in knowing and trusting in oneself. It wasn’t until watching the Disney Pixar film “Soul” that I truly gained an understanding of what the spark of Fehu meant. I encourage you all to watch it, not just for that meaning, but because it is a beautiful and powerful film.
The Wind card still sits next to me, long after I released Fehu back into the black felt bag from where it was drawn. What a beautiful card. Besides the connection to Njord what do Fehu and wind have in common? What is their connection. I began looking over the card’s images and artwork. What was it trying to tell me? A woman wearing branches on her head, leaves blowing around her, and a hawk sitting to her right shoulder. In the lore Freyja turns herself into a hawk several times. She even loans her cloak of hawk feathers to Thor and Loki on a few occasions. One connection solved. Where does this take us? Wind is about movement. The wind wakes us up in the dead of night with its howling. It can bring about the destructive sides of water and lightning. Wind cools us down when we are sweaty and tired on a hot summer day. It offers relief from the heat, it blows our ships out at sea and keeps them on course. Wind is movement.
What messages are carried on the wind? To whom are those messages for? Do we resist and walk into the wind or do we allow it to push us along to where the spirit of wind needs us to be at that moment in time? How does Freyja speak to us on the wind? As a hawk soaring among the clouds it faces resistance and flow on a regular basis. When it dives down to score a meal how much resistance from the wind is met? How much help does it get in reaching its target faster? The hawk must think and adapt quickly as to not miss its meal, but also to not crash into the ground. Adaptability is the message being sent. How much value does the hawk place in the wind when it is flying? How much value and trust does it put in its own ability to navigate and fly through the sky?
These thoughts also led me down to the spark of Fehu and wind. Have you ever tried to light a match in the wind? What is it that blows out? Is it the spark itself or the flame created from that spark? If we shelter and care for the fire, shielding it from the wind and elements does that tiny flame continue to burn? At what point does the wind become beneficial to that flame? When does the flame begin to suckle on the air blown into it allowing it to grow and survive? How much is too much? That tiny spark blown onto a pile of leaves and fed by the wind can decimate forests and destroy. This wind can either grow or destroy.
What is the relationship that wind and spark have? How can we relate that relationship to our own lives? What is our relationship with the wind? What is it with fire? What can we do when we are faced with inspiration and need the wind to keep the flame going? How much wind is too much before the flame is blown out? Do we continue to place value in the spark, or move it solely to the flame after it is has been fostered? How can we continue to ebb and flow with the wind and fire at the same time allowing it to rise-up when needed, but not become dormant due to lack of oxygen?
When the wind knocks us to the ground, blows us off course, or destroys things in our lives, does the spark remain? Where did we place our value over time? What has been preserved that we can begin to reheat our environment and hold sacred? Do rekindle that spark in the midst of the wind allowing it to be held and valued more than it was prior to the chaos of the wind. On the flipside, when the wind blows so hard or enough to set your spark and flame ablaze in an uncontrollable sense, do we remember that the winds of the storm also bring rain? Do we find a way to adapt and navigate the flames into submission against the wind? Where is this delicate balance in our lives right now?