Forces to Bring Change!

Art is the child of Nature; yes,
Her darling child, in whom we trace
The features of the mother's face,
Her aspect and her attitude.

--Longfellow

I just had to share this quote that I got from an email last week as I work with ideas of symbol as story. I have been working on a manuscript that deals with Michigan's Sanilac Petroglyphs (pictures etched in stone) and their interpretation and also rereading some Rudyard Kipling stories on how symbols as a written language tell their own story.  

Snow Runes in the Trees



   

I wanted to finish up what I started in this
blog with the last set of the runes. As you
look outside I'm sure you will see a few of
these without much trouble!

After our snow and ice gift yesterday we
were left with beauty and treacherous
conditions (beauty and chaos).

Here now are the 2nd Aett of runes, the
Forces to Bring Change.

 

 

Hagalaz - "hail", the seed of ice, is disruptive and causes change. Protect home and barn with this one as it staves off astral attacks. I imagine ice and hail sliding off the slanted roof, and being safe and sound down below.

Nauthis - "need", go within and bring forth personal inspiration. A rune to stop incoming attack or a warning that maybe something unacknowledged needs to be attended to. (As the letter Y it reminds me to ask myself Why? in help in remembering the meaning here.)

Isa - "ice", frozen a time to slow down, to stay the same, freeze things or another's actions means to stay in the present situation, but can also be destructive by not allowing needed movement. (I think of this one as an icicle-which also brings caution while walking under!)

Jera - "year", harvest time, cyclical rune of reward, a gentle flow of change (year) not a fast pace. (I see the balance of the seasons in this one, almost like a chain link or two hands holding the year.)

Eihwaz - "yew" the tree of life, eternity, world without time. A rune that says GO FOT IT! The rune of the Hunter, searching for person, place, thing, job, home. (To me, this runic tree branches at the top and roots below createing balance.)

Perth - "dance", secrets and hidden knowledge. Rebirth and childbirth. Evolutionary process. A GREAT changes is about to take place. (I see this a a bowl, pot or cauldron where cooking takes place.)

Algiz - sign of negation, the protective rune is the elk staghorn and shield. Need I say more?

Sowilo - SUN! inspiration from divine source. Message needed to accomplish a goal. Kind of a light bulb going on, Aha! moment which can be a slap in the face or wake up call. (Looking like Harry Potter's scar this lightning bolt could be a ZAP! in the right direction.)

 

Pictures tell stories and the letters of the alphabet and runes are no different. Especially after reviewing sketches, notes and past writing on the petroglyphs I have found wonder again in those ancient drawings. Who made them and what were they trying to say? Much is left open to interpretationa dn imagination.
We all leave our stories whether in rock, tree, paper or electronically to pass on meaning.

 

In Kipling's story where Taffy and her father create the first written language (they illustrate a story as a message that gets them into trouble), they they take those early drawings and simplify them into symbols which hold sound. The story is one of sweetness and imagination as they work out each sound.

Often just trying to interpret my grandaughter's drawing is pretty much the same. Sweet, imaginative and pure in meaning--even with rhinestones!

Books and art are windows that take us into another world and illustration is the universal visual language that helps us understand customs and people!