Rune Gifts in production
I decided to learn the runes, the alphabet of the ancient Norse world. The runes represent attitudes and mores that formed the social glue of northern pagan Europe, a time a place challenged by harsh weather, shrinking resources and constant migration. It struck me that our world faces similar challenges and I wanted to engage the runes in my own landscape and my own times.
Tom Cowan (www.riverdrum.com) wrote a wonderful book called Wending Your Way: A New Version Of the Old English Rune Poem. He suggested memorizing one poem a day as a way of learning the runes.
At the time, I didn’t have much faith in my ability to memorize, so I decided to write my own poems about the runes as a way of taking their meaning. Each week I chose a rune at random. I read what various commentators supposed about its meaning. I lived my life. At the end of the week I wrote a poem that wove the events of my life with some of the concerns attached to the runic sign. Twenty-four weeks later, I began painting pictures for each of the runes. I picked a rune a random, lived my life, and made a painting that wove the two. The paintings make reference to the poems, but neither is dependent on the other for meaning.
I’m still walking around ideas for the book to hold these poems and images. An installation of the work is nearing completion.
Dagaz (Day)
The answer, the break through,
the dawning of the great aha
often comes because you’ve
ridden through the clouds of night
on a dark horse with frosty mane.
You may be tossed about by lunar wind
or lulled by the whispering stars.
Sometimes the pace is a blurring sprint
so fast you cannot breath.
Air can only slip between
the spaces of your skin.
Sometimes the ride’s a labored numbing plod
and every sinew screams to be released.
Whatever the pace, in your rider’s trance
you rarely see the sky begin to pale
or hear the tree crowns blossom into birds
or notice frost dissolve,
but suddenly you find the sun is bright
and the horse you ride has a shining mane.