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Mouth is the chieftain / of all speech, / the mainstay of wisdom / and a comfort to the wise ones, / for every noble warrior / hope and happiness.- Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem

This is not going to be a rune primer, but it is relevant to what I want to talk about today, which is speech and silence. Once upon a time, when I was studying runes, Odin went out of His way to tell me that Ansuz was a signifier rune for me, much in the way that a court card can be in the Tarot. At the time that He said this to me, I assumed it was because I’m a writer, or perhaps because Loki wants me to talk about Him publicly. And some of that is true; some of it is tied up in apotheosis, and some in personal work. Trigger Warning: Frank Discussion of Rape

This particular blog is focused on divination, and on giving readings, but the idea of developing habits that support good practice can be generalized to many other situations.

What's more pagan than a standing stone?

I say, let's raise them all over the place. Front yards, back yards, large, small, public, private, no matter. We need our standing stones. A landscape needs its standing stones. Shrines. Axes mundi. Herms. Facts on the ground.

Garland them, wreathe them, anoint them, rub them with ocher. Lay offerings at their feet. Wrap them (yes, I've seen it done) in strings of lights. Dance around them. Pray to them. Standing stones.

Today's Pagan News Beagle concentrates on politics, activism, and how our Pagan culture connects (or doesn't) to issues of social justice. SCOTUS case on religious attire at work; civil marriage under attack; the Covenant of the Goddess under fire (from Pagans); are the gods moral?; how do we juggle social justice and our Pagan faiths?

US Supreme Court already decided one religious rights case this year. Another case pits Abercrombie & Fitch against the EEOC on a case involving the right to wear religiously-significant attire at the workplace.

Jennifer comments, 
I think I need to figure out what happens when I don’t have a burning desire for something that I will absolutely go through hell and high water and a whole lotta sacrifice for….but the idea will never quite 100% go away either, even if it is mostly dead. I know I don’t want such-and-such so much that I’ll do ANYTHING, FOREVER, INDEFINITELY to get it–then again, I learned at an early age that such things weren’t under my control and if you go for years and years wanting something you can’t have and cannot ever figure out how to get, the burning desire will eventually die. I don’t know if it’s a case of “I just never want anything all that much, how do I know if it’s going to be so fucking great after years of struggle,” or “I learned that I’ll lose so what’s the point,” but I dunno, just because I don’t have the hellburning passion to see me through years of struggle to the goal doesn’t mean I’ve managed to 100% give up either.
Ugh. Undecidedness/ambivalence/meh helps nothing.

So, okay.  Let's say you're not a Margaret Beauforte House on Fire.  (I feel like Beth and I are in some kind of secret cult where if we say her name enough, we'll invoke her powers, btdubs.  Here's to hoping!)  Let's say you're a normal person who wants normal things who happens to practice magic.

As a Polytheist priest often engaged in very public discussions of piety, devotion, submission to our gods and the importance of worshipful relations and all that... I often get misunderstood as somehow being unconcerned with the world around me. (Although anyone who would think this clearly hasn't read anything I've ever written, since I'm pretty prolifically obsessed with social justice, mental health, communication, and world events.)

A quote is circulating right now which caught my eye, with a message from the always-awesome Crystal Blanton: “We should not forget the power of what we are and what we do. My magic is about a better world. What is yours about?” The quote speaks to an important part of my approach to things: both a focus on bettering this world for all of those within it, and proactively utilizing that which I have been blessed with to achieve those ends, and support other related goals that I can't have as my own focus... since not everyone can focus on everything.

Invocation can be a magickal act unto itself, meant to bring strength, healing and attunement. Invocation can also be an important part of a ceremony.

 Tarot cards can strengthen the magick of your invocation.