• casting runes — 04jan26

    michael raven

    nauthiz
    a disused, crooked trail
    leading from the main

    few choose this path
    due to hardship, harry & thorn
    but crows beckon, call—
    it is also the path
    of greater reward

    A rune poem, based on an Elder Futhark rune selected at random.

    Today’s rune is nauthiz, which has a core meaning of “need”. Alternative translations have been “hardship” or “constraint”. Among other interpretations, nauthiz is seen as a indicative of a transition or transformation, a period of learning or strengthening of resilience, lacking, change, and impermanence — inclusive of other related concepts.

    Please visit my Elder Futhark pages at sceadugenga.com for additional interpretations of the runes based on multiple references and personal reflection.

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    casting runes — 04jan26

  • casting runes — 03jan26

    michael raven

    isaz
    riverstone under ice
    carved of water, air between
    linger now, maple leaf
    but unfrozen come spring

    A rune poem, based on an Elder Futhark rune selected at random.

    Today’s rune is isaz, a rune that is translated as the word “ice”. Sources associate isaz with a calmness, present moment or stillness. As ice, isaz is sometimes associated with standstill, stagnation, stasis or contraction; even at times as pristine beauty with seductive qualities.

    Please visit my Elder Futhark pages at sceadugenga.com for additional interpretations of the runes based on multiple references and personal reflection.

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    casting runes — 03jan26

  • Stonerot

    michael raven

    We are Slaved of the Riverbound, and so even more stone than they. We are to be culled and carved away to make way for the flow which our overlords assure us is necessary for live to carry forth.

    I could see in the guards eyes and with the way he held his crop that he toyed with riding me. There was a gossamer thread between enforcing compliance and wanton thrill, and the guard had yet to decide if there would be his own punishment or glory in mounting me — if my transgressions warranted it, or were it to premature and hasty to act yet. Overly-eager guards were subject to the same punishments as the slaved. Our overlords wanted their workforce compliant, but largely intact and able to work, after all.

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    Stonerot

  • of the rising

    michael raven 

    behind storm eye throbbing
    of poison thorn years
    lurks still blue longings
    fading behind washed denim 
    and duels drawing crimson
    over fresh fallen snow
    matching ash of her hair in
    the brilliance of the rising sun

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    of the rising

  • casting runes — 02jan26

    michael raven

    gebo
    i will meet you
    at the crossroads
    crows cussing at the wind

    i offer up knowing eyes
    you offer up the same
    crows still cussing the wind

    we both follow the
    most broken road
    crows silent on the wind

    A rune poem, based on an Elder Futhark rune selected at random.

    Today’s rune is gebo, which has a core meaning of “gift”. This relates to all forms of reciprocity: transaction, generosity, hospitality and sacrifice (in the sense of giving up something). It may also mean offering up a talent or skill; or gebo may suggest a synergistic, possibly romantic, relationship.

    Please visit my Elder Futhark pages at sceadugenga.com for additional interpretations of the runes based on multiple references and personal reflection.

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    casting runes — 02jan26

  • games they play

    michael raven 

    i hate these games they play, i
    start cutting up the words
    start cutting up the pieces
    and stare with heroin eyes
    smudged and kohl, waiting with
    torn fishnets gutter drenched

    i teardrop the rain and ruin
    waiting for the day you
    feel these barbed wire kisses
    humming on the wind
    for the day you understand
    the words i cut to pieces
    with steel from heroin eyes

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    games they play

  • casting runes — 01jan26

    michael raven

    raido
    this stony road rambles
    back to the beginning
    a beggar's blind
    under low riding clouds
    rain pelts grey to black again

    A poem prompted by a randomly selected Elder Futhark rune.

    Today’s rune is raido, which has been translated as “ride” and the implied “journey”. This may be spatial and literal in practice (a physical journey), or it may be more figurative (an inner/shamanic journey, i.e., útiseta). The rune is associated with cyclic motion and the movement of the sun. Some consider the journey represented by raido to be that of returning.

    Please visit my Elder Futhark pages at sceadugenga.com for additional interpretations of the runes based on multiple references and personal reflection.

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    casting runes — 01jan26

  • Genealogy update — 01jan26

    michael raven

    Photo by Warren Umoh on Unsplash

    Those who have been around here know that my mother was born out of wedlock and fathered by a man whom I only have the barest of information about. While it might have been nice to know more about him over the years, the only real incentive to fining out more about him was the surprise DNA results my mother got back, putting her at 33% Finn, something none of us suspected.

    Running her DNA through an algorithm, there was an additional surprise: That some of that Finnish background may actually be Sámi, the reindeer herders of the area. So I set out to see if I could find out more about my grandfather, who’s ghost seemed to be hellbent on avoiding discovery. I eventually gave up the hunt as a lost cause when all roads ended up in dead ends about the man.

    Until Andrea showed up in one of my DNA services.

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    Genealogy update — 01jan26

  • reads — The Gift of Not Belonging, Rami Kaminski

    michael raven

    When I saw mention of the book on Lodestarwytch’s site a while back, I’ll have to admit that the title/subtitle combination caught my attention right off the bat.

    I, myself, have realized for quite some time now (maybe since forever) that I don’t really fit in and that I am a bit of an outsider for as long as I can remember. I’ve always been a bit baffled by how people “fit in” to a group and I have often wondered if there was something a little wrong with my wiring because of the fact.

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    reads — The Gift of Not Belonging, Rami Kaminski

  • mystery home

    michael raven 

    a smaller world i found today--
    catseye azure in my palm
    stained in beartooth red,
    trimmed in carbon and coal 
    painting what i sought 
    to know

    river washes over ford
    time washes granite
    carrying the mystery home

    Be careful for what you seek, lest you find it.

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    mystery home