• casting runes — 23dec25

    michael raven

    othala
    undercloak, reaching back
    to bones & stones
    through blood & black
    rime-eyed & cataract

    we razor high drifts
    highspaces we roam
    with gills on our tongues
    drinking burning skies &
    slipping closer to home

    A poem prompted by a randomly selected Elder Futhark rune.

    Today’s rune is othala, which has a core meaning of “heritage”, “inheritance” and “legacy”. These are all associated with home, kin, ancestors, stability and (in some interpretations) past lives or spiritual legacy.

    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 — 23dec25

  • Kind

    michael raven

    I wonder whatever became of Kind. She drifted away like a mote on the wind one summers day, flitting here and there before in the distance she did fade, leaving neither full lips or ashen hair to guide the way to where she went on drift. Perhaps she burned away, like any dream does when the sun shines on something at such length — and so wan she was in the begin, that slim girl Kind. It was a wonder she had not been consumed years ago.

    I check balconies in the gloaming; I inspect the shadowtall oaks, gnarled in the their age. But Kind is no where and no when, our pale empress aloft on the wind. I miss our lady Kind, and the delirium euphoric that she did bring.

    And I wonder at where she took her drift.

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    Kind

  • teenage angst

    michael raven

    Photo by Bradyn Shock on Unsplash
    cafe glances at that
    jigsaw girl writing
    in coffee-ringed
    moleskine & her
    pen mouthchewed
    & all dangleshoed
    oh, you would
    love to love her
    but you know
    she is not one to
    want to love to love
    someone at all like
    you

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    teenage angst

  • casting runes — 22dec25

    michael raven

    wunjo
    waxing sun, waxing moon
    with a world full widdershins
    we walk in beauty with both
    to set our world's spin to right

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

    Today’s rune is wunjo, which is translated as “joy” and has been interpreted in both the earthly sense as well as in spiritual ecstasy. It has been associated with healing (emotional, mental and interpersonal) and some sources connect the rune to luck, the act of making a wish, or applied will. Wunjo can also be the inspiration for creativity.

    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 — 22dec25

  • Solstice

    michael raven

    Blessed Solstice everyone.

    May the next turn of the wheel bring you joy, prosperity and abundance.

    Photo by Miikka Luotio on Unsplash

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    Solstice

  • casting runes — 20dec25

    michael raven

    thurisaz
    all thumbs & blackthorn
    to mark my face at blood

    this goes beyond fey,
    driving cold iron to heartwood
    a give to ash & alder...

    you would not understand
    in either way

    A poem prompted by a randomly selected Elder Futhark rune.

    Today’s rune is thurisaz, which has several core translations: “thorn” or “giant”. The rune is often associated with pain or discomfort (often for an important transitional or transformative reason) or raw power that may be destructive. It is also considered protective, regenerative, and is frequently associated with women’s menstrual health.

    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 — 20dec25

  • casting runes — 19dec25

    michael raven

    laguz
    skiff & solemn sliding
    through mist & mere
    to lay down these arms
    & surrender
    to her petals fell

    A poem prompted by a randomly selected Elder Futhark rune.

    Today’s rune is laguz, which has a core meaning of “lake” and, by extension, may be interpreted as “river”, “ocean”, “sea”, “waterfall” or a general body of water. Some alternative interpretations define as “leek”. Following the more commonly accepted meaning, bodies of water were considered liminal spaces, a place between life and death or the threshold space between which spirit and substance resides. Laguz is often associated with feminine energies and journeys via water.

    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 — 19dec25

  • waterdown

    michael raven 

    we wander broken edge
    only she knows full this waterdown
    and i am always guessing

    facewashing frenzy, poison years
    and to quench the fevers raging
    a mountain in skywater chill

    she sings the dusk at waterdown
    stepping past all edges
    and i am left again guessing

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    waterdown

  • casting runes — 18dec25

    michael raven

    raido
    his backstep to gloaming
    cloakworn & graveled
    as bonesky carries her down
    all at the edge before dreaming
    with raven feathers in their hair

    to awake?
    when cries burn obsidian

    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 — 18dec25

  • night, embers

    michael raven

    Photo by Trent Pickering on Unsplash
    given of shadows
    painted sliver moon
    a fingernail pressed to
    flesh renders cinnabar

    chipped-tooth, still
    i skate thin the edge
    pricked pine at all bends
    singing pain to wash pain
    — here we go again

    night, i slip to her embrace
    rooted inside
    a heart cries embers

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    night, embers