Herbert is the one in the pointy hat.
Yesterday was Herbert's 21st birthday. My morning rune pull for the day was, I thought, Isa.
I asked Richard about it, then, in the middle of the reading, realized it was really Nauthiz. Oops. Oh yeah, I'm a pro.....
Here's how Richard straightened your intrepid rune reader out.
"As Thorsson has said, “Nauthiz contains the concept of distress as well as the deliverance from that distress.”
Ann: Richard, would you be able to talk to me about Isa and Herbert’s 21st birthday?
Richard Burton: Love, I have been waiting to do so. Isa, often considered the essence of winter, the standstill of snow and ice, is in fact all that and more. More because inside the ice that is paralyzes the winter landscape allows the time for contemplation that reveals the holy order of all that this little world was born to accomplish. Never despair when you put Isa, for here is your key to the universal purpose.
You have a busy and delightful day ahead of you and wonder to think that here comes Isa the wet blanket of the universe. Nothing could be further from the truth. Isa has arrived to suggest that you take notice of all that is around you, the spring day creeping in around the edges of winter, the long dormant energy of the seasons beginning to show itself.
This Isa incubates, protects, fosters. It is for you today to foster this incipient energy. Not just the happy silliness that has led you to celebrate Herbert’s 21st birthday, but the many ups and downs of those 21 years that have shown you through this animal the grace of allowing your world to develop as it will, to assume without question that you are cared for and to smile benignly upon all its creations secure in the knowledge that your being is loved and secure - however unlikely it may feel at the time.
What has this horse with his many issues given you? Not what you expected or desired when he joined your family, not what your thought when it transpired that he could not do the work he was intended to do, not what happened when you rehomed him when others turned him away.
Instead, from the center of this one animal, friendships never dreamed of, communities otherwise dormant, and blessings of love and laughter never before existing have evolved. And so Herbert through the years has shown you the power and blessings of standing still and receiving, not what you wanted but what was offered and discovering that it was more than you could have imagined.
Ann: OK Richard, I must be really zoned out, the rune I pulled is Nauthiz, not Isa. So should I deep six the above?
RB: Not necessarily, love. Read the message above again and in your mind substitute Nauthiz for Isa. Is there a change?
Ann: Not really, oddly enough.
RB: Is it odd? Have you not noticed that you receive what you need?And what was more emblematic of Herbert’s life than Nauthiz, Pain, and Deliverance?
As you reread this message, once again look about you on a beautiful spring day and rejoice in then unknowable blessings of heartbreak and financial setbacks that have occurred over the lifetime of this horse.
He has offered himself up for leaning for all. Many hearts have opened, many have smiled at his tricks and antics, even the crushing disappointments and terrifying medical emergencies have engendered a deeper commitment to love and an understanding of heretofore unknown reservoirs of strength both for you and his owner now who has become a friend of your heart and who, without Herbert, would have never come into your life.
As Thorsson* has said, “Nauthiz contains the concept of distress as well as the deliverance from that distress.”
Many will perhaps say that this is just a horse, how bad can it be? And how much of a blessing can a simple animal confer? But we know better, love, do we not? Love is love and loss is loss, and both have been teachers through this horse from both ends of that spectrum, and, as a result, there has been much joy sandwiched in between the tears of the ups and downs of his life.
So next time when you draw Nauthiz for yourself or someone else, remember that hidden inside the pain and disruption are the blessings of widening awareness and joy.
By the way, have you noticed that real awareness brings joy? That is because when we see the truth, we revel in it, we delight in its presence in our lives, and we roll around on the ground in unbridled joy at this boundless discovery, Nauthiz, Pain, Constraint, Resistance leading to awareness which leads to Deliverance, Manifestation, and Joy. Blessings upon all of you.
March 9, 2020
*Edred Thorsson, "Futhark: A Handbook Of Rune Magic."