Len's Lair

Little Altars Everywhere

2010-03-11T13:52:00.000-08:00

Author Rebecca Wells has a series of books out-the most famous of course is : The Devine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. I have NOT read any of the books. What leaped out at me was the title of another book she wrote: Little Altars Everywhere. The title made me think. What is an altar? Raised Catholic the first thought that occurs to be is a huge marble table with candles, statues, incense burners, religious text, s flowers, etc. Now THAT kind of altar is really a 365 days per year, multi-purpose and center of attention piece of furniture the church has so basically the congregation knows where to look and for the priest to perform parts of the rites. Well, being a born again Heathen I don't get to church unless a friend who is Christian gets married or buried. But why should I be deprived of an altar? Well, I'm not. I have one in my home but that isn't the purpose of this post. The book title that caught my eye was 'Little Altars Everywhere'. YES! EVERYWHERE! An altar is really a sacred space, large or small, in or out of doors with a specific intention. It can be in the house with pictures of your ancestors, or it can be a shrine to an idea, belief, or a hope or a prayer. Altars are great! They show physical proof of the things we honor and love. They remind us our Gods and Ancestors are always with us. They can even help define who and what we are. A physical manifestation of our thoughts add power to those thoughts by involving our senses. The light from the candle, the smells of the incense, the sound of the bells and the look and feel of the physical objects on the altar. Even the taste buds can be included when we offer mead to the Gods and drink from the horn as well. But what about when we leave the house? I say we build little altars everywhere!. Scratch little Runes or other symbols on tree bark in the park, or anywhere trees can be found. Pile up small stones in the gravel of the parking lot. Do these things with intention and give thanks and respect to the nature spirits around you-even if you can't notice their presence, because they are there all the same. Give and receive blessings from and to those who are far away. Light an instant candle-a match to ask for guidance or to send healing to a family member or friend-or a person you don't even know, but knows a person you know. Create little altars in your mind by visualizing an actual alter you have in your home and 'bring it with you' mentally. Let us not leave our devotions and wishes behind us when we got to work, out to dinner or even to the supermarket. Make an altar, even if just in your mind, everywhere you go, and you will always be in a sacred place of your choosing.

Whatever makes you happy

2010-02-25T12:30:00.000-08:00

Hello again from the Lair. I had another post in mind when this thought presented itself, so I took that as my cue to write about that other thing next time-hopefully soon. ( English Majors please don't complain about my use of 'hopefully' ! ). ANYWAY... We all say we want to be happy, right? I know I do-so why aren't we? Certainly a lot of the time it is due to things beyond our control-or at least we believe that to be true-but I am not talking about beliefs here. What I am talking about is our strange fixation on what we think should make us happy-to the exclusion of what really does make us happy. I will give you a personal example. Way back before electric light and moving pictures, when I was a boy, I had this idea of the perfect girl. The idea was only concerning the physical, as that was what I was starting to notice more and more back then. She had a great figure, was sort of tall, with blond hair and blue eyes. She was not unlike the Barbie Doll that was just hitting the stores back then, though my inspiration was more likely 'Betty' from the Archie Comics. Well as time passed on there were some women coming into and out of my life that I deeply cared about, I would even say loved on occasion. Well guess what? None of them looked like the Barbie Doll my sister had. They were usually dark-haired, shorter or taller, thinner or heavier, but they made me happy. Now don't get me wrong, The Blonds and Redheads I see still grab my attention, but what a shame it would have been if I waited for Betty or Barbie-likely to never appear. The point of this post is that so many people have some idea of what they need to make them happy, or who they need. That may be OK for a starting point but how many times have you turned down true happiness because it or they did not make the list, didn't meet the requirements, or didn't look just right? How often do you stop to wonder how everyone else would feel about your choice instead of asking your heart? Take some time today to decide what would make you happy if there was no list to consult, and nobody else in the world whose judgment regarding your happiness seemed more important than your own. Then tomorrow go out there and do something fun-whatever makes you happy.

ISA: The Frozen Stream

2010-01-09T18:02:00.000-08:00

Isa (pronounced EE-SAH) is one of the Runes of the Elder 'Futhark' or alphabet. The Futhark was the original writing system of Northern Europe and a lot of the British Isles. It also is a self-contained system of wisdom, psychology, cosmology and more. Often it is employed in Divination. In appearance ISA is a simple vertical line-resembling : | . That is the line without all the dots, of course! Unlike the Roman Alphabet each of the 24 Runes of the Futhark has a meaning all it's own, and ISA means 'ICE'. Now the expanded meaning of ISA is stagnation, or things being temporarily frozen. This Rune really corresponds to this time of year, with all the seeds and roots underground in stasis, waiting for the right time to emerge. It's message to mankind is simply to wait, now is not the right time. When drawing this Rune the reaction from the one getting this advice is usually disappointment, as we are all in a hurry to get, and to do. However, getting a crummy job today, is not usually better than getting a great job tomorrow. How many of us have heard the story of a person getting to a train station too late and having to take the next one, only to see on the evening news their original train off the tracks and people hurt? This actually happened to my mother (And was her excuse for being late ever since!). When you come across ISA use that time to rest, and prepare for the thaw, and maybe you might even find the 'Frozen Stream' lets you walk where you would normally sink into the icy waters.

Back in the Saddle

2010-01-04T20:46:00.000-08:00

OK, I am back in the Blog world once more. I thought I would update the world with what I have been doing. I am the head of an Asatru Kindred in RI-namely, Osprey Kindred. I am a life-long student of most things metaphysical with the recent addition(-recent being about 4 years ago-) of the Runes. Just getting my feet wet on this Blog again but there will be more, and soon, I assure you. I hope everyone had a good new Year. That's all for now.
Len

Same Day, Different stuff.....

2006-05-29T15:25:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's me again.
This is my first Blog, and first day trying it out.
Eventually I will get a picture on here of something pretty, or maybe even myself ( No groaning please! )

Len

Happy Blog Day to Me!

2006-05-29T14:57:00.000-07:00

Hello world. This is a work in progress, so bear with me please. I am Len, from somewhere on planet Earth. That is about all there is to know about me right now while I tweak the buttons and play with the knobs. I am
looking forward to adding some interesting now and again as time goes on.
Happy Blog Day to me, and Happy Memorial Day to everyone else.
Len