A Blend of Thoth and Odin

Initially this began as a landscape spread with my Thoth deck. But when I drew The Hanged Man, I decided to expand the casting to include runes. The Hanged Man depicts Odin, hanging upside down on the World Tree. During that time, he became aware of the runes, so the card signals rune magick as well. It also represents the descent of Spirit into matter, so drawing Ingwaz as its complement was interesting. Ingwaz, reflecting Elemental Earth, represents  the sudden release of energy in the form of the seed of creation. Ingwaz is our genetic inheritance. Our bloodline.

I’ve admittedly become an Ancestry.com junkie. I’m sure there’s a twelve step program just waiting for me to join, but I wanted to see if there were other witches in my line, which there were, and if any were burned, which there were, and so on. Apparently I’m of Grail lineage. Knights Templar and the royalty they served. One King (a grandfather) ordered the Knights Templar executed at one point. Many of them were also my ancestors. Of course this happened on October 13th in that year..my birthday. I’ve traced it all the way back to Adam, Lilith and Eve. Seeing Abraham, Isaac, Rebekkah, Sarah appear from those little leaves was thrilling to say the least. But the coolest part was seeing Odin’s name come up as one of my Grandfathers. Seriously. I burst into tears when I saw it.

I’ve never considered myth to actually be myth. It’s just a part of history that doesn’t seem to fit the generally accepted framework of who we are and how we got here and such. Gods, Goddesses, Demi-gods, were all real..they were the rulers of their time. Humanity has a tendency to deify everything, so it’s not surprising that these people made it into mythology after the rise of Judeo-Christian thinking. The competition was too great and the church wanted to control the narrative I guess. So Jaquetta of Luxembourg tracing her (and subsequently mine) lineage back to Goddess Melusine isn’t surprising either. I also now understand my dragon obsession.

But Odin would account for my lifetime obsession with runes. The synchronicity is just there. And it explains so much. Currently I’m exploring my Druid heritage which I find fascinating. At some point I’ll run out of jiggly leaves to click on, but for now, this is so much fun.

So back to the casting. The Thoth (ancestor) spread began with The Tower telling us that anything is possible at this point in time, but whatever it is, it’s portends something positive ahead. Jera represents the cyclical nature of things, a perfect complement to The Tower as it too promotes a bright future ahead. Both the card and the rune signal transformation and change ahead.

The 6 of Cups indicates balanced fulfillment and pleasure. A past project or action may be coming to fruition. We are spiritual warriors with the influence of Tiwaz. It represents victory, justice and order. Our cup truly runneth over.

But looking again at The Hanged Man, this also symbolizes surrender. It doesn’t mean giving up your ideals, because Tiwaz is right there reminding us to remain steadfast in them. It means staying aligned with you inner truth. So while the Tower is coming down, stay resonant in alignment with Source. All balance is found there. It’s from that surrender, that allowing, that the creative force expands outward into whatever we choose.

~Blessed be!