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"Braids, tapestries, and currents in the river show us the way again and again--it cannot be one clear way or another, it has got to be both ways and together."

--Eila Carrico, The Other Side of the River

Dedicating jewelry to specific gods or goddesses and wearing it to honor them is something that many heathens and pagans do. Most heathens have a Thorshammer pendant, although for some of us it is not so much for Thor as it is just to identify as heathen. When I want to dedicate something to a god, I usually try to make it myself or repurpose something I already have, to use both less money and fewer of the Earth's resources (green living and frugal living usually run together.) 

Approaching my 2 year anniversary with Odin on June 28^th, 2016, I asked my ninefold god-husband what he would like for our anniversary. It was Lodhur who spoke. “Acknowledge me more.”

In the old language of the Witches, frith means “peace.”

They say that it's also the name of the Goddess of the Rainbow.

Why? Not difficult.

Daughter of Sun and Thunder, contentious couple that they are, she is child of their reconciliation.

Last new moon I set out for our coven meeting just before sunset. Although the day had been gray and rainy throughout, suddenly the clouds parted and everything began to glow with a long, red equinox light.

And there in the east She stood in the sky with Her twin sister, vast and shining.

I live in a gritty urban neighborhood where it's sound practice to be a little chary of people you pass on the street.

Breath. The first thing I noticed at 10,000 feet was breath. Actually, it was the lack of breath that really struck me. I became aware of the incredible effort it took to breathe deeply and slowly, enough to fill my lungs.

Altitude sickness is a thing. It's not a condition to be taken lightly. First there's that inescapable feeling of not being able to quite ever catch one's breath. Then there's the nausea. Next it's dizziness. Left unchecked, the shakes begin, you know the ones, like when you have the flu and no matter how many blankets you pile up around yourself, you shake and shiver and it feels like your teeth are going to shatter in your mouth. If the shakes set in it's time to get down the mountain immediately.

A few shots of whiskey in, an old friend I hadn’t seen in awhile and I decided to do a tarot reading on the upcoming US presidential election.  We are both a bit obsessed, checking FiveThirtyEight (the website that focuses on opinion poll analysis) regularly (and I confess in my case sometimes multiple times a day).  She has also been doing multiple divinations using I Ching and Runes.  As is often the case with divination she never got conclusive answers much to her consternation. 

In the hedgerow...any hedgerow

We associate hedgerows with long winding country lanes but actually a lot of cities and towns have hedgerows even if it is just the one outside the front of your garden or alongside the local school. 

"Michael, what's wrong?"

Standing in the doorway, my friend grimaces.

"I realized today that I don't believe in the existence of god any more," he says.

The god that he means is the god of Abraham. I'd come to the same conclusion myself years before, but for Michael, who'd gone to seminary, nearly become a priest, and later considered conversion to Judaism, this was huge.

I pondered my response. Souls need careful handling.