I’m not naturally inclined towards math.  It’s not my default way of thinking but I’ve always been fascinated by the Fibonacci sequence and how its progression underlies so much of the organic beauty and wonder of the world.  Spiral formations are some of the most apparent and common manifestations of this sequence in nature.

With these initial stories, I’m either spiraling in towards, or spiraling out from (maybe both.  I can’t really tell from my vantage) what led me to recognize that a Traditional practice is what resonates strongest in my life.

I don’t remember the first time I told “A Dead Man Gives Back” http://edred.net/community/index.php?t=browse_vault

but I do remember the most important time I told it.  I’ve been with Jan, the love of my life, for almost 11 years now.  About 9 or 10 years ago, her parents were visiting during the Yuletide.  The plan was to have a traditional Ukrainian celebration with all the right food, drink, and music.  They were very connected to their heritage and, in some ways (even though they wouldn’t word it quite this way) their heritage and the honoring of their ancestral ways *was* their religion.

The only thing wrong was that I didn’t really know them and they certainly didn’t know me.  Who the hell was I, some new stranger, to be living with their daughter and grandkids.  While we weren’t rude in our interactions with each other, there was more than a bit of discomfort and awkwardness.  It was going to be a very long week.

But Jan suggested I tell them this story.  After the tale was told out, they knew who I was.  And they knew that I recognized something that was important to them.

The way they listened and the effect it had upon them, told me who they were.  The semiotics of the storytelling experience communicated more than we would have been able to say with a week of more ‘profane’ speech.

We knew one another.

When some people say things like “Why do you love stories?” or “It’s just a story” or “What’s so important about storytelling?  That’s kid’s stuff.”  I think about this story and the very real magic it created.

I don’t think I would’ve polkaed with Jan’s dad while downing whiskey that year if not for this story.

0+1=1… 1+1=2… 1+2=3… 2+3=5… 3+5=8… 5+8=13…  All the previous numbers form the current ones, which form the numbers yet to come.

Spirals are wonderful and Mysterious things.

Radio Free Runa talks 52-54 are now available.
As always they can be found at:
http://edred.net/community/index.php?t=browse_vault

Last March I posted about the Halls, Workshops, and activities within the California Mark of the Rune-Gild and, in continuation of that, it is my great pleasure to announce that the members of the San Francisco Bay Area Rûna-Workshop have raised a new Outer-Hall of the Rune-Gild.

On Midsummer’s Eve 2009, six Gild-Siblings (along with a Hall-Cat who was consistently present during the ritual and even brought a fresh gopher to the potluck afterwards) raised Galdrabrú Hall.  Now, with Blåkulla Hall in Southern California and Wednesmere Hall in Washington State, there are three West Coast Halls and three is an excellent working number.

While some of what Galdrabrú Hall does will be open only to Gild members, we will still be hosting various open rituals and public outreach events.  The California Mark Rune-Gild pages will soon be updated with new events but, in the meantime, if you are in California and are interested in knowing more about the Gild in California, specific events, or have any other questions related to the Northern Mysteries, feel free to send me an email at lothar@runegild.org