My oracle message today comes from The Rune Vision Cards by Sylvia Gainsford with Howard Rodway. The message is delivered by Njörd, the Norse god of the seas that border the shoreline and patron god of seafarers. All ocean and plant life near the shores belonged to him. Njörd was the husband of Skadi and the father of Freyr and Freya.
Notice all of the symbols on the card that tie into Njörd’s connection with the element water: seashells and seaweed in his hair, a mother seal and her pup, a seagull. The fingers on Njörd’s right hand fade, becoming a waterfall. We see a twig from a willow tree, a tree that is associated with the location of water.
The willow is also connected with the rune Laguz, which we see in the upper right corner of the card. The object associated with Laguz is the axe, symbol of both battle and work. On this card, the Laguz symbol is colored orange, the color associated with fire. Njörd controlled fire as well as the wind and the waves. In the words of Icelander Snorri Sturluson: “He governs the movement of the winds and controls the sea and flame.” The color orange also represents a bountiful harvest. Njörd was linked to the harvest of the land and sea.
Howard Rodway describes the divinatory significance of the Laguz card in this deck as “Intuition. Psychic ability. Use your psychic insight. Acquisition. A successful pursuit. Birth.” Reversed, again according to Rodway, the card can deliver the message to “work within your limitations.”
When I look at this card I am reminded of a marvelous dream I had many years ago in which I was able to breathe under water. I swam to an island where there were many seals. We played and swam together freely. The element Water is commonly seen as representing the subconscious or unconscious mind and the world of dreams. The Laguz card from The Rune Vision deck certainly reinforces that symbolism.
I welcome your thoughts and comments on this card!
Zanna
In addition to my 60 Tarot decks, I own a great many oracle decks. I love these decks, but don't use them as often as I would like. Every now and then, I am going to share a card from one of these oracle decks here on the blog. I hope people will enjoy seeing cards from various decks and will gain something from the interpretations of the cards!
What a beautiful card! I think this would be a great deck to use for meditation.
ReplyDeleteOMG! Excuse my Hilton-esque excitement, but a) I _just_ bought Tarot of the Old Path because I love the art and this looks like it's by the same artist (??), b) I'm working hard on fleshing out the concept of my sea-ocean deck and blammo! This card is perfect inspiration (especially with the Laguz association, and c) I've never met anyone else who has "breathing underwater" dreams! Aren't they the BEST. DREAMS. EVER.?
ReplyDeleteCalming down now :)
LOL - Hi, submerina! Yes, Sylvia Gainsford is the artist who did Tarot of the Old Path. I love that deck. She also did Tarot of Northern Shadows, another of my faves.
ReplyDeleteThe breathing-under-water dream I mentioned was especially cool because in the dream, someone tried to kill me by tying me underneath a boat! I thought I was going to die, but then I grew very calm and realized I could breathe under water. You're right, it's the best!