Mannaz Mania
As part of our home practice, Suzanne, Michelle, and I decided we would use our divination methods of choice (in their case, Tarot; in my case, the Viking Oracle Shield Spread) to perform a “Wheel of the Year” spread for ourselves for the period between May 2019 and April 2020. My card for May represents the rune Mannaz. Historically, I do not have a good relationship with this rune, so I’m not surprised that May has turned out to be a bit less than pleasant for me. Why don’t I have a good relationship with Mannaz? I honestly don’t know. Then again, I’ve never really thought about why I don’t have a good relationship with slugs (apart from the Hutts of Star Wars fame), or with asparagus, or with almonds, either. Does that sound overly flippant when talking about something as “lofty” as the runes? Maybe. The simple fact of life is: sometimes we simply don’t gel with some people, places, or things, and for me, Mannaz happens to be one of those things.
My notes for the interpretation of Mannaz and its Application in May read like this (based on the rune poem featured in both of my books, Norse Witch and Blessings of Fire and Ice):
Focus on friends, enemies, and social order. There will be strong opinions, backed by intelligence and Divinity, as well as trusted assistance. Be aware of depression, delusion, cunning, and manipulation. Act on your own behalf; stand up for yourself. Voice your opinions. Celebrate your individuality.
Application: Stand in your own power, but also realize you have backup.
Which has perfectly described my entire experience of May 2019. The “social order”, especially as it relates to the microcosm of my own inner circle, has been “sketchy” in some areas, and there have definitely been some strong opinions, which have led to subsequent depression (and sometimes outright anger, if I’m honest). I’ve tried to act on my own behalf and stand up for myself, and I’ve definitely been prone to voicing my own opinions–to the degree of having two other blog posts already written before this one and now likely permanently saved as drafts. I’ve been trying very hard to stand in my own power, but I’ve also realized at several turns that I definitely have fantastic backup: the Gods, my Beloved, my Mishy, my Wilde, Alfred, John, and a few other very close friends whom I consider family. Mannaz Mania has struck my life in the month of May in a big way, and it has been anything but a pleasant ride on the roller coaster.
Come to think of it, maybe that’s why me and this rune’s energy just don’t gel. While it is the rune of individuality, and I am definitely my own individual, living your life completely authentically tends to lead to often rocky results which are many things other than pleasant. I mean, yes, there are rewards to living that way, too, which is why we should all strive towards it, and those dividends do tend to outweigh the crap in the end, but when you’ve got those waders strapped on and you’re slogging through it, crap is still crap. I am notoriously not fond of crap. I don’t even do well with bathroom humor in films or on TV.
All kidding aside, Mannaz is not only a reminder to maintain our self-esteem and individuality–indeed, our Self-Sovereignty–it is also a reminder of the crap that will inevitably ensue when we do that. It’s a signal that Wyrd is as swift-changing and seemingly fickle as the faces of the moon must seem to those who do not yet fully recognize its cycles. Divorced from the rest of the Elder Futhark and standing all by itself, alone here in the month of May, the rune Mannaz is likewise divorced from the cycle, demanding that I raise my voice and stand my ground for a seemingly endless age, if I ever wish to find myself living again in the space of Jera (reaped rewards and fruitful seasons; peace; happiness; cycles and change; hopes, expectations, and successes earned).
Mannaz Mania has quickly turned into Mannaz Malaise: a sinking feeling of discomfort, uneasiness, unhappiness, and anxiety, like constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop when in so many ways, it already has. Because of this, I’m not gonna lie: my practice has suffered. I started the month out well enough, performing my usual daily devotionals and even taking time each day to meditate within the runes, via galdr, and participate in some “automatic writing” with the Gods. That all basically came to a grinding halt on the 8th of May when a certain shoe did drop, and all of that Mannaz energy came wooshing into my life, whether I liked it or not: I found both my individuality and self-esteem threatened by a certain event (which I have zero desire to go into), my hackles went up, and out came my voice. And it’s been coming out repeatedly, like it or not, ever since, in a constant flow (hence those other two blog posts likely permanently in the draft file).
So how does one learn to gel with Mannaz and build a relationship with this rune? Clearly, I’m still figuring that out, even as I’m typing all of this. The struggle is real! The prayer I’ve composed for weekly devotion on Mondays with Mannaz is this:
“Help me understand, love, and express my True Self.”
And I’ve been praying it, on a regular basis, and it has helped me precisely not at all! Mostly because I am probably the most self-assured and okay with my True Self that I’ve ever been. I don’t have a problem with me, but I’m having a really hard time with other people’s problems with me–all that stuff about “social order”, and my place within it, because I’m so me that I’ve effectively become a square peg in a round hole. The Self-Sovereignty part of Mannaz isn’t the source of my lack of gel; it’s the wading through the crap part with which I take issue; the “recognize your place in Humanity” part.
In my personal practice, the best way I’ve found to learn to gel with anything is to spend some time with the Vanfather, Njordr. From my very first blot with Him three years ago, I have come to understand and experience Him as a God of Peacemaking and Compromise: essentially, learning to make things gel. I sing Laguz (Njordr’s rune); I pray; I meditate. This is what He had for me:
“It’s not about you. It’s not about them. It’s about being.
Be: in the moment; in the now; in the right now. Let that come over you, like waves. One doesn’t navigate the ocean by beating themselves against the tide, or even by letting the tides rule them: both are wonderful recipes for drowning.
You don’t need to rail against every slight. That isn’t what it means to speak up for yourself and have a voice. Too much of living that way and you’ll be nothing more than angry all the time. It’s a quick road to tyranny and misery.
Instead, back your voice with your life; walk your talk. Then people will see the slight, without you ever needing to raise your voice. It’s easy to tell which direction the wind is blowing, when it is caught in a sail, but if the sail hangs in tatters, the ship is never going to leave port.”
The moon drives the tides, and Mannaz is also the rune of the moon. It pulls them, like lovers seeking each other, craving seeking craving, rather than forcing them this way or that. They simply wash over. The key for patching my relationship with this rune is learning that ultimate lesson: my place in Humanity is not to fit in, one way or another, but to recognize that we are all part of the same tide, ultimately all being pulled by the same moon. I’m patching my sails; the wind comes from the West….
