Central NJ Pagan Pride

Arfstoll had a table at the Central NJ Pagan Pride Day event, and it was a smashing success! I'm a bit too sunburned and exhausted to give a full accounting here, but we met a lot of wonderful folks, got to spread the word about what it is we're doing, and had the bonus of hanging out with a half-dozen fellow Arfstoll members.

Good times, good times.

Intro to Rune Magic at the Pagan Picnic

had the opportunity to do an "Introduction to Rune Magic" at this year's Pagan Picnic, put on by the Hands of Change Coven in Piscataway, NJ.

At the risk of appearing immodest (which, for a Theodsman, is simply standard fare), the class was a huge success. It was easily the best-attended class at the event, with about two dozen people, and only a few drifted off (and those were folks who asked questions early, so probably came to ask their questions, got their answers, and left). I only had an hour, but covered:

• What are runes?
• How do we know the esoteric meanings of the runes?
• The futharks and their relationship with the rune poems
• The use of the word "rune" in the Havamal
• Archaeological evidence of runic talismans
• Bind runes
• Galdr
• Runic divination
• And a demonstration of stadthagaldr ("runic yoga")

A lot to cover in just an hour, and it felt to me like I was racing through things at warp speed, but folks really seemed to like it, and I got a lot of positive comments afterwards. It was sort of a survey of a survey, but I hope some important points got made, and the people in the audience got a taste of what more there is to be had if they delve more deeply into the runes. Which, for a class like this, is all that I can hope for.