Description

When I was working with creating drawings to the poem ‘Cerridwen and Gion’ I was in the midst of my Futhark journey and this is an instance when my dreaming with the runes directly influenced my day to day life and work.
On this one particular occasion, on my way back from a spirit journey on the moor and I distinctly remember feeling ill at ease with the wind rushing through the trees and rains chasing at my back, my boots treading swiftly over the rocky road. Not far down the weather seemed to calm and I was joined by another traveller on the track distracting me from my fears.
He was a tall man wearing a long tattered multi fur coat that writhed around him as if alive with many animals, he had a very long scraggly beard filled with twigs and sticks, his face half hidden and his eyes dark like a stag or badger. Bramble vine tumbled out of his sleeves and a variety of fungi colonised his hair and clothes. Although his appearance should have repelled or at least concerned me, as I was all alone and far from home, I was instead filled with a feeling of well being and peace. We walked in silence for a while, me not wanting to break the spell with casual conversation, my eyes wide and awed by the multitude of butterflies, moths and dragonflies swarming about my companion.
As we approach a farm gate along the road a boar dashes from his coat, a flash of gold in the late summer light, and I know who my stranger is, and it is then Wild Freyr turns his head and smiles. It is like when the sun comes out from behind a cloud, blinding and warming at the same time, this smile from such a scraggly wild man who should scare me on all accounts, not give me ease and comfort with each shared step on the path. With a gentle stroke of softness upon my cheek he was gone, leaving behind a feeling of deep well being and gratitude. This feeling stayed with me to the journey’s end, my anxieties gone with the kindness of a wild god.
When I was home again, tea in hand and toasty warm , I read these words …

Afgaddu remained ugly
With eyes as black as coal.
Yet he was loved by everyone –
So kindly was his soul…

And I knew I was to paint my Wild Lord on the path, who like Afgaddu, embodies the kindness of man.

I would like to thank Sean Mychael Rice for the inspiring poetry and to my rune master Duncan White who patiently supported me through my year long Futhark Journey on the moor.

For a journey of deep connection and transformation I would recommend to anyone in the south west region to contact @theheathengardner on instagram and embark on your own journey of discovery with the runes on the moor.