#sowelo

It sounds like you’re going through a really hard time right now, Anon. I’m so sorry. If you’re feeling depressed, please, seek out mental healthcare. I am not a doctor, but I understand that depression (like many health problems) can get harder to treat the longer you let it go. You are not alone, and there are people out there who want to help you and have the skills to do it. Keep reaching out until you find them.

Unfortunately, mental health is not my area of expertise, but I can tell you about a few runes to help with motivation and happiness. (These are not a substitute for mental healthcare.)  

Nauthiz (Need) -  If there’s something you absolutely have to do and need the strength to push through and do it. 

Kenaz (Torch) - Illuminates when you’re in a dark place and need guidance. Also helps with creativity and self-knowledge. 

Wunjo (Wish/Joy) - Brings happiness and helps you to see your own beauty.

Uruz (Aurochs) - Helps you connect with an unquenchable will to live.

Fehu (Cattle) - Helps you see your value.

Jera (Year) - Brings balance and healing. Visualize the rune stitching up inner wounds. 

Sowulo/Sowelo (Sun) - Helps you connect with the way it feels to step out into the sun after a long cold winter. (I like to draw this on candles and light them on dark days.)

Berkana (Birch) - Soothes, comforts, helps you find the will to take care of yourself.

To use them, trace them on your forehead with your thumb, wear them on your body on a piece of jewelry or a temporary tattoo (24 hour liquid eyeliner is great for this), carry a rune stone in your pocket, or draw them on food/drink and consume it (drawing with a dry erase marker on a glass or drawing a knife through peanut butter are two favorites of mine). 

I’m definitely in the “let’s play with all the toys all the time” camp. Divination systems are just like any other tool. Tarot is better than astrology at some questions, and astrology is better at others. Sometimes you only need to check somebody’s career houses to answer their question. Sometimes you want to bring different systems together to illuminate different sides of a more complex issue. 

And bringing together different divination systems in your head is absolutely invaluable. 

The sun, for example, is a symbol that shows up in astrology, Tarot, and runes. Each system looks at that symbol differently, but if you have all of those meanings in your head, you don’t need to pull out different tools. You can see the astrological sun in a rune reading, or you can use Tarot sun imagery to illuminate (heh) a birth chart.

Of course, there are ways to use different tools to support immaturity. Asking the Tarot a question and then consulting the runes about the same issue because you don’t like what your cards said is definitely a no-no. But if you are going to get yourself in trouble that way, involving different divination systems isn’t going to make much of a difference.