#ucc

Makiki Christian Church is a Christian church located in Honolulu, Hawaii. It was built in 1931, and is the only Christian church in the United States designed to look like a 16th-century Japanese castle.

At the beginning of the training, we created an altar on which we put things to represent ourselves as we spent our time together. The facilitators also offered markers to draw things on the altar cloth. Now, I forgot to take a picture of the altar cloth (because of course I did), but I did recreate the bindrune I made for the altar for you to see.

I wanted to make something that reflected the values (and value) of the program. I chose ansuz (top left) for making accurate knowledge accessible, which is opposite laguz (bottom right) because knowledge, particularly when it comes to sexuality, can be crucial for self-understanding which facilitates healing. Mannaz (top right) is for embracing ourselves and our bodies in their fullness, and is opposite wunjo (bottom left) as finding joy and pleasure in our bodies and our lives is something we want to foster in the participants of the program. You can also read these clockwise starting with ansuz: learning about ourselves and our bodies (mannaz) allows us to heal (laguz) from the messages and experiences that have caused us harm which then allows us to more fully enjoy our life and bodies (wunjo). And at the intersection of all of this is gebo (the "X" connecting the 4 other runes) because the program is a gift that facilitates all of the above. Plus, when thinking of gifting cycles, this type of program is a gift that keeps on giving. If one participant takes positive things away from the program, then they share that with others in their lives, which those people can then share with others in their lives, etc. etc.

I wanted to share this for a couple of reasons. 1. I'm frankly quite proud of my work with it and how this bindrune impacted the other people at the training. Multiple people expressed their appreciation for me (and the other person from my congregation that went) for being so openly pagan. I also noticed one of our instructors got misty eyed when I explained the meaning of it, which tells me I did good. 2. I want to encourage any other pagan/heathen folks that are involved in sexuality education (or otherwise support it) to use it if you so choose. Bindrunes (and other sigils) contain magic and energy we wish to foster, so if this resonates, please feel free to use it in whatever context feels appropriate. (Also depending on context, I would appreciate being credited.) Even if you feel like what I created here doesn't exactly fit your purposes, I still offer it as inspiration for you to create something of your own. (In which case, I would love to see it if you're willing to share!) It did occur to me later that adding tiwaz for an element of justice would be incredibly powerful, as well as algiz and/or eihwaz for protection. (Though I guess you could argue with algiz across from laguz there is technically an eihwaz in there.) This work is going to be particularly targeted in the U.S. and, even without the current administration being what it is, is political because of how our culture is. So justice and protection are certainly relevant with this work.

ICE agents are expected to arrive soon in central Ohio, where 15,000 Haitians are set to lose protected status next week.

LGBTQ+ Ohioans protest ICE during nationwide general strike