You may have heard me speak of "following a thread".
It's something I do as part of creating my art which then weaves itself into my life.
By following a thread I mean -
I slowly wander the Essaouira tide lines - high and low - through all seasons;
looking, admiring, searching, inquiring.
Usually humming made up tunes.
Sometimes I take photographs and often claim a treasure that's 'talking' to me;
something that starts a story - a little thread end I can pull on - a Story Stone.
Of course every stone has a story -
Glossy, speckled, striped, translucent.
I think perhaps their greatest power is permanence.
They can hold a memory for us and meaning and significance.
Stone circles that are scattered across the whole world, being the most powerful examples.
It's something I do as part of creating my art which then weaves itself into my life.
By following a thread I mean -
- expanding on a thought - daydreaming,
- writing and drawing out an experience, dream or vision - journaling,
- researching in books and online,
- pulling some oracle or tarot cards,
- playful doodling or serious studies in my sketchbooks,
- walking on the beach - my meditations....
I slowly wander the Essaouira tide lines - high and low - through all seasons;
looking, admiring, searching, inquiring.
Usually humming made up tunes.
Sometimes I take photographs and often claim a treasure that's 'talking' to me;
something that starts a story - a little thread end I can pull on - a Story Stone.
Of course every stone has a story -
- thrown from a volcano,
- journeying by glacier,
- revealed by the sea.
Glossy, speckled, striped, translucent.
I think perhaps their greatest power is permanence.
They can hold a memory for us and meaning and significance.
Stone circles that are scattered across the whole world, being the most powerful examples.
Back in 2021, on one of my meditation beach walks, I thought about carving or drawing my own symbols onto the stones. To stamp them with a more obvious meaning to communicate to others.
Of course Runic symbols popped into my mind - yes! I think I'll make myself a set of Runes !
It felt right to make them from the stones, rather than wood or bone, though both of these would be lovely.
But here, the stones on the beach, at the edge of the sea - symbolising the place between the conscious and the unconscious - made sense, for my time here in Essaouira.
I collected the 25 stones slowly. Different colours, around the same size and thinness.
Most importantly, they had to feel right; no resistance to my touch, feeling easy and lively.
3 years later I made them - I said I collected slowly.
Of course Runic symbols popped into my mind - yes! I think I'll make myself a set of Runes !
It felt right to make them from the stones, rather than wood or bone, though both of these would be lovely.
But here, the stones on the beach, at the edge of the sea - symbolising the place between the conscious and the unconscious - made sense, for my time here in Essaouira.
I collected the 25 stones slowly. Different colours, around the same size and thinness.
Most importantly, they had to feel right; no resistance to my touch, feeling easy and lively.
3 years later I made them - I said I collected slowly.
 Using a buttery soft burgundy leather, I hand stitched a pouch. Rolled over the top to reveal the suede side, scalloped the edges and stitched a casing for a red and green plaited cord.  There was a cut in the leather remnant and so I patched it with a scrap, stitching it to the inside. |  Then I stitched on a Triskele, (pronounced triss-keel or try-skeel). Representing the three aspects of the Triple Goddess: maiden, mother and crone.  Then I slowly drew each Runic symbol onto the 24 selected stones. Stone 25 - the Rune of Destiny - remains blank. |
Complete and ready for my questions.
I use Ralph Blum's - "The Book of Runes" - for the interpretations.
This book is readily available and comes with its own set of runes.
If you'd like to make a set of Runes for yourself -
go for a Meditation Wander and look and listen for inspiration.
I use Ralph Blum's - "The Book of Runes" - for the interpretations.
This book is readily available and comes with its own set of runes.
If you'd like to make a set of Runes for yourself -
go for a Meditation Wander and look and listen for inspiration.
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