With most of the world on lockdown; people are forced to find a way to cope with the sudden halt to what they deemed to be a normal life. While the muggle population views what’s taking place as chaos, even they have noticed what is occurring while we are encouraged to self-quarantine… nature is healing! Canals in Italy have cleared up and Dolphins have returned. Air pollution in China and here in the US has been shown to have decreased markedly as our highways became scarcely traveled.  Without the hustle and bustle of people running about performing their everyday routines—Mother has seized the opportunity to breathe a sigh of relief and heal while she can.

Mother has seized the opportunity to breathe a sigh of relief and heal while she can.

As nature is taking this opportunity to recuperate, this is a perfect time for us to follow her example. Seldom do we truly take the time off to recharge our batteries when needed. It’s usually when we feel that we are on the verge of collapse that we finally listen to our bodies and minds and hit the pause button so that we can come back and perform at our optimal abilities later on. It’s when we are separated from the pack that we are finally able to hear our inner voice.  Being in lockdown gives each of us an opportunity to assess our lives and ask, is “the normal” that we were living something that we want to go back to?

futhark_runes_othilaAn appropriate rune to focus on during this time is Othila: Separation. It also speaks of Inheritance and Retreat.  While this turn of events makes balancing work from home and quaran-teaching a challenge, this separation from the chaos that we consider to be a normal way of life gifts us with the opportunity to ask ourselves what is normal? What old skins do we need to shed, to free ourselves in order to come out of this time of uncertainty as better human beings?  It is said that the Inheritance in which Othila refers to, speaks of not just the tangible things which are passed down to us through our family line, but the good in our nature as well. In that regard, we can meditate upon Othila as a way to get in touch with our ancestral spirit guides and call upon them to help strengthen us at this time and to show us how it is we can contribute to our global family’s well-being. As for the aspect of Retreat, while some may interpret the word as an act of cowardice, we can see this retreat as an opportunity to retreat within ourselves and use this time to search our innermost beings and see what it is that we may need to release in order to bloom.  While taking the time to meditate upon Othila, we can meditate also for the good of our global family, sending all the love, light and healing that we can, that will be of benefit to all.