The Fourth Book of Zinlin
To attribute the origins of all our problems or questions to forces outside of us and beyond our control or influence is to avoid our portion of responsibility and to deny our potential for change. This makes us believe we are stuck, and therefore to actually be stuck. We become bitter towards others and our circumstances.
To attribute the origins of all our problems to ourselves is also unrealistic and unhelpful. It makes us focus only on our deficiencies and failures, and again makes us stuck, through a belief that we are incapable of improving ourselves or influencing change in our world.
We must accept that we have only a portion of control over our own path through life and even less over others', but by patience, intentional thought, skill, effort and good relationships, we can make our own way, as a sailing boat rides the changing winds, and be an agent in our own journey. Above all, we must notice when we feel stuck and whether we blame ourselves or others. Then we must remind ourselves that, nearly always, we are only stuck because we believe we are stuck. A more mature attitude to ourselves, based both on clear self-analysis and compassion, can bring about a more helpful attitude towards others and better understanding and strength about how to influence or negotiate improvement in our circumstances.
Most often, it is helpful to take life as it comes, even as you look and work for better ways. Be mindful of what you could do differently, build relationships and have courage to ask others to do differently. Sometimes it is helpful to accept that you will not find fulfillment in the circumstances you inhabit (home, work, community) and that staying will only poison you and those around you. At these times it is helpful to face up to the need for considerable change and take the option to move to a different environment, even if this creates hardship initially.
Be ever mindful of the value of wise, older persons who have known you over the years of your life. Even if they are no longer of the living or you are separated by distance, ask yourself “What would this wise, trusted person think, feel and do? What helpful aspect of themselves would come to the fore? What unhelpful aspect of myself would they kindly reveal to me?” Another method is to imagine, many years hence, when you look back on this time of your life, having successfully grown in understanding of yourself and your position in the world, what advice would you give yourself now about how to change your beliefs about yourself in order to go forward and flourish?
We all have different strengths, which in the Hodrin species, but not in all others, are largely determined by our sex. Be aware of your strengths and the strategies that most often work for you, but when you do get stuck, take time to be mindful of whether you are stuck in spite of working to your strengths. Sometimes our usual strategies do not work and it does not help just to apply those same strategies with greater effort. Do not be over-reliant on one strategy or approach to problems. Instead, consider your other competences, other approaches you may have not used before or have not used for a long time. It is likely that a different strategy will get you unstuck. Consider, most importantly, what approach might others respond to in a manner that is helpful to you.
Know and care for yourself with honesty, integrity and acceptance, even as you are aware of things you would change about yourself and your relationships with others, the world around you and with the Great Mystery. Accept that you are who you are now, in the place and time you currently inhabit. Let movement towards change be from an attitude favourable to growth and empowerment, carrying forth an awareness of all your good qualities and talents. Stay relaxed and strong. Do not let change be from an attitude of fear or of self-loathing or desperation in your circumstances. Do not become trapped in neediness. Be patient.
Pre-experience your changes. Be confident. In your mind and in the sensations of your body, project yourself forward to a time when the changes are complete. In doing this, you will bring desired changes to you as much as you move towards them.
For if you look inside yourself with eyes only for lacks, weaknesses and needs, you will bring forth only despair and experiences that affirm that despair, even as you wish for change with a clear vision of what you want and who you want to be.
Be authentic. Just as you are confident in what you are becoming, do not hide your real self from your own or others' eyes.
To believe you can hide your real self from others and that they see only the false mask that you project, is only self-delusion. If you persist in this delusion, then it will only be others who can see your real enduring good qualities. You will only see weaknesses in yourself that come mostly from your own self-destructive imagination, and the falseness of your mask.
Know this: At your very core you are unblemished, a clear light, wonderful and at peace, just being. Your real self is not sick. To believe you must hide your real self is a sickness.
Therefore, do not struggle with hiding yourself from others or from yourself. Do not spend your energy on self-derision or self-punishment or even on self-pity. Do not hide from your own foolish emotions or conceal your own wicked thoughts. Allow them to be, knowing you have the choice and the power to dismiss them in good humour, or to express them when the time is proper. As a rule, ever turn your attention to your own good qualities and permit yourself to express these, and ever be mindful of the good things you have in your possession or at your disposal. And when you awaken each day, tell yourself you are alive and start your day with something cheery, even if it is simply to say, in a cheerful voice, such as ‘today I shall wear my white gown and my blue shoes.'
Learn to just be. Shake the stress from your limbs. Breathe it away from your core. Smile.
Pay heed to the social conventions of your people, place and time. But express yourself honestly. Practice being joyful, grateful, even when you experience pain. For pain is for learning. Accept pain, but do not make a meal of it. Pain is for learning and then for discarding.
Be of open, happy, loving heart. Be energized. Be considerate of others, yes. But, to begin with, just be, at peace and one with yourself, in touch with your own body and mind, aware of your own energy.
If we have the same unwanted experience repeatedly we must ask ourselves, not only “what is it in the World that keeps delivering this experience to me”, but also “what is it about me or my conduct that keeps attracting this experience to me?” Yes, there is a time for looking inwards for mistakes and weaknesses, but do this with faith in your own power to make change to your beliefs and patterns of acting, and a readiness to project yourself into a future you where you have beliefs and actions that attract more favourable experiences.
The part of your inner self that has contributed to your issue may be a new or growing awareness of a part of you that is ready for development, or a part of you that has seen its time and is ready for discarding or moderating.
The part of your inner self that is contributing to your issue may be an over-reliance on one way of being, of acting or presenting yourself. It may be about denying a part of you or denying the growth or expression of a part of you, because of shame or guilt or fear. This throwing of the rune will bring to light an aspect of your inner self that you are either believing in too strongly and want others to see and believe in at the expense of other aspects of you; or it is an aspect of your inner self that you need to have more acceptance of and belief in.
In this, The Fourth Book of Runes, you will have your attention drawn to an aspect of your inner self that needs attention. It may be that this is the aspect of you that constrains you from finding a path forward. It may be an aspect of you that you are forgetting to acknowledge, employ or express. You may be surprised that it is an aspect that you had not considered before. The Runes ask you to awaken your energies and to know and be directed by your deepest values and personal resources. The Runes ask you to challenge your self-limiting beliefs.
Draw your Rune Die and throw it now to reveal the Rune that speaks to the aspect of your inner self which has contributed to your issue. Your task is to relate your Rune interpretation to your inner self, in a manner of helpfulness and wisdom.
Roll the die