Isa

After our sweet little furry prognosticator said that we would have six more weeks of winter, our weather just went crazy.  Monday we had a snowstorm that was mostly slush.  Shoveling slush is much harder than snow but I wanted to make sure the driveway was clean so it didn't turn into ice. And ice my friends is what followed.

In the above shot, you can see my work driveway blocked by 2 major tree limbs that had to be hauled away by a truck (thank you rescuers!) and a whole lot of littler limbs that I managed to move.  I had been given the go-ahead to leave because the power was out; it was out pretty much everywhere in our area.  The tree stopped me and I had plenty of time to sit and look and listen to what was around me.

First of all, it was beautiful in a staggering way that fine crystal is.  Everywhere was full of prismatic flecks of light; everything was covered in ice.  Second, it was dangerous.  As I sat there I heard the crashing of limbs as trees could no longer bear the weight of the ice.  Later that ice would fall from all the trees and rain down shards that sounded almost eerie and made an unearthly din.  Never had I witnessed such a thing as this ice storm.

It made me think about the Norse Rune Isa.  Isa means just what you think; ice...standstill.  Ice can be cold and unforgiving or beautiful and inspiring.  When you freeze something in ice you can see it from outside of itself and from all angles.  Ice is as effective in fire at pruning away those things that no longer serve their purpose within us.  As the ice overcomes them they become to heavy for us to bear and we have no choice but to shed them from our being.

I've always believed that winter is a time for introspection.  Ice freezes things in a snapshot sort of way. You can see the trees through the ice; so too while we are in the grasp of Isa's changing we appear the same until the metaphorical branches start to fall away from us.  Isa's transformation is a slow one that is full of ponder-some moments and deep inner reflection.  The first shift feels strange like something has occurred but one can't quite put their finger on it.   New thoughts seem to surface and moods may change as Isa is readying us for spring.  The whole process is methodical and barely can be noticed until one day we wake up and we just feel different and just a little more whole.

Everyone has had one of these transformations in their life-time.  One cannot grow without a little pruning here and there.  But these moments can be easily missed and dismissed as just a "good day" where everything seems to flow and be right with the world.  The message of Isa is a good one. Stopping once a day to just be still and listen lightens the soul and helps to relax the body.  It should also be noted that the rune of Isa can be found within 17 of the other 24 runes which says to me the message it carries is very important; slow down because ice can be dangerous, beautiful and wondrous all at once.  All one can do when Isa has graced your path is be patient.  Eventually, the ice will thaw and new growth will occur.

I found it hard to knit again this week.  The shoveling of slush made my hands hurt.  I managed to have just enough light to knit when the power went out during the ice storm.  Regardless, here is my first block.  It is a slow patient journey of fiery colors interwoven together in a beautiful play of hues that merge and meld to form something new.  I see colors in this block that aren't there; which, is the magic of this pattern.  It tricks the eyes by gradually shifting the hues into thinking that the colors are just a bit more yellow or red or whatever. This blanket truly is magic.

Happy Crafting,
Ruinwen
:)