INGRID KINCAID
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Equal And Extreme

3/19/2018

2 Comments

 
Picture
Equal night.
That's the literal translation of the word Equinox. And there are two of them each year.
One in the spring and one in the fall, when the sun is overhead the equator and the length of daylight and darkness are equal.
​The extreme happens at the time of the Solstices.
In winter the Solstice is the longest night.
In summer the solstice is the longest day.
The farther north you go, the more extreme this difference becomes.
Our native Northern European ancestors divided the circle of the year into two parts.
They were either going into the dark or going into the light.
Winter Solstice at about December 21 is the longest night and from that time forward the days begin to lengthen.
Going into the light.
Summer solstice at about June 21 is the longest day and from that time forward the nights begin to lengthen.
Going into the dark.
So to celebrate Spring Equinox is to mark the half way point between Winter Solstice and Summer Solstice.
Once we reach Summer Solstice, the Great Wheel will turn and we will begin, again, to go into the dark.
This eternal dance is  beautifully expressed in the shape and the meaning of the Dagaz rune.
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The Double Edge Of Dagaz

8/20/2015

0 Comments

 
There are some rune books that refer to the Dagaz rune as the rune of daybreak.  
I say, look at its shape.  Dagaz is a rune of wholeness.  It holds the energy of extremes.  It is daybreak and nightfall.  To name it daybreak is to speak of only half of it.  
It’s a balanced rune.  It’s even, and there’s a place in the middle, the still point, where the two extremes come together and at that point neither of them exists; they are both nothing.
Dagaz contains both sunrise and sunset, the power of night and day, dark and light as well as the point of intersection, the still point, the threshold, the liminal space.
It's interesting that in the English language the word day is used to include both day and night.  Have you ever thought about that?  We're all familiar with using the expression ‘an entire day’ to describe a 24-hour period.  Why don’t we say instead, ‘an entire night’?  Is it because we fear the dark?
If Dagaz holds both light and dark, we could easily call it the rune of nightfall and be just as correct as calling it the rune of daybreak, but such singular descriptions misrepresent the actual rune.  What if we refer to it instead as the rune of Equinox, a word that means equal night? 
I read an explanation once about the Dagaz rune where the person said, ‘darkness isn’t darkness.  It’s a quality of the light.’
I find that statement extremely strange.  And stranger still when attempting to apply it to the ancient wisdom of Dagaz.
Dark isn’t a quality of light any more than light is a quality of dark.  Darkness isn’t the absence of light any more than light is the absence of darkness. 
Many times when Dagaz appears in a reading it comes as an invitation to examine your relationship with and beliefs around darkness.
Dagaz will also show itself in times of transformation.  Often I use the example of the
metamorphosis of the caterpillar.  For a certain period of time, all the caterpillar does is eat.  Then at some moment it stops and begins to create from its own body a container that will enclose it and during the time of confinement it will go through a complete change in form.  The body of the caterpillar liquefies and when it reaches that place it's not unlike the single point of the Dagaz rune. It’s not one thing or the other.  It's nothing and it's no thing.  It’s the still point before the turning.
Everything that was needed to become something new was contained within the old and all that is needed to become again the old is contained within the new. 
Once transformed, the butterfly must emerge from the container and to do so requires struggle and persistence.  And once it emerges it must trust that its newly formed wings will allow it to fly.
Powerful, transformative things happen in the dark.  It takes stored energy to transform and it takes stored energy to emerge.  There are times during the transformation process that require silliness and waiting.  There are times during the process when it's necessary to wiggle and struggle to come forth.
Do you allow yourself to be still in order to transform?  Do you know how to effort in order to emerge?  What can you learn from Dagaz? 
Dagaz holds the energy of birth because it’s the transition from one space into another through a narrow passage and it holds the energy of death because it's a transition from one space to another through a narrow passage.
Does the light emerge from the darkness or does the darkness emerge from the light?  Or do both things happen?  How do you answer?


 

arms folded
I cross myself
the still point
constantly moving
leaving
returning
emerging
from light darkness
where they meet
am I willing
to be nothing
Dagaz the double edge
brings death and birth


This original rune poem by Ingrid Kincaid was first published in her limited edition, handmade rune book (un) familiar.
Picture
Dagaz
(un) familiar rune cards
Picture
Sunrise or sunset?
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    title Photo by Amaury Gutierrez on Unsplash

    Ingrid

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Ingrid lives in the Pacific Northwest, at the confluence of two rivers, and in sight of two volcanoes.
Photos from kajsahartig, x1klima
  • RUNES
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  • INGRID
    • Bio
    • Testimonials
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  • TEACHINGS
    • Spiritual Counseling
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    • Self-Directed Home Study
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    • Live Recordings of Past Events
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