A Time for Standing Still

Are you familiar with Runes?

They are an ancient Nordic oracle system. On one of the stones is a letter called Isa that looks like the capital letter I. Translated into English, Isa means stand still.

In his Book of Runes, Ralph Blum describes Isa as symbolizing, “the winter of spiritual life.” In other words, a time to stop and do nothing.

He goes on to say, “positive accomplishment is unlikely now. There is a freeze on useful activity, all your plans are on hold… trying to hold on can result in shallowness of feeling… seek to discover what it is you are holding onto that keeps this condition in effect, and let go. Shed, release, cleans away the old. That will bring on the thaw.”

Isa, in essence embodies the winter. A time of fallow, of waiting, of decomposing and nurturing the soil for new life to unfold.

And yet for us busy active folk, standing still is hard!

Waiting is work!

I watch as a part of myself grows impatient, wanting resolution, while the other part of me knows better. I’ve been down this road too many times before. I’ve tried to push, and know all too well how that turns out.

The invitation of this moment is to wait. To standstill and allow whatever is present to be here, whether it feels good or not.

Collective patterns and societal ways of being are collapsing around us. So, doesn’t it stand to reason that the ways we view ourselves must be re-evaluated as well?

If, like me, you’re feeling this desire to release something old and outworn, and yet are simultaneously feeling held back, it appears that our counsel is to wait and be patient. To give ourselves time and space to allow this sloughing to occur.

Despite experiencing emotional discomfort, I am trying to be present with it. As I am, I also ask for support and guidance, remembering that divine right timing is always operating in my life.

Everything unfolds exactly as it needs to be. I am loved and supported in every way.

How about you? Is this feeling of standstill resonating for you?

Let me know!

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Image by David Mark on Pixabay