Calligraphy

This post won't be strictly about heathenry, but more general spirituality. Maybe.

Once in a while, I get a fierce itch to wallow in creative endeavors. Among these are photography, poetry, jewelry making (still in the early stages of this newest interest!), knitting (plain scarves only, haha), and calligraphy.

As an English major, teacher, and general lover of wordsmithing, calligraphy was a natural creative extension for me. I bought a book, some pens and paper, and I was off and running. I've been wanting to get back into it lately... over the summer break from school I want to establish an Etsy shop, which may feature some calligraphy items.

There is power in words. Language is what makes us human, what I think truly separates us from other animals. Animals have emotions, social structure, and even culture; all things that were previously believed to be unique to humankind. But spoken and written language places us in a unique space on this planet. By tapping into the power of words, we tap into the core of human identity.

Calligraphy is only one facet of this, however. I've done some simple rune magic and divination (yes, I know there's no historical basis for rune divination; no, I don't buy into the "blank rune" bit), always with good results. I've written poems as offerings, and I think I'd like to do some more of that and make nice calligraphy copies for my altar. Or copy quotes from the lore for my altar.

As a small side note, Odin, warrior poet, is a god I feel close to, and I believe a big part of that is my vocation. As an English teacher, my days often require a certain warrior attitude and definitely a poetic state of mind. I like to think Odin could have been one of those fierce, intense, tough, but brilliant English professors I love so much. :)