This is a hand-held facial massage tool that is used to increase circulation in the face and neck, increase absorption of skin care products and reduce fine lines, wrinkles, under-eye swelling, and dark circles. It works by supporting lymphatic drainage away from the face. The roller is typically made with two smooth jade stones, one at each end. Depending on the size of the area you are working on, you can use either the small or large end. To use, simply massage your favorite skin cream or oil onto your face and neck and, using the roller, make small sweeping motions from the center of your face, out toward your hairline or down toward your neck. Do this for about five minutes each morning. If you tend to have puffiness under your eyes or red, irritated skin, you can put the roller into the freezer overnight and use it cold the next morning.
Runes were the alphabetic system of the Vikings in the past. However, the Vikings didn’t commonly use runes for the communicative purpose between people and people. Rather, they used runes as a tool to communicate with their gods. One of the main sources that we have the information about runes is from the runestone. Thanks for the Vikings carving their runes onto materials like stone, we have something to look back at the age of the Vikings. One of the runestones surrounded by mysteries is the Björketorp Runestone.
The Björketorp Runestone currently rests in Blekinge, Sweden. It is a part of the grave field including some standing stones that form a circle.
It is among the tallest runestones in the world, measuring 4.2 meters (~13.7ft) in height. The Björketorp Runestone is the only stone that has rune inscription on it.
The runes were carved in Proto Norse language around 6th or 7th century. This language might have been in use from the 2nd to 8th century. Also, it might have been the foundation for the Old Norse language. There are two sides with the rune inscriptions on this stone. One side consists of a shorter line reading “I predict perdition”.
The other side with inscription evokes many controversies though. The message from the other side of the runestone reads:
I, master of the runes conceal here runes of power. Incessantly (plagued by) maleficence, (doomed to) insidious death (is) he who breaks this (monument). I prophesy the destruction/prophecy of destruction.
While some runestones contain the names of the tribe, the Björketorp Runestone lacks the name of the creators. The scholars have been in dispute about the purpose of the runestone. But the major theory is that the runestone is erected as a grave and a kind of curse is carved onto to protect it.
A small member of the mint family, but less pleasant in aroma and containing the toxic compound pulegone that is notorious for causing abortion; for years the plant has been used for ridding the home of fleas. Two thousand years ago, pennyroyal was the herb used to terminate unwanted pregnancies. Dr Art Tucker, author of The Big Book of Herbs explains that pennyroyal induces abortions by first damaging the mother’s liver: death sometimes follows. In modern times, most of the pennyroyal incidents involve the use of the plant’s essential oil (generally used for therapeutic or homeopathic purposes or as an insect repellent), which is so potent that it should be considered a poison. In the interest of safety, the advice should be never use pennyroyal essential oil for anything, not ever.
Magical propensities for physical strength and endurance. Worn to bring success to business or to rid the home of negative thoughts against you. Carry when dealing with negative vibrations of any kind.
This Rune is concerned with communication, with the attunement of something that has two sides, two elements, and with the ultimate union that comes at the end of the journey, when what is above and what is below are united and of one mind.
Inner worth mounts here, and at such a time you are not intended to rely entirely upon your own power. Instead, ask what constitutes right action. Ask through prayer or meditation, through addressing the Witness Self, the Teacher Within. Once you are clear, you can neutralize your refusal to let right action flow through you. Not intent on movement, be content to wait; while you wait, keep on removing resistances. As the obstructions give way, all remorse arising from trying to make things happen disappears.
The journey is toward self-healing, self-change and union. You are concerned here with nothing less than unobstructed, perfect union. But the union of Heaven and Earth cannot be forced. Regulate any excesses in your life. Material advantages must not weigh heavily on this journey of the self toward the Self. Stand apart even from like-minded others; the notion of strength in numbers does not apply at such a time, for this part of the journey—the soul’s journey—cannot be shared.
Reversed: Receiving Raido Reversed puts you on notice to be particularly attentive to personal relationships. At this time, ruptures are more likely than reconciliations and effort may be required to keep your good humor. Whatever happens, how you respond is up to you.
The requirements for your growth may totally disrupt what you had intended. Desired outcomes may elude you. And yet what you regard as detours, inconveniences, disruptions, blockages and even failures and deaths, will actually be rerouting opportunities, with union and reunion as the only abiding destinations.
The keynote here is receiving: messages, signals, gifts. Even a timely warning may be seen as a gift. The message may be that of a new life unfolding. New lives begin with new connections, surprising linkages that direct you onto new pathways. Take care now to be especially aware during meetings, visits, chance encounters, particularly with persons wiser than yourself. When the Messenger Rune brings sacred knowledge, you are truly blessed.
Loki is the ancient trickster from the pantheon of the Norse gods. He is the heyeohkah of the Native Americans, a mocking shadow of the creator god, as well as the bringer of benefits to humankind. He is a reminder that even scoundrels and arch-thieves can be the bearers of wisdom. When you draw this Rune, expect the unexpected: The message is always a call, a call to new life.
Ansuz is the first of the thirteen Runes that make up the Cycle of Initiation—Runes that focus directly upon the mechanism of self-change—and as such, addresses our need to integrate unconscious motive with conscious intent.
Drawing Ansuz tells you that connection with the Divine is at hand. It is a signal to explore the depths, the foundations of life, and to experience the inexhaustible wellspring of the Divine in your nature.
At the same time, you are reminded that you must first draw from the well to nourish and give to yourself. Then there will be more than enough to nourish others. A new sense of family solidarity invests this Rune.
Reversed: You may be concerned over what appears to be failed communication, lack of clarity or awareness either in your past history or in a present situation. You may feel inhibited from accepting what is offered. A sense of futility; of wasted motion, may overwhelm you. Remember, however, that what is happening is timely to your process. If the well is clogged, this is the moment for cleaning out the old. Reversed, Ansuz is saying: Consider the uses of adversity.
An evergreen, parasitic shrub growing on apple, lime, poplar, maple, hawthorn and rowan trees; in spring inconspicuous yellow flowers are followed by poisonous, sticky white berries.
The Pharoadendron species contains a toxin called phoratoxin, which can cause blurred vision, nausea, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, blood pressure changes, and even death. The Viscum species of mistletoe contains a slightly different cocktail of chemicals, including the poisonous alkaloid tyramine, which produces essentially the same symptoms. Although mistletoe has therapeutic uses, eating any part of the plant (particularly the leaves or berries) or drinking a tea from the plant can result in sickness and possibly death.
Magical propensities for fertility; creativity; prevention of illness/misfortune; wear in an amulet to repel negativity and ill will; protect against unwanted advances. Use to draw in customers, money and business.
In addition to performing acupuncture, a Chinese medicine practitioner almost always burns moxa in a therapy called moxibustion. This is an ancient practice known to increase energy in the body and warm it up. The plant burned is Artemesia vulgaris, otherwise known as mugwort. Practitioners burn it on strategic areas of the body, including acupuncture points and along meridians where chi is stuck and/or depleted, giving rise to pain, coldness, edema, fatigue, and other imbalances. Moxa comes in many forms, including raw leaves, salves, topical tinctures, and pressed into pencil- to cigar-size sticks. For home use of moxa, I recommend using a tiger warmer (more on this in the next section). Thousands of years ago, moxa was placed under a patient’s pillow to bring about dreams, visions, and insight, as well as to eliminate nightmares.
Moxibustion can be applied directly or indirectly. In direct moxibustion, the moxa cone rests on your body at the treatment point. The practitioner lights the cone and lets it burn slowly until your skin begins to turn red. Once you begin to feel heat, the practitioner removes it. Moxa can also be placed on the acupuncture needle and ignited. It burns on the needle until it’s extinguished. The heat travels through the needle to the acupuncture point.
Indirect moxibustion is more commonly practiced. It’s also a safer option, since the burning moxa doesn’t actually touch your skin. Instead, the practitioner will hold it about an inch from your body. They’ll remove it once your skin becomes red and warm. Another method of indirect moxibustion uses an insulating layer of salt or garlic between the cone and your skin. In another option, “moxa boxes” may be filled with moxa, ignited, and placed on the body.
With a gateway for its symbol, this Rune indicates that there is work to be done both inside and outside yourself. Thurisaz represents the frontier between Heaven and the mundane. Arriving here is a recognition of your readiness to contact the numinous, the Divine, to illuminate your experience so that its meaning shines through its form.
Thurisaz is a Rune of non-action. Thus, the gateway is not to be approached and passed through without contemplation. Here you are being confronted with a clear reflection of what is hidden in yourself, what must be exposed and examined before right action can be undertaken. This Rune strengthens your ability to wait. Now is not a time to make decisions. Deep transformational forces are at work in this next-to-last of the Cycle Runes.
Reversed: A quickening of your development is indicated here. Yet even in times of accelerated growth, you will have reason to halt along the way, to reconsider the old, to integrate the new. Take advantage of these halts.
If you are undergoing difficulties, remember: The nature of your passage depends upon the quality of your attitude, the clarity of your intention and the steadfastness of your will. Be certain that you are not suffering over your suffering.
Drawing Thurisaz Reversed demands contemplation on your part. Hasty decisions at this time may cause regrets, for the probability is that you will act from weakness, deceive yourself about your motives, and create new problems more severe than those you are attempting to resolve. Impulses must be tempered by thought for correct procedure. Do not attempt to go beyond where you haven’t yet begun. Be still, collect yourself, and wait on the Will of Heaven.
Figurines of women carved or sculpted from stone, ivory, or clay are a type of Paleolithic art found widely across Europe. These figurines share many striking similarities. While details such as facial features and feet are largely ignored, feminine sexual characteristics (breasts, belly, hips, thighs, and vulva) are often exaggerated. The focus on features related to sexuality and fertility, and the round body shapes depicted (during the Ice Age fat would have been a precious commodity) suggest that the figurines may have played a symbolic role as a charm relating to childbirth or, more generally, fertility.
Some researchers believe that the figures represent a “mother goddess,” but there is no real evidence for such an interpretation. Others have focused instead on the fact that the figurines demonstrate widely shared cultural ideas and symbols. These would have been crucial to social interactions and exchanges of resources, information, and potential marriage partners in the Ice Age world.
The Rune of terminations and new beginnings, drawing Uruz indicates that the life you have been living has outgrown its form. That form must die so that new energy can be released in a new form. This is a Rune of passage and, as such, part of the Cycle of Initiation.
Positive growth and change, however, may involve a descent into darkness as part of the cycle of perpetual renewal. As in nature, this progression consists of five aspects: death, decay, fertilization, gestation, rebirth. Events occurring now may well prompt you to undergo a death within yourself. Since self-change is never coerced—we are always free to resist—remain mindful that the new life is always greater than the old.
Prepare, then, for opportunity disguised as loss. It could involve the loss of someone or something to which you have an intense emotional bond, and through which you are living a part of your life, a part that must now be retrieved so you can live it out for yourself. In some way, that bond is being severed, a relationship radically changed, a way of life coming to an end. Seek among the ashes and discover a new perspective and new strength.
Reversed: Without ears to hear and eyes to see, you may fail to take advantage of the moment. The result could well be an opportunity missed or the weakening of your position. It may seem that your own strength is being used against you.
For some, Uruz Reversed will serve to alert, offering clues in the form of minor failures and disappointments. For others, those more deeply unconscious or unaware, it may provide a hard jolt. Reversed, this Rune calls for serious thought about the quality of your relationship to your Self.
But take heart. Consider the constant cycling of death and rebirth, the endless going and return. Everything we experience has a beginning, a middle and an end, and is followed by a new beginning. Therefore do not draw back from the passage into darkness: When in deep water, become a diver.”
Mark Bere Peterson’s Counterculture, Urban Legends, Paganism & Witchcraft 