Show your old school geek cred! Let everyone know that not Starbuck, but "Apollo died first."  read more »

What to do when your small child wants to be Optimus Prime (from Transformers)? Since there were nearly no transformer costumes available, except on ebay, we decided to make one.

Completed project photos:  read more »

On Thursday, March 16th give thanks to St Urho for driving the grasshoppers from Finland and saving the grape harvest. "Heinäsirkka, Heinäsirkka, mene täältä Hiiteen!" More info about St. Urho can be found here, and over there.

Then, on Friday, March 17th, thank St. Patrick for driving the snakes from Ireland. Here's a little bit of this, that, and the other thing about St. Pat.

Have a safe and happy holiday weekend!

The following is a list of runes with their pronunciations, short definitions, and upright/reversed options. For more in depth descriptions, select upright or reversed.

Wyrd - (wErd) The Unknowable, Divinity of all human endeavors (upright)
Mannaz - (mahn'-nahz) The Self, man, woman, the entire race (upright) (reversed)
Gebo - (ge'-bO) Partnership, A sharing between partners. A gift of oneself to Oneself. (upright)
Ansuz - (ahn'-sooz) Signals, Odin, messages, signals, gifts (upright) (reversed)
Othila - (O-thee'-lah) Heritage, Inheritance, severance, shedding, sloughing off (upright) (reversed)
Uruz - (oo'-rooz) Strength, growth, rebirth (upright) (reversed)
Perth - (perth) Initiation, Hearth, hidden or secret matters (upright) (reversed)
Nauthiz - (now'-theez) Constraint, Need, necessity and obstacles (upright) (reversed)
Inguz - (in'-gooz) Fertility, New beginnings. Sharing. Ing - earth (upright)
Eihwaz - (eIh'-waz) Defense, Yew tree, Strength through endurance (upright)
Algiz - (ahl'-geez) Protection, acceptance and understanding, yield strength, Elk (upright) (reversed)
Fehu - (fA'-hoo) Possessions, wealth, nourishment, fulfillment (upright) (reversed)  read more »

As with any rune casting, try to clear your mind of all but the issue in question, before asking the runes your question. This rune spread consists of five runes, placed in a cross formation. This is done for you at this site. The underlying belief of this layout is in reincarnation, though one does not have to subscribe to the beliefs of reincarnation to employ this format. In fact, I have used it as an alternative for the five rune spread on occasion, this yields a metaphorical or pseudo-reincarnation schema for the current issue. In any event, this is done for you at www.TikkiWeb.net.

From right to left through the center the stones are conveyed as follows:
1. Birth and Childhood
2. Your Present
3. Future in this Life
Followed by the bottom stone
4. Past Life
And finally the top stone
5. Next Life
Continue on to Three Lifetimes Spread.

First create a clear picture of the problem in your mind. A great deal of personal information can be discerned from this spread. Six runes need to be drawn for this spread, to be set up in a Celtic Cross formation. This is done for you at www.TikkiWeb.net.

The relevance of each is described below:
1. The past you are coming from most recently
2. You now, your current role
3. The future as it is coming in to being for you
4. The foundation of the matter under consideration
5. The nature of the challenge for this situation
6. The new situation that will arise as you achieve your goals

Continue on to Runic Cross.

This particular rune spread as set up at this site, is capable of giving you over 6,000,000 different layouts. As with any rune casting, try to clear your mind of all but the issue in question, before asking the runes your question. This rune spread consists of five runes, each one placed below the stone drawn previously. This is done for you at www.TikkiWeb.net.

From top to bottom the stones relate as follows:
1. Overview of the current situation
2. Challenge to overcome with this situation
3. The course of action called for to manage this situation
4. Sacrifice - what you will have to set aside or consider to handle the current situation
5. New situation evolving and usually the outcome of the current situation

Continue on to Five Rune Spread.

The three rune spread is also known as the Norns. The Norns are the three Norse Fates. The three Norns can be found by their spring that flows from beneath one root of the ash tree Yggdrasill. (the world tree) Urdur rules over the past, Verdandi the present, and Skuld the future. This rune spread consists of three runes, each one placed to the left of the stone drawn previously. This is done for you at www.TikkiWeb.net.
1. Represents the past or an overview of the situation
2. The present state or the challenge to overcome with this situation
3. The course of action called for to manage this situation or if reading from a passive view the likely outcome from the present state

Continue on to Three Rune Spread.

Drawing a single rune can be helpful for many simple insights, particularly during stressful times. It can help you to see the humor in a difficult matter. You can also use this single rune drawing to commemorate special events in your life. You may even want to keep track of these castings in a Rune Journal. Another simple use is to gain a simple Yes or No answer. To do so draw a rune upright is Yes, inverted is No, for those that can't be inverted draw again.
Another good use is to draw a stone in the morning and use it as a reference throughout the day. On particularly difficult days, draw another stone in the evening to see how you handled your problems that day.
Continue on to Odin's Rune.