“I consider myself a Þaðriδa, or threadrider. I follow the threads shown by the runes and help to weave their story.”

– Uta (Oakland, California, the ancestral and unceded land of the Chochenyo speaking Ohlone people).

Uta connects with the runes as ancestors, forward and backwards, an embodiment of the threads and watery channels in and out of our bodies. Pulled from the well of Urd in sacrifice, shimmery webs are carved on wood by the three Norns: Urd, Verdandi and Skuld. With a place on her ancestor altar, Uta connects with the runes in daily practice, weaving in a blanket of poetry, herbkraft, folk practices, myth, and history. 

Uta has participated in the 33-week foundational rune practice, “The Wild Soul Runes Community Gnosis” group, and has just traveled through a year-long practice with the Elder Futhark Runes (2 week study w/each of the 24 runes). She is in mentorship with Lara Veleda Vesta and Stevie Joy Leigh, and is also a student of Seidr, learning with and from Naomi Mirkrida, a practitioner teaching from a broad Northwest-European perspective and based in the Netherlands. Uta is also currently in a 9-month program and community space, Life as Medicine Way, dedicated to a more intimate relationship with nature, plants, and life, taught by Francisca Santibanez. She is also a part of active communities focusing on traditional Germanic and Polish folk practices. 

“I can’t map the runes to words… I think of them as ancient beings, embodied shapes, grandmothers, part of the web of wyrd, and also pure mystery. The map is not the realm – they may be a fingerprint of something much, much larger and more vibrant and colorful. But who’s to say?”

– Zoë Maer (Oakland, California, Ohlone Land)

Zoë builds relationships with the runes through their body, spirited creative writing and drawing, in land connection, through weaving, and in community. They have participated in a 33-week foundational rune practice facilitated by Lara Veleda Vesta called the The Wild Soul Runes Community Gnosis group. They also recently completed a foundational course in Embodied Ancestral Inquiry, which explored cultural attachment repair, somatics, and ritual practice with Marika Heinrichs and Stevie Joy Leigh, along with the 13-month Dark Goddess Year of Ceremony led by Lara Veleda Vesta. Zoë joyfully brings experience with popular education, facilitation, anti-racist organizing, and wealth redistribution to this space.

Note: In the left photo, Uta is standing with the Fehu Rune (Elder Futhark) found on stone in Portugal, December 2022.

What are the Northumbrian Runes and what do we mean by Runic Ecology?

According to Lara Veleda Vesta in Wild Soul Runes: Reawakening the Ancestral Feminine, “The [Northumbrian] runes are wild with mystery. Sometimes referred to as the Anglo-Saxon or Anglo-Northumbrian runes, they rarely appear in books about the runes, and it can be difficult to find a rune set with them included.” 

We can feel a strong connection between the 9 Northumbrian Runes and local land connection. We don’t quite know what Runic Ecology fully means, but will be exploring that question along with many others, through this practice. Questions like… 

• What poems, myths, and stories are connected with each rune, and with the Northumbrian Runes as a whole? What is the significance of the number 9, mead, and wortcunning (herbal magic) in connection with these runes?
• What themes, patterns, and insights emerge as each of us devotes two weeks to connecting with each rune?
• Where do these runes live in our bodies and in all of our relationships, including with the land?

What would a typical gathering include?

Each gathering will include a ritual opening, light tea/snacks, history/framing about the wider story of runes, poems, space for personal gnosis, land connection, and a ritual closing. 

What is the financial exchange?

There are 3 pricing options and monthly payment plans are available. Program cost includes 11 gatherings with light snacks and tea, 9 runes hand-crafted by Uta (to be shared every 2 weeks), shared knowledge about the runes, and wildcrafted oils/salves.

• Community Rate*: $350 one-time or $70/month. This rate is for you if you would find covering the regular costs of this training to be financially stressful and would need to cut into funds to meet your basic needs (food, rent, etc.)
• Sustainer Rate: $500 one-time or $100/month. This rate is the true cost of the program. It is for you if you have some financial stability/secure income and are able to cover your monthly costs in addition to having some disposable income left over.
• Supporter Rate: $650 one-time or $130/month payment plan. This rate is for you if you have financial assets/wealth and can contribute to the cost of the course for those with fewer financial resources.

5% of fees will be redistributed to the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, an urban Indigenous women-led land trust based in the Bay Area that facilitates the return of Indigenous land to Indigenous people.

*If the community rate tier presents a barrier, please reach out. 

What are our COVID protocols?

• We ask that everyone who participates has been vaccinated and boosted
• We ask everyone to test and stay home if you’re sick 
• While we will not require participants to mask indoors or outdoors, we welcome everyone doing so as they need, and may adjust our protocols during the fall

What kinds of payment methods do you accept? 

We accept a range of payments, and can discuss options during our clarity call.

What this practice is not:

• A certification 
• A therapy group (though challenging feelings will likely come up, as the runes support deeper integrity with personal values and actions)
• An herbalism class (though we will connect with plants!)
• A space to receive individual rune readings, however, through participating, you can book a discounted rune reading with Uta
• Written in stone

Ohlone Land Acknowledgement

I acknowledge that the land I live on, with respect and reverence, belonged to the Muwekma Ohlone People, who have stewarded this land throughout the generations. I will not forget the colonization of this land. If you feel called, you may also give to the Sogorea Te’ Land Trust, an urban Indigenous women-led land trust that facilitates the return of Indigenous land to Indigenous people: https://sogoreate-landtrust.org/