A Personal Prayer for Job Interviews

 I’ve had this little piece of paper with a prayer written on it in my wallet since I was a massage therapist in The Before Times (before Covid). I was getting ready for my first library job interview and found it in my wallet, rewrote it a bit to apply to a library position, and have used it in some form or another for most job interviews since then.

This prayer involves Bragi, Freyja, and Saga, since Saga is the god I associate with libraries and librarians the most in my personal praxis… but it would be simple to swap out Saga with a deity that more closely lines up with whatever position or field you’re interviewing for!



Bragi, elegant speaker, articulate wordsmith,
Please guide my speech today.
Saga, guardian of knowledge and history,
Aid me in my search for a position that would allow me to provide wisdom and stories for those who seek them.
Freyja, confident and strong,
Remind me of my own self-worth and help me to trust in my own knowledge.
Hail Bragi, Saga, and Freyja!
I ask for your blessings!

=+=+=+=+=+=

Bonus picture of the beat-up prayer from my wallet:

Bindrune: Protection in a Social Fallout

This particular bindrune is one I’ve had drawn on a note card by my PC monitor since I created it in summer of 2021. As a heathen fairly involved in a large online community, there’s always going to be some level of social drama that happens, online and in person, and I’m actually kinda mad I didn’t make this one years ago because it’s super handy, hahaha.

I created this bindrune to help keep myself (and others) from falling prey to gossipy bullshit during a situation that was threatening to cause major social fallout. Emotions were running rampant - as they do, when you have unhappy people on all sides of a situation - and remembering to take a beat, examine your own thoughts and emotions, and *respond* and not *react* is so important. This bindrune also helps as a wall between you and the other party so that you aren’t as affected by lies, disagreements, or barbed words.

As I’ve said before, I mix and match rune poems and rune names (Old Norse/Icelandic, Anglo-Saxon, Norwegian) because the rules are made up and the points don’t matter. For the sake of clarity I’ve included the Elder Futhark names along with each rune, since generally, people are familiar with those.

Thanks to Distressed for digitizing the bindrune image for me!

Thurs/Thurisaz: For protection, defense, and being prepared

As/Ansuz: For speech, careful words, and speaking truthfully

Logr/Laguz: For emotions, which run high in social drama situations

Eolh/Algiz: For defense against unwanted shit, physical or nonphysical

I purposely put As and Logr on the opposite side of Thurs (the bottom half of the bindrune) to create a barrier between the defensive/stay-away side of the bindrune and the emotion-driven, tricky parts of a social fallout. My reasoning was that in situations where people are very upset and feelings are all over the place, *everyone* can benefit from a little separation from the feelings to really assess the situation. There’s also small Hagal runes included because things will be chaotic and destructive for a while (like hail is), but things grow from upheaval and change.

As always, feel free to swipe this and use it yourself, change it to be relevant for your own situation or uses. Bindrunes work because of intention, so use it with that in mind!

A Prayer to the Spirits of my Classroom

To Vaettir of this place, 

You who were here before me and who will remain after we are gone

This space is your home, and now our classroom 

A place of learning for the children I teach

I share this space with you, and you with me. 

I ask that you help me in my endeavors to teach these children

Guide me and my students as we learn and grow together 

Watch over us, keep up calm, keep us safe

In return, I honor you and your presence in this space.

I share what I have with you as you share this space with us. 

May you share the joy, the laughter, the tears, and growth you witness here. 

A Prayer to The Norns

 Norns, your hands caked in clay, you whose hands sculpt and shape the bricks laid out before me. Maidens, look kindly upon me as I spin the tapestry of my life. 

Urd, maiden of what was, release me from the pain of my past; the trauma and the hurt that wants so badly to leech joy from me. Pull the threads of the lessons I learned taut, so that I may build strength from heartache. 

Verdandi, maiden of this moment, illuminate my path forward with your tender glow and piercing touch. Grant me the grace and patience I need to be true to my heart, and not to my hurt. 

Skuld, future-maiden, treat me gently as I weave my fate. Guide my hand, guide me through the steps I must take. And when I reach the end of my weave, tie off the ends and hide them behind the clouds so that I may fly

Bindrune: For Protecting the Home

 I made this bindrune in October of 2019 after my home (in Texas at the time) was broken into while I was out of state visiting a friend. Thankfully, nobody was home including the dogs, and we had neighbors who called the police once they saw the back window was broken and the curtain was hanging outside... but by then, the damage had been done, items were stolen, and my feeling of being safe in my own home was gone. I took steps to remedy that in non-spiritual, mundane ways (getting a few cameras, insisting the rental management install an alarm system, etc.), but I decided it was worth the energy to also "install some spiritual barricades" while I was at it.

Note: Remember that we don't really have any solid, "true" meanings for runes. What we know comes from three rune poems (which can be found here) and any additional meanings are my own. I mix and match rune names from Elder Futhark, Anglo-Saxon Futhorc, Old Norse, and Icelandic, because I can and there are no rules. Truthfully, the Elder Futhark names just kind of annoy me and I'd rather go off the names from the rune poems. I just mix them up because why be consistent when I can do what I want?! 

Tiw: Justice, fairness, law; don't break the law by breaking into my house, fuckers.
Algiz/Eolh: Defense, protective barriers/barricades
Fe: Physical, mobile property (ex. All the stuff in my house)
Odal: Home, family
Thurs: Thorn; strong protection, preparedness

I breathed on the glass on every window (since that was where the break-in happened) and used my finger to draw it in the fog on the glass, drew it on every entrance to the house, envisioning a shield around the house to keep out intruders as I did. This bindrune - carved and burned into a piece of cheap balsa wood from a craft store - hung near the door at the house the rest of the time I lived in Texas, and again at two houses in Georgia, and now it is near the door of my home in Colorado. 

Feel free to use and adapt this very simple bindrune for your own use!

A Personal Prayer to Hati

Hati, Moon Chaser of the Heavens, I come to you with reverence, as it's you that brings closure to a tiresome day. You grant me rest and peace under the still of the night allowing Mani to bless us with the calming rays and moving tides.

Grant me, Wolf of the Shadows, the will to let go of the days troubles,
The resolve to put things to bed and to allow my mind to rest,
May your tenacity give me tranquillity that is needed as Sol rests,
And allows Mani to come out and heal those in need with the soft glow of his light.

Guide me, Night Bringer, allow me release to surrender the stress, and detach from the day.
Under the glow of the silver skies, may my mind be free to imagine the possibilities of the new day.
Hail to you Twilight Hound, for it is the darkness that brings me light.

A Personal Prayer to Garmr

Garmr, the Gate Keeper, with reverence and respect, I call for you. You guard the threshold of lives lived, defenders of the ancestors on the borders where worlds meet shadows.

May your vigilant eyes pierce the darkness and protect sleeping souls from intruders. Best of Hounds, offer me your unwavering alertness and the unfaltering will to protect what is dear to me.

Guard me, Keeper of the Green Pastures, may your steadfast presence motivate me to maintain my ground and stand guardianship over borders and thresholds of myself and others around me, guarding the sanctity of boundaries with the same diligence as your watch over Helheim.

Garmr, hear my howl and grant me your watchful spirit so that I may have the bravery and fortitude to guard those I love, knowing that you are always loyal and by my side.