| Chizpurfle
Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Scotland, [GMT]
Posts: 10,065
Hogwarts RPG Name:
Bennett Potter
Slytherin Graduated
Hogwarts RPG Name:
Atlas Ward
Ravenclaw First Year |  Playing major catchup Toto * RotiSila * ToRo * Braveheart * Grandma & Mama Tori
SPOILER!!: Professor Quote:
Originally Posted by Tegz  "Alright everyone! Thank you for trying on my boot! I promise you its perfectly clean and safe so those of you still concerned please set your minds at ease." Carmine said, addressing all the students and making eye contact with a few that had made their reluctance a liiiittle more obvious.
"I'm Carmine Beryl, not only am I your new Ancient Runes professor, I'm also the healer here at Hogwarts. As such you can choose if you'd rather address me as Professor Beryl or Healer Beryl, both are correct, simply pick whatever you are more comfortable with." She told them conversationally. So far most students had made their decision about what to call her based on the context in which they were speaking, which suited her just fine. She just thought it was a good idea to let them know up front that she did not mind either.
"Now I'm sure many of you are wondering what on earth this MBTI and boot business has to do with Ancient Runes and the Elder Futhark in particular, especially those of you who already have some familiarity with either topic. Lets start with a brief touch on what the MBTI is. MBTI stands for Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. It is an introspective assessment tool that measures psychological preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions." She said, tapping the blackboard with her wand to clear it off.
"Rather than taking a hard copy test and measuring up your results based on your answers, this boot here has been enchanted to do all the hard work for us. Each of you got a four letter result. There are sixteen possible combinations, double that if you count the A or T qualifier on the end of that, but for today's purposes we're disregarding that value." Carmine tapped a stack of papers on the desk at the front of the room and they began flying around, handing themselves out.
"Your first handout has a very brief breakdown of these scales just for your information. If you wish to know more there are textbooks at the front of the classroom that you may take a look at." She said. "It also lists each of the sixteen types and some keywords associated with these types."
"I encourage you to add your own keywords to this list as we go. You may make use of the textbooks at the front of the class for more information on the different traits and strengths and weaknesses associated with the types." Carmine said, looking around to check that everyone had a sheet flying to them. Good! "You'll notice the boot had names for most of the types beyond the four letters, like Entertainer or Commander or other exciting things like that. Different books will often call them different things, but the one thing that is constant is the four letter type code so I'll be referring to each type by the four letters to be consistent." Just made it easier.
"Now, the goal of knowing about personality type is to understand and appreciate differences between people. All types are equal, there is no best type. By nature it is an introspective, self-assessment tool. That means you're looking and assessing inward. You already have your type written across the top of your parchment - for those of you who haven't yet, please make sure your name is there too, so I can read them and get to know you all - I promise I'll remember them by the end of the week!" She was very good with names as it was, but not a psychic.
"Consider your type, and making use of the handout plus referring to the textbooks at the front of the class, I would like you all to come up with three-five words associated with your type. Once you've done this, I want you all to select one or two runes from your runeset that you feel are best associated with each of the words you chose. You can use your rune dictionaries, and you can discuss your choices with each other, and again, there are textbooks at the front of the class that you can refer to for some of the meanings associated with the MBTI as well as with the Elder Futhark runes, which are the ones we are using today. Take your time, don't worry about being 'wrong' Our goal is to practice with rune meanings and think critically about how to make connections between meanings." She didn't want anyone to stress about it, this was a journey, learning how to intuit such things and draw comparisons and correlations.
"I'll give you a few examples. A key trait to describe INFJ could include 'looks beneath the surface' An appropriate runic association might be Laguz to represent hidden depths. A word to describe ESTP might be 'risktaker' and a rune association could be Nauthiz to represent facing your fears." Did they understand? "Give it a try. I'll be walking around and offering assistance if anyone needs it. Lets begin."
As Holly waited, she watched her classmates. She watched their faces, she watched them putting on the boot, watched them hop around and then watched them taking their seats… and all the while she wondered what the boot had said, what those four or five letters… meant. Did they actually know something about her? Just like Professor Sissay’s arithmancy? Did they know facts about her, traits and weaknesses that were imbedded in her very core? … It was both mildly worrying and slightly freeing. Guess she’d just need to be patient and wait and find out.
32 different personality types. Woah. … That’s crazy. She looked around the room, wondering if anyone else had gotten the same result as her - she could see a few other ISTJ’s so it looked like some of them were similar. Huh. Wonder what Alis and Jorgie would have gotten… Maybe she could ask them about it later.
Putting her hand into the air, she quickly caught the first handout, looking it over with wide eyes. She wants to argue that it didn’t state anything about being fun or physically flexible - but she knew that anyway. That wouldn’t sway her personality, and the description did… appear to be pretty accurate. Scary.
And then it was time to look inward and figure out what these… descriptive words meant. Meant to her, and what runes she could use as such. Okay.. She could do this. Getting up, first she snagged herself a copy of one of the extra text books, y’know, just to have… and then nibbling her lip she opened it to the right page so that she could … do this. Yes. Yes, that. Text Cut: HOLLY'S NOTES Holly Tamesis
3rd Year, Slytherin -- ISTJ
Introversion (I) -- Introverts are "inward-turning" and tend to be thought-oriented, enjoy deep and meaningful social interactions, and feel recharged after spending time alone.
Sensing (S) -- People who prefer sensing tend to pay a great deal of attention to reality, particularly to what they can learn from their own senses. They tend to focus on facts and details and enjoy getting hands-on experience.
Thinking (T) -- People who prefer thinking place a greater emphasis on facts and objective data. They tend to be consistent, logical, and impersonal when weighing a decision.
Judging (J) -- Those who lean toward judging prefer structure and firm decisions. People who lean toward perceiving are more open, flexible, and adaptable.
ISTJ -- Reserved, Realistic, Logical, Orderly, Controlled, Practical, Objective, Responsible, Self-motivated, Detail-Oriented, Pragmatic, Methodical, Deliberate, Traditional, Levelheaded, Hardworking.
Me…
1 Organised and structured with a view of the future -- Raidho
2 Trains and works hard, doesn’t give up [gymnastics, quidditch, classes] -- Uruz -- [could this also be in merkstave as a weakness of single mindedness and misdirection?]
3 Cautious with friendship, but deep and unforgetting with love [parents, Cam, Jorgie, Alis; my people my family, my home, my safety] -- Othala
4 Value facts, analysis and statistics over assumptions backed by sympathy and emotions-- Tiwaz
My [??] Runes:
Raidho: (R: Wagon or chariot.) Travel, both in physical terms and those of lifestyle direction. A journey, vacation, relocation, evolution, change of place or setting. Seeing a larger perspective. Seeing the right move for you to make and deciding upon it. Personal rhythm, world rhythm, dance of life. Raidho Reversed or Merkstave: Crisis, rigidity, stasis, injustice, irrationality. Disruption, dislocation, demotion, delusion, possibly a death.
Uruz: (U: Auroch, a wild ox.) Physical strength and speed, untamed potential. A time of great energy and health. Freedom, energy, action, courage, strength, tenacity, understanding, wisdom. Sudden or unexpected changes (usually for the better). Sexual desire, masculine potency. The shaping of power and pattern, formulation of the self. Uruz Reversed or Merkstave: Weakness, obsession, misdirected force, domination by others. Sickness, inconsistency, ignorance. Lust, brutality, rashness, callousness, violence.
Othala: (O: Ancestral property.) Inherited property or possessions, a house, a home. What is truly important to one. Group order, group prosperity. Land of birth, spiritual heritage, experience and fundamental values. Aid in spiritual and physical journeys. Source of safety, increase and abundance. Othala Reversed or Merkstave: Lack of customary order, totalitarianism, slavery, poverty, homelessness. Bad karma, prejudice, clannishness, provincialism. What a man is bound to.
Tiwaz: (T: Tyr, the sky god.) Honor, justice, leadership and authority. Analysis, rationality. Knowing where one's true strengths lie. Willingness to self-sacrifice. Victory and success in any competition or in legal matters. Tiwaz Reversed or Merkstave: One's energy and creative flow are blocked. Mental paralysis, over-analysis, over-sacrifice, injustice, imbalance. Strife, war, conflict, failure in competition. Dwindling passion, difficulties in communication, and possibly separation.
SPOILER!!: Professor Quote:
Originally Posted by Tegz Carmine made her way back to the front of the class, quite satisfied with the work she'd seen so far.
"Alright everyone, thank you for your efforts so far. Its hard work stretching that intuition muscle! Have your quills ready please, and take notes." She gave them a moment to prepare themselves and then wrote on the blackboard: "Runic Correlations".
"As you have all seen, the runes in the Elder Futhark have meaning. Some of you are familiar with invoking the magic of individual runes to perform some task or another, but the runes have another application known as runecasting. Runecasting is a form of symbolic magic. Runes can be cast to find answers to questions and to gain an understanding of a given situation and where one is on that path. Runecasting is not divination." She paused to write that on the board (leaving a space for something else to go above it) and then underlined it for emphasis. Important.
"It couples the subconscious and the magical ability of a witch or wizard to examine cause and effect, and indicate a likely outcome or deeper understanding. You may say instead, that runecasting situational assessment tool, where different spreads are the ‘tools’ for different assessment ‘jobs’." Professor Carmine said, looking around at the class to take note of who was paying attention.
"Questions asked of the runes can be employed as a way of reflecting upon the self at a moment in time, just as sorting and categorizing via personality assessments like the MBTI can be a way to reflect upon the self holistically." That was one connection between the two, but not the purpose of today's lesson.
"More importantly for today's purposes, many disciplines which feature symbols that are representative of meaning in this manner can be correlated to the Elder Futhark. When runecasting there is a need for intuitive interpretation of any given rune. It is important that you don't limit yourself only to meanings given in one rune dictionary or another or be too literal in your interpretations." She paused for the slower notetakers to catch up.
"The process of drawing correlations of rune meanings with other interpretive systems prime us for applying our intuition to runecasting." Which WAS the purpose of today's lesson, as they would be working on runecasting later in the term.
"There are various runic correlations -also known as rune correspondences- worth considering. Other than the MBTI, I want you to think about other systems that might have a correspondence with runes in relation to meaning." She said, pausing and looking around the room. "What rune correspondences do you know about? What other interpretive, or symbol=meaning systems have you come across that you think could be correlated with runes?"
Holly had been so engrossed in reading about the runes themselves, and then her personality type that by the time she’d gotten around to matching them up for what she personally thought was her, she’d only managed to get four done… but she thought that was okay, ‘cause Professor Beryl said three to five… which meant four was okay. She hoped it was okay.
Scribbling more notes down on a blank piece of parchment so she could rewrite it neatly later with her personality runes, she underlined the statement ‘Runecasting is not divination’ twice when she wrote it down, followed by the tools and jobs statement. …. She was getting confused though, so she hoped she was paying enough attention to all of this when it … got where-ever it was going. Okay, correlations and connections and links. This was better, she could work with connections - meanings and interpretations were a bit harder to work with as there weren’t any true definitions or limitiations to work with… but she would be fine. Right?
As someone mentioned tarot, and someone else mentioned herbs and this and that - the third year bit on her lip trying to think of something different. Something that had meaning, that meant something about the person it related too. She was drawing a blank, until she looked at her rune list, saw Cameron’s name and grinned. Then her hand was in the air before she could think about it even being wrong. ”What about patronus’, Professor?” She asked when it was her turn. ”I’ve been told that they are a very unique and personal thing… that they always mean and represent the person that casts them.” SPOILER!!: Professor Quote:
Originally Posted by Tegz She wrote up the answers said by the children -all of which were correct- upon the board and continued as she elaborated.
"That was a tough question, and I expect for some of you, a bit of a confusing one. It is important to understand that as human beings we look at the world around us and see meaning. Different things we come across become representative of different emotions or states of mind or behaviours because it is human nature to seek understanding and enlightenment. Consider colours, as Miss Dantes said: the colour red makes us feel certain things and there tends to be a common agreement on which feelings are evoked by red. Anger. Embarrassment. Passion. Love, and so forth." Professor Beryl said. "This is the nature of symbolism and it the way our minds relate to the external world." She made a few more notes on the board and looked out at the class.
"So if you have a bunch of different symbolic or interpretive systems, it stands to reason that you can draw correspondences between them. It is good practice to seek meaning and connections between those meanings to increase your understanding of the world around you. You can then apply this understanding to runecasting."
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"The list on the board isn't exhaustive. Feel free to add any others you think of to your notes, either now or later when you are reflecting upon this for homework." Carmine said. "We will discuss some of these during our other general sessions this year. Now, I did underline that runecasting is not divination quite thoroughly, and some of you might have noticed that some of these listed symbolic and interpretive systems are divinatory in nature. Please don't be concerned by this- we are simply taking note of the meanings that can be associated. The methodology differs greatly, and so do the outcomes. We'll talk more about that in future lessons. For now though, before we return to working with the MBTI as a runic correlation system, I have another line of questioning for all of you to consider." She paused to allow them to finish what they were writing and give the questions their full attention.
"I want you to reflect for a moment and tell me what benefits you think there are to comparing rune meanings to the meanings found in other systems. What difficulties do you think you might come across in this process? What difficulties have you come across already? If you have questions of your own you may ask them too."
… Interpretation of the world around us leads to understanding which can be applied to runes…
That didn’t sound very solid or factual… It sounded a lot like her answer would be very different from whomever was sitting next to her depending on their point of view. She bit her lip, trying not to get too worried about that - it was just her lessons and this is what Professor Beryl wanted them to do. Right. She could do this… She just hoped she didn’t make a fool of herself doing it, but so she didn’t, she copied down the rest of the list from the board so that she had it for their homework. She’d need it then.
Her first answer was obvious, immediate and blaring in her head so she pressed her hand into the air. ”One difficulty could be that interpretation is so open… so easy to misuse or misjudge. Like how men and women can’t see the same shades of green and blue… It would give vastly different variants and could completely skew your data, no matter how consistent you try to be.” and that bugged her more than it should.
With her quill in hand, she continued to make more notes, noting down the suggestions of her classmates, and listening and anetating any further comments from Professor Beryl.
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