Cody Lee Johansen
I am a husband, father, farmer, and friend. I live on the banks of the Magic Skagit River, ancestral lands of the Sauk-Suiattle people. I practice rune reading, tarot, land magic, and work with many spirit guides. My life began Pagan but I veered off into the Christian church in college. I found my way back to my Pagan and ancestral roots in 2005 and have journeyed along this path since then.
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Cody’s Column: Protection Magick and the Elk of the Skagit
May is here in full force, like the mighty elk that return each year to the upper field. Their antlers symbolize a powerful form of Protection Magick, just as the Elder Futhark Rune Algiz suggests. The elk are a little fewer in number this year though. Is the balance off or are we just seeing the cycles run through their courses? I am wondering if the hunting pressure was heavier this last year or if the hoof rot is to blame for the lower numbers. After checking the local Game Harvest Reports it looks like there were six 6pt. bull elk harvested, making the trend upward from the previous year. …
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Cody’s Column: Using Divination Tools with the Land
April is such a bouquet of emotions, thoughts and experiences here on the farm. Big projects we laid out in the winter are being realized. New projects are coming to light. The forest is waking up and so are the weeds! Many of them are medicinal, I am thinking about the hedge deadnettle, which should be called Purple Dragon’s Breath. This plant wakes up around the time bumble bee queens rise from their slumber and begin the search for a mate and early food to support her soon to be colony. There are so many signs of Spring, it is a wonder to me how many times we miss…
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Cody’s Column: Working With Land and Animal Spirits
It is eclipse night, and the rain is pouring down. I won’t get to see the eclipse, but I will feel it. I have been feeling it in the land and animal spirits that live here along the Magic Skagit River. The ravens who have been visiting again, the elk all standing in a line alongside the road, two eagles perched on a branch chattering with each other, circles of water rippling on the river, nettles peeking up off the forest floor, Indian Plum flowers blooming, and of course the iconic daffodils blooming in the Skagit Valley. Tonight, I write to you about being receptive to these spirits. For some…
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Cody’s Column: Connecting with Your Spirits
We made it through our first full moon in January and still no snow. Now it is February, and we received snow on Imbolc. The forest is still not asleep by any means. The tree spirits seem talkative along the well-worn paths. Bird chatter is ever present and today I even came across a squirrel chirping in a cedar tree near the banks of the Magic Skagit River. I drew runes in the wet sand and got Nauthiz, the rune of need for my actions to take this month. This will be my jumping off point when I speak with the spirits of the land as well as the tree…
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Cody’s Column
The Land Spirits Are Still Calling It’s Winter in the Northern Hemisphere here along the Magic Skagit River in the beautiful and wet Pacific Northwest. The bears have decreased their movement across the land but their claw marks on the apple trees are still visible. Black-capped chickadees are flocking by the dozens to glean the small seeds of chicory and lamb’s quarter. Our farm cats crouch in the crumpled grass with a glimmer in their eyes. The snow is still wandering in the upper hills and mountains and has not come down to the riverbed yet. Land spirits are here, I can feel their calls, they are a whole…
