Othala – Initial Rune Study

Six months ago I started a thorough initial study of the Elder Futhark. Each week I would focus on a new rune, reading the rune poems and a number of published interpretations. While these posts are old (originally posted to my Tumblr), I want to move them over here for easy reference.

Week 24: Othala

Basic meaning: ancestral property; inherited land

Further meanings:  Inherited property or possessions, a house, a home.  What is truly important to you.  Group order, group prosperity.  Land of birth, spiritual heritage, experience and fundamental values.  Source of safety, increase in abundance.  A tie to ancestors and hamingja.  Divine and earthly ancestry.  Connectedness with all human beings.

Divinatory meanings:  Points to something important to you.  Aid in physical or spiritual journeys.  Group identity.  Personal wealth and abundance already available to you.  Rune of material prosperity and well-being.

Reversed/Merkstave meanings:  Lack of customary order, totalitarianism, slavery, poverty, homelessness.  Prejudice, clannishness, provincialism.  Racism, xenophobia, greed.  What one is bound to.

Magical uses:  Maintaining order among peers.  Concentration on common interests in home and family.  Shift of focus from self to family/group.  Gathering power and knowledge from past generations.  Acquisition of wealth and prosperity.

Personal thoughts on and associations with Othala

For those of you just joining me for these, I’ve shifted my focus a lot from heathen things over the past couple of months.  But I still wanted to finish this rune study as using the runes has proven to be pretty effective.  Plus, I made a promise, and that means I have to fulfill it!

I bring this up right now because of a recent rune reading I did.  Nearing the end of this project is a really big deal to me, and I wanted guidance as to what I should do next (take a break, work on something personal, start a new study project related to my path, etc).  I asked a few different deities specifically, and got the repeated answer that I need to continue to work but start focusing on more of the community aspect rather than the personal.

Othala is an interesting rune because it seems very focused on the physical, but really can be taken far beyond that as well.  Certainly there is a very strong element of ancestral community, but to me it also seems to point to a supportive network.  This is often family, but can include organizations, religious groups, friends, anything with a solid community feel to it.

I’m in the process of shifting communities, which so far has not been as scary as I feared it would.  At the same time, I still have my own family as a core to who I am no matter where I flail to.  My partner for example deals with me no matter how my interests change or my moods.  My parents love me no matter what and support me to the best of their abilities.  So no matter how much I change, I know I have a firm, safe ground to stand on, and I am extremely grateful for it.

Also, I’m extremely grateful to all of you who have stuck it out this long for my rune writings!  You are amazing!  I know the Tumblr pagan et al communities get a lot of negativity, and certainly there are problems.  But I know I wouldn’t have been adventurous enough to get this far without some direction from perfect strangers on the internet.  So thanks to all of you, too.

Sources for meanings:

• Sunnyway.com/runes/index.html
• Runelore by Edred Thorsson
• Futhark: A Handbook of Rune Magic by Edred Thorsson
• Principles of Runes by Freya Aswynn
• Northern Mysteries and Magick by Freya Aswynn

Dagaz – Initial Rune Study

Six months ago I started a thorough initial study of the Elder Futhark. Each week I would focus on a new rune, reading the rune poems and a number of published interpretations. While these posts are old (originally posted to my Tumblr), I want to move them over here for easy reference.

Week 23: Dagaz

Basic meaning: Day or Dawn

Further meanings: Breakthrough, awakening, awareness.  Daylight clarity as opposed to night time uncertainty.  The power of change directed by your own will, transformation.  Hope, happiness, the ideal.  Security and certainty.  Growth and release.  Balance point, the place where opposites meet.  Transforming consciousness.  Catalyst for change.

Divinatory meanings: A time to plan or embark upon an enterprise.  A time of fruitful change into a more secure situation.

Merkstave meanings: A completion, ending, limit, coming full circle.  Blindness, hopelessness.  Destructive impulsiveness.

Magical uses:  Can hide things from view.  Can aid in enlightenment and cosmic consciousness and awareness.  Attaining mystical moments by seeing into paradoxes.  Reception of mystical inspiration.

Personal thoughts on and associations with Dagaz

Some people choose to put Dagaz as the last rune of the Elder Futhark.  While I’m following the Dagaz-then-Othala ordering, I am currently connecting to Dagaz as a signal to the end of a cycle and the beginning of a new one.  Its transformative power is needed and wanted in my life right now.

Lately I’ve been taking stock of things in my life.  Mundane things like my job, my home, finances, how I spend my time; but also magic and religious things.  A lot of it is tying into my battle with depression.  I’m at a point where I’m fine most of the time but when one thing challenges my mental wellbeing the overall foundation crumbles very quickly.  Really minor things will trigger questioning my entire life.

Dagaz is a promise.  Right now I am hesitant to believe in it, but I’m striving for it nonetheless.

I did find a quote I really liked in Thorsson’s Rune Magic book:

“Dagaz is that time/place in which darkness and light, pleasure and pain, life and death, body and soul, matter and energy are synthesized into a common opposition.  In Dagaz, language fails.”

Dagaz symbolizes a strong feeling I can’t put words to that comes about from being caught in the waters of strongly different tides.  That makes sense to me because I feel it every single day.

Sources for meanings:

• Sunnyway.com/runes/index.html
• Runelore by Edred Thorsson
• Futhark: A Handbook of Rune Magic by Edred Thorsson
• Principles of Runes by Freya Aswynn
• Northern Mysteries and Magick by Freya Aswynn

Ingwaz – Initial Rune Study

Six months ago I started a thorough initial study of the Elder Futhark. Each week I would focus on a new rune, reading the rune poems and a number of published interpretations. While these posts are old (originally posted to my Tumblr), I want to move them over here for easy reference.

Week 22: Ingwaz

Basic meaning: Ing, the earth god

Further meanings:  Associations with Freyr.  Male fertility, gestation, internal growth. Common virtues, common sense, simple strengths, famiy love, caring, human warmth, the home.  Can be seen as a progression of Kenaz and Jera.

Divinatory meanings:  A rest stage, a time of relief with no anxiety.  A time when all loose strings are tied and you are free to move in a new direction.  Listen to yourself.  Becoming whole.

Merkstave meanings: Impotence, movement without change.  Production, toil, labor, work.

Magical uses: Storage and transformation of power for ritual use.  Fertility rights.  Passive meditation and centering of energy and thought.  Sudden release of energy.

Personal thoughts on and associations with Ingwaz

Nearing the end of this rune study, I very much look forward to being free to move in a new direction.  It has been a very worthwhile study, and I am really looking forward to putting this knowledge to further use in divination, magic, and historical and cultural studies.

I’ve always considered myself a very earthy person, so this rune was of particular interest to me as a result.  The simplicity and warmth described through it is something I value and always try to reattain when I’m slipping from it.

Overall I see it as a representation of where I am at in my path as well.  I’m taking time to stop analyzing everything and trying to just feel things again.  It’s hard to remember that you don’t always have to reason why you like to do something or why it’s okay to do something.  Sometimes the pleasure of just going through the motions of something you like can be reward enough.

Sources for meanings:

• Sunnyway.com/runes/index.html
• Runelore by Edred Thorsson
• Futhark: A Handbook of Rune Magic by Edred Thorsson
• Principles of Runes by Freya Aswynn
• Northern Mysteries and Magick by Freya Aswynn

Laguz – Initial Rune Study

Six months ago I started a thorough initial study of the Elder Futhark. Each week I would focus on a new rune, reading the rune poems and a number of published interpretations. While these posts are old (originally posted to my Tumblr), I want to move them over here for easy reference.

Week 21: Laguz

Basic meaning:  Water, lake, or sea; a leek

Further meanings:  Flow, water, sea, a fertility source, the healing power of renewal.  Life energy and organic growth.  Imagination and psychic matters.  Dreams, fantasies, mysteries, the unknown, the hidden, the deep, the underworld.  Waters of life as well as death.  Rune of healing and initiation.

Divinatory meanings:  Success in travel or acquisition, but with the possibility of loss.  A period of growth, healing, or initiation.

Reversed/Merkstave meanings:  An indication of a period of confusion in your life.  You may be making wrong decisions and poor judgments.  Lack of creativity and feelings of being in a rut.  Fear, circular motion, avoidance, withering.  Madness, obsession, despair, perversity, sickness, suicide.

Magical uses:  Guidance through difficult initiatory tests.  Increase in vitality and life force.  Gathering of magical power for formation into willed result.  Increase in magnetism.  Development of second sight.

Personal thoughts on and associations with Laguz

This rune has hit me in a strange but relevant time in my life.  I’ve been healing from my own mental problems, but at the same time been confronted with a lot of thoughts and considerations involving my spiritual and religious beliefs.  The difference is that, in the past when confronted with the same doubts, it would start a depressive or anxiety cycle.  Now it’s like a world of opportunities.

This is also a magically significant rune for me.  The way I do magic is as much about the flow leading up to the needed change as it is about the change itself.  Laguz teaches how to better get into that flow to manipulate it and ready it for change.

Sources for meanings:

• Sunnyway.com/runes/index.html
• Runelore by Edred Thorsson
• Futhark: A Handbook of Rune Magic by Edred Thorsson
• Principles of Runes by Freya Aswynn
• Northern Mysteries and Magick by Freya Aswynn

Mannaz – Initial Rune Study

Six months ago I started a thorough initial study of the Elder Futhark. Each week I would focus on a new rune, reading the rune poems and a number of published interpretations. While these posts are old (originally posted to my Tumblr), I want to move them over here for easy reference.

 Week 20: Mannaz

Basic meaning:  Man, Mankind

Further meanings:  The Self; the individual or the human race.  Your attitude towards others and their attitudes towards you.  Friends and enemies, social order.  Intelligence, forethought, creation, skill, ability.  Divine structure, intelligence, awareness.  The stave of the perfection human being.

Divinatory meanings:  References a person or group of people (family, organization, city, etc).  May indicate some kind of aid or cooperation coming your way.

Reversed/Merkstave meanings:  Depression, mortality, blindness, self-delusion.  Cunning, slyness, manipulation, craftiness, calculation.  Intellectual arrogance, bigotry.  Expect no help.

Magical uses:  This is the rune of the rational mind, of the perfected intellect melding reason with intuition.  Can be used to attract support in one’s peer group.  Combines well with Ansuz to win intellectual arguments or to pass an exam.  Use to understand the divine structure within humans.  Increases in intelligence, memory, and mental powers generally.  Balancing the poles of personality.  Unlocks the mind’s eye.

Personal thoughts on and associations with Mannaz

I’m not gonna lie, I’ve really been losing steam on this study.  I guess that’s to be expected after five months of it.

It’s coinciding this time with yet another spiritual crossroads.  They happen to me more often than I’d like, but still to be expected considering my path is still in the very early phases of development.

This rune has helped me face my own humanity again and acknowledge, even embrace, the limitations which go along with that.  I struggle with depression, so sometimes small faults or failings become extremely big in my mind and trigger a downward spiral of social anxiety and eventually deep anger and self-loathing.

Sometimes it’s really difficult to be a part of the Tumblr pagan community, especially starting a path and trying to find your own way.  Besides the daily drama of people regularly pissing other people off, there’s also the constant reminder that there are so many people out there who have much greater abilities.  I’m headblind and earthbound and filled with more than a healthy dose of skepticism in all things, so you can imagine what a perfectionist like me goes through when browsing pagan-related tags and blogs.

But Mannaz reminds you that all of these aspects are a part of being human.  The same people who will put you down one day will often lift you up the next.  It’s like that in any group where you have intelligent strong-willed people, whether it’s work, a club, school, your own circle of friends… you name it.  Mannaz helps me see through my own emotions which will flare up very often in social situations and help me see the useful parts of human relationships.

Sources for meanings:

• Sunnyway.com/runes/index.html
• Runelore by Edred Thorsson
• Futhark: A Handbook of Rune Magic by Edred Thorsson
• Principles of Runes by Freya Aswynn
• Northern Mysteries and Magick by Freya Aswynn

Ehwaz – Initial Rune Study

Six months ago I started a thorough initial study of the Elder Futhark. Each week I would focus on a new rune, reading the rune poems and a number of published interpretations. While these posts are old (originally posted to my Tumblr), I want to move them over here for easy reference.

Week 19: Ehwaz

Basic meaning: Horse

Further meanings: Transportation.  May represent a horse, car, plane, boat, or other vehicle.  Harmony, teamwork, trust, loyalty.  An ideal marriage or partnership.  Cooperation, not mastery.  Relates to Sleipnir.

Divinatory meanings: Movement and change for the better.  Gradual development and steady progress are indicated.  Points to a good relationship made of trust and loyalty.  Confirms beyond doubt the meanings of the runes around it.  Helps point out the best in a situation.  Be flexible, adaptable, and pragmatic; follow your instincts.

Reversed/Merkstave meanings: This is not really a negative rune.  May point to a craved change, a feeling of restlessness or confinement.  Reckless haste, disharmony, mistrust, betrayal.

Magical uses: Helpful with healing.  Can play the part of a persona, a means through which to relate to the external world through emotional attitude.  Can assist in astral travel.  Helps you make the best of something.  Aids with projection of magical power.  Facilitates swiftness in every regard.

Personal thoughts on and associations with Ehwaz

Anyone who’s been following my blog for a couple of months knows that I struggle with depression.  Ehwaz helps me not look at it as something horribly wrong with me, but helps me find ways to improve my life by working with my depression more than controlling or denying it.

I know this might sound odd seeing as Ehwaz is supposed to represent a positive thing, and depression is definitely the opposite of positive.  But it’s still a part of me, even if it does seem to have its own separate mind sometimes.  We’re stuck with each other on this journey together, so we might as well make the best of it.

This is also the week I finally decided to seek professional help dealing with my depression, and there we have another partnership of trust.  I don’t really like talking to people, and it’s hard for me to trust someone I’ve only just met.  I do have some issues with my current therapist, but I also know it’s hard to judge much after just one visit as we are both still figuring out where the other is.  Again, another journey.

I’m sure as time goes on I will understand some of the more traditional aspects of this rune, but that’s what I got this week.

Sources for meanings:

• Sunnyway.com/runes/index.html
• Runelore by Edred Thorsson
• Futhark: A Handbook of Rune Magic by Edred Thorsson
• Principles of Runes by Freya Aswynn
• Northern Mysteries and Magick by Freya Aswynn

Berkano – Initial Rune Study

Six months ago I started a thorough initial study of the Elder Futhark. Each week I would focus on a new rune, reading the rune poems and a number of published interpretations. While these posts are old (originally posted to my Tumblr), I want to move them over here for easy reference.

Week 18: Berkano

Basic meaning: Birch, or Berchta the birch goddess

Further meanings:  Birth, general fertility, both mental and physical growth, liberation.  Light of spring, renewal, regeneration, promise of new beginnings and new growth.  Arousal of desires.  Resilience.  Secrecy and containment.

Divinatory meanings:  New beginnings.  Birth, either spiritual or physical.  A new love.  Love as a mother to a child or a tender to a pet.  May point to the prospering of an enterprise or venture.  A recovery or strengthening of health.  Concealment and protection.

Reverse/Merkstave meanings:  Family problems, domestic trouble.  Anxiety about someone close to you.  Carelessness, abandon, loss of control.  Blurring of consciousness, deceit, sterility, stagnation.  Immaturity, clinging, addiction.

Magical uses:  Regenerative power.  Rune of healing, recuperation, rejuvenation, and purification.  Good for concealing something until the right time.  Protection of anything, especially someone who is defenseless.  Helpful to bridge rights of passage into next stages of life.  Rebirth of spirit.  Contains and holds other powers together.  Brings ideas to fruition in the creative process.

Personal thoughts on and associations with Berkano

I’m not very tree-savvy, so of course the first thing I have to do when dealing with a tree-related rune is look up what the heck the kind of tree is.

I kind of fluttered happily when I saw this:

(Source)

The signature trunk and bark patterns for a white birch tree are very memorable to me, despite my not knowing their name.  It’s one of those things I have always associated with deep mysteries, nurturing, and peace.

Berkano’s meaning is more active than that, but still from a very loving, peaceful place.

However, the rune poems, at least the translations I read, repeatedly referred to birch as a shrub, not a tree.  Assuming then that the birch they referred to was not the above image, I started looking for species native to Iceland.

According to good ol’ Wikipedia, the most common tree native to Iceland is the Northern Birch, or Betula Pubescens.  It looks like this:

(Source)

While the bark looks similarly to the white birch I am more familiar with, I can see the more shrub-like aspects of this particular plant.

A tree as a figure of regeneration and fertility goes without saying much to support it.  So let’s look at who Berchta was.

Berchta, according to Freya Aswynn, was the southern German equivalent of Holda, patron of children and domestic animals, particularly dogs.  She tends a garden in the underworld where babies and children who die young go to spend the afterlife, along with dogs.  She would also be called on to assist with healing, particularly related to children, animals, or birthing.

I don’t have children and do not want children, but I care for quite a few animals in my home.  I will definitely be looking for Holda’s assistance next time one of them is sick, and Berkano will be a helpful rune to help make that connection.

Sources for meanings:

• Sunnyway.com/runes/index.html
• Runelore by Edred Thorsson
• Futhark: A Handbook of Rune Magic by Edred Thorsson
• Principles of Runes by Freya Aswynn
• Northern Mysteries and Magick by Freya Aswynn

Tiwaz – Initial Rune Study

Six months ago I started a thorough initial study of the Elder Futhark. Each week I would focus on a new rune, reading the rune poems and a number of published interpretations. While these posts are old (originally posted to my Tumblr), I want to move them over here for easy reference.

Week 17: Tiwaz

Basic meaning: Tyr, the sky-god

Further meanings: Honor, justice, leadership, and authority.  Analysis, rationality.  Fairness, even-headedness.  Knowing where one’s true strengths lie.  Willingness to self-sacrifice.

Divinatory meanings:  Victory or success in competition, battle, or legal matters.  May refer to law & order, social issues, legal contracts, and oaths.  May point to the need to look at something from a fair, unbiased view.

Reverse/Merkstave meanings:  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.

Magical uses:  Can be used to win something if one is morally and ethically right (it is not effective for selfish, greedy gain); obtaining just victory and success.  Aids in building spiritual will.  Develops the power of positive self-sacrifice.  Develops the “force of faith” in magic and religion.

Personal thoughts on and associations with Tiwaz

I’ve sort of been dreading this rune because I, for various reasons, have had a very rocky opinion of Tyr.  I’ll get to that point in a sec.

For the rune meaning itself, it is helpful for striving towards an ending, finding strength when it seems it’s gone, keeping a cool head in a hard situation.  I’ve been dealing with a lot at work, and I can definitely see this rune helping me find the means to keep going with it all.

Now, back to my first statement.  There’s not a lot known about Tyr, though there’s evidence that suggests he’s historically an older god than Odin.  Mythologically, the story of the binding of Fenris-ulfr is most of what’s left to tell about him.

The reason this story has always bugged me is because, like many stories involving oracles and fate (yo Greek mythology, I’m looking at you), there is always this part where the gods or characters or whatever find out about this horrible fate, and in an attempt to change that fate, actually bring it about.  It drives me crazy.  And I don’t see the binding of the wolf to be any different.  If anyone really wants me to, I can go into full details on that, but I’m tired, so I’m not going to right now.  Ha.

Yes, you can tell me the point is that fate can’t be changed or whatever, but, no.  Seriously.  If the Aesir hadn’t thrown the snake in the ocean where all he could do is bite his tail, stuck Hella in, well, Hel (which, of the three, she seems to have at least taken that in stride), and had the wolf’s actual friend freaking betray him so that they could bind him up when none of them had actually done anything wrong yet, then yeah.  It seems like that might have turned out a little differently.

So, unlike a lot of the other runes where I could happily read about it and think about it and notice its influence in my life, I had to take a really big step with this rune: make peace with it.

For the first time ever, I prayed to Tyr.  I asked for understanding.  And I kept the Tiwaz rune in my mind the whole time.

Long story short, I’ve learned that I have to stop reading every myth as a 100% factual reality.  I don’t know why that’s difficult for me.  Possibly because when I read I do very much imprint exactly what is said as a reality, and with myths it’s hard not to.  Growing up Christian, I have the added bonus of believing for a long time that every word in the Bible happened exactly as written.  So it’s hard to break the cycle of thought.

The good news is that I’d started coming to terms with this a couple of weeks ago.  No, I haven’t completely reconciled where the differences are, or what the deeper meanings are.  But I’ve gotten a good start.

And what I learned after meditating on Tyr and his rune is that the story is much less about a snake and a wolf and an exiled goddess.  It’s about an even-minded god who saw all aspects of the worlds fairly, but when forced to make a choice, he stands by his kin.

I also had an impression of the wolf as the Nothing (yes, I am totally referencing the Neverending Story, deal).  The Wolf is a personification of that, an all-devouring void.  Tyr, of all the gods, being if you choose to believe so, the oldest among them, even older than Odin (despite later being rewritten as one of his son’s), was the only one unafraid to face that Nothing.  He reached his hand into the Nothing and nothing was what he brought back.

Needless to say, while I still have some issues with the story, I have a much higher respect for the god now.  I am hoping as I further study this rune, its other meanings will become more apparent, but for now I am satisfied having crossed this bridge.

Sources for meanings:

• Sunnyway.com/runes/index.html
• Runelore by Edred Thorsson
• Futhark: A Handbook of Rune Magic by Edred Thorsson
• Principles of Runes by Freya Aswynn
• Northern Mysteries and Magick by Freya Aswynn

Sowilo – Initial Rune Study

Six months ago I started a thorough initial study of the Elder Futhark. Each week I would focus on a new rune, reading the rune poems and a number of published interpretations. While these posts are old (originally posted to my Tumblr), I want to move them over here for easy reference.

Week 16: Sowilo

Basic meaning: Sun

Further meanings: Goals achieved, honor.  Victory.  Life-force, health.  Contact between higher self and unconscious.  Wholeness, power, elemental force, sword of flame, cleansing fire.  Clarity, the clear light of day.  Invigoration, dedication, optimism, healing.  Confidence, magic will.

Divinatory meanings: Success.  A time when power will be available to you for positive changes in your life.  A victory.  Points to a connection between your higher self and your unconscious.  A time of clarity, during which something may be destroyed for the better.

Merkstave meanings: False goals, bad counsel, false success, gullibility, loss of goals.  Destruction, retribution, justice, casting down of vanity.  Wrath of god.  Impulsiveness, burnout.

Magical uses:  Can empower individual to persist in endeavors.  Brings out highest values and potential in those who work with it.  Can also help gain a victory in times of crisis.  Strengthens psychic centers, or hvel.  Increases in spiritual and magical will.  Guides through the pathways towards a kind of enlightenment.  Victory and success through individual will.

Personal thoughts on and associations with Sowilo

This is kind of a long story, and chances are good you won’t find it that interesting, but I’m going to write it anyway, because it has Sowilo all over it.

During the study of this aett, I went through quite a difficult time spiritually.  Most weeks it was all I could do to make myself come back to this rune study and continue doing it.

The study itself wasn’t the problem, but associated with a (kind of) source of the problem, which really wasn’t even the problem in and of itself.

Brief background:  I’ve only considered myself pagan for a couple of years.  I came to that after about a ten-year spiritual & religious search.  I’m turning 30 this year, so, unlike a lot of people on Tumblr who came to paganism as a teenager and often earlier, it wasn’t anywhere in the realm of possibility for me until college, and even then it took years for me to come around to it seriously.

This means that I’m going through what a lot of new pagans go through where they start on an extremely broad path and then start trying to focus it.

About six months ago, I was ready to start finding that focus, and heathenry connected the most to me for various reasons.  I had an interest in learning the runes and already had at least a working knowledge of the deities involved in it, so it seemed like a logical place to start.

At first I loved it.  I studied diligently, I did close-to-daily devotions, I worked with my runes, I got as active as a shy clueless newbie can in the online heathen community, and more or less just let myself be immersed in it.  Of course, as with any community, I started running into things that made me uncomfortable:  ideas I disagreed with, people who rubbed me the wrong way, etc.  There were also cultural aspects I was uncomfortable with (I’m just not a warrior!).  This was fine and manageable until I also had a spiritual burnout at the same time because I felt extremely inferior to others due to my inability to hear the gods, my earthbound spirit, and a very deep doubt in my magical, divinatory, or even scholarly abilities.

Cue that moment when you almost – almost – make a break with all of it and run away.  But I didn’t.  I had some heart to heart meditation time with the main three that I work with (Heimdall, Thor, and Freyja).  I let them know that I needed a break.  That it might be temporary, but it might not be.  I still felt compelled to work on my rune study as I’d already put so much time into it (and I’d promised Heimdall to see it through to the end, and I just can’t break off something like that to someone who is extremely duty-bound), so I knew at least for the time being we’d still be touching base.

So then I started looking into other things, particularly Kemeticism (due to my childhood obsession with all things Egyptian) and Canaanite polytheism (due to its ties with my actual religion growing up – Christianity).  While I’m still searching, I have also felt undeniable pulls back to heathenry.  But there are concepts in others paths I like as well, along with deities I really admire.  I know my path is branching out in ways I can’t predict or control anymore.

So what the hell does all this have to do with the Sun rune?

Sowilo is all about the life-giving sun.  Be successful, be healthy, be true to yourself, be victorious, be whole.  These many branches are, hopefully, reaching for wholeness as I find out more and more about myself.

Sources for meanings:

• Sunnyway.com/runes/index.html
• Runelore by Edred Thorsson
• Futhark: A Handbook of Rune Magic by Edred Thorsson
• Principles of Runes by Freya Aswynn
• Northern Mysteries and Magick by Freya Aswynn

Algiz – Initial Rune Study

Six months ago I started a thorough initial study of the Elder Futhark. Each week I would focus on a new rune, reading the rune poems and a number of published interpretations. While these posts are old (originally posted to my Tumblr), I want to move them over here for easy reference.

Week 15: Algiz

Basic meaning:  Elk, Protection

Further meanings:  A shield.  Protective urge to shelter oneself or others.  Defense, warding off of evil, guardian.

Divinatory meanings:  Protective force, a guardian.  Connection with the gods, awakening, higher life.  Follow your instincts.Keep hold of success or maintain a position won or earned.

Merkstave meanings:  Hidden danger, consuption by divine forces, loss of divine link.  Taboo, warning, turning away, that which repels.

Magical uses:  Can be used to channel energies appropriately.  Most prominent rune for devotional worship as it protects/defends while also acting as a channel or conduit.  It is the rune of hallowing, warding, adn access to higher spiritual awareness.  Can also aid in communication with other worlds (upright, Asgard, Vanaheim, Alfheim and similar realms; reversed, Helheim and similar realms).  Can help strengthen magical power and luck (hamingja) as well as life force.

Personal thoughts on and associations with Algiz

Before studying Algiz, I’ve had multiple needs of its protective power.  Thus far it has served me well in any magical working needing additional protection or defense.

Early on in my pagan studies (like, when I knew next to nothing instead of random handfuls of things which is what I know now), Algiz turned up in a kind of intuitive pastel art piece I was doing.  The surface thought was that it was supposed to be a representation of a crossroads. Of all the different crossroads designs that I could come up with (the “Y” shape being the most common for the particular purpose) I made it look similarly to the Algiz rune instead.

This wasn’t intentional as, at the time, I didn’t know a damn thing about the runes.  I’m sure I’ve seen the shape before, but beyond that, there was no conscious meaning behind the shape.

On retrospect, I believe it to be an illustration of my own spiritual growth.  I seem to constantly find myself at a metaphysical crossroads.  But as I’ve gone farther down the different roads, my understanding of and even communication with various deities has grown stronger.

My next goal is to put this into its traditional upright meaning.  Instead of constantly wandering, stay awhile and climb.

As a side note, I was unaware that this rune was often associated with Heimdall and Bïfrost.  This makes me happy.

Sources for meanings:

• Sunnyway.com/runes/index.html
• Runelore by Edred Thorsson
• Futhark: A Handbook of Rune Magic by Edred Thorsson
• Principles of Runes by Freya Aswynn
• Northern Mysteries and Magick by Freya Aswynn