Nordic Wiccan

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Isaz Rune

Isaz is the name of the i-rune ᛁ, meaning ice, lack of motion, blockage. Skaldi.

Ice is very cold and immeasurably slippery;
it glistens as clear as glass and most like to gems;
it is a floor wrought by the frost, fair to look upon.

Isa represents perfect order and the lack of chaotic elements. Isa, in relation to ‘ice’, shows its ability to give what appears to be permanence to all things and is believed to be very powerful. Ice represents being ‘frozen’ in time or place.

In Ancient times, ice was a constant factor in the day to day lives of the Norse. It threatened their crops, their ships and their livelihoods, almost throughout the entire year. To the people though, it also served as a symbol of creation from which all life eventually springs forth.

The Norse understood the need to have such a seemingly destructive element in order to create and maintain life. In opposition to ‘ice’ is ‘fire’.

Ice can bring things to a halt, or place something in suspension. Ice can also be an expansive force, or one that crushes anything caught in its grasp. Ice can provide a bridge over dark Water, or be a dangerous and treacherous trap. It has both the powers of control and of constraint. Either way, it is to be used cautiously. In its melted form, it brings Water, nourishment and life .

Weather

Water: Mind is Divine

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Haglaz Rune

Haglaz or Hagalaz is the name of the h-rune ᚺ, meaning hail, precipitation, transformation. The Elder Futhark letter has two variants, single-barred ᚺ and double-barred ᚻ. The double-barred variant is found in continental inscriptions while Scandinavian inscriptions have exclusively the single-barred variant. Hela.

Even a good life has its days.
As a hard rain good for the crops
turns to a hail storm that flattens them.
Even then the bad times don't last;
even the thickest hail
melts away.

The Hagalaz rune, above all others, represents the concept of balance; yin/yang, male/female, positive/negative, black/white .

Essential to the understanding of the Hagalaz rune is the idea that the destruction of the old brings necessary growth of the new. This concept is contained in the Norse myths of Ragnarok and of creation. Hagalaz represents a dramatic event or trauma which comes from outside your own immediate perceptions.

Challenges are occurring in your life, but these are to be embraced rather than feared. A hailstorm, for example, may seem daunting and scary at first, but if you catch a hailstone you will realize that it is only Water and is not to be feared.

Hagalaz is the rune that tells you to pay attention. Often throughout one’s life, we receive ‘wake-up calls’, which are often misinterpreted as ‘Divine punishment’ for some imagined wrong, when in fact they are merely a way of drawing your attention to a recurrent pattern in your life which needs to be addressed in order for you to progress, positively.

Change is definitely necessary. An adjustment on world-views and personal outlook may be indicated. Initially, all may seem catastrophic, but its aftermath will prove fruitful. Your power lies within your inner strength, and it is this that will provide you with support and guidance at a time when everything you’ve taken for granted is being challenged.

Hela

Water: Mind is Divine

Weather

Gar Rune

Gar, spear, is also the name of ᚸ. Phonetically, gar represents the g-sound, sacrifice and dignity.

If you`re not afraid of the fire,
my spear will bar your way for you!
My hand still holds
the haft of power;
the sword you wield
was shivered ere now by this shaft:
once more let it
splinter upon my eternal spear!

A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself. The most common design for hunting or combat spears since ancient times has incorporated a metal spearhead shaped like a triangle, lozenge or leaf. The heads of fishing spears usually feature barbs or serrated edges. Like many weapons, a spear may also be a symbol of power.

Along with the axe, the spear was the most common ancient weapon. Archaeological evidence found in Germany documents that wooden spears have been used for hunting since at least 400,000 years ago.

Gar is the final rune, it stands outside all Aetts. Gar is a spear, not just any spear, but the mighty Gungnir, wielded by Odin, the very same spear which pierced him as he hung in the tree Yggdrasil for nine nights in order to find the runes and bring them back from beyond all realities. Gungnir was a Dwarves magical weapon given to Odin by Loki, which never misses its mark and always returns to Odin’s hand. At the end, at Ragnarok, Odin again rides into battle with Gungir at his side. Gar holds the power of all runes.

Fehu Rune

The Fehu rune ᚠ represents the f-sound. Its name means mobile wealth, similar to English fee with the original meaning of sheep or cattle. Freya.

Wealth is a comfort to all;
yet must everyone bestow it freely,
if they wish to gain honor.

This rune is often associated with ‘fertility’. It is the rune of potential and fulfillment. It symbolizes solid foundations, rewards reaped and ambitions satisfied. Fehu is the promise of nourishment, prosperity, growth and stability.

This rune calls for a deep appreciation for profit, loss and gain in life. Fehu is the rune which requires you to look at your possessions and wealth, then weigh up whether they are for your growth and fulfillment, or are they of an ‘ego’ nature.

Within its historical background this rune refers to cattle. The ownership of cattle gives potential for further expansion and empowerment. To own cattle ensures there would be meat for the family, or alternatively, it could be sold or traded for other necessities, wants and wishes. To be the owner of cattle in ancient times, signified that you were a person of sound decision making skills, as portrayed by your management talents and deft wisdom and knowledge.

This rune stands for the creative aspects of fire and is a female in nature. Fehu carries her own warning, one of the need to share the good fortune that comes to us or else it will either destroy us. Excellent in bind runes to bring in energy.

To our ancestors, as with us in today’s society, the accumulation of wealth, when gained honorably, is a positive thing. It ensures survival as wealth in its purest sense is a steady food supply. The cattle gives financial security, which in turn delivers comforts needed on all levels.

Freya

Dietary

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Eihwaz Rune

Eiwaz or Eihaz was a word for yew, defense and the name of the rune ᛇ. The rune is sometimes associated with the World tree Yggdrasil, which, imagined as an ash in Norse mythology, may formerly have been a yew or an oak. eo/ei.

The yew is a tree with rough bark,

greenest of trees in winter,

hard in the earth, supported by its roots,

a guardian of flame and a joy upon an estate.

Eihwaz represents the pinnacle to which all things revolve and spin out of. It is the mystery or the power of life. It is the death that renews and brings new life. It represents cycles and is a rune of wisdom and communication.

In all cultures, including that of the ancient Norse, all rites of passage, particularly those marking the transition into adulthood, contain the symbolism of ‘death’; the idea being that one’s former ‘self’ has died and given birth to a new persona. The Eihwaz rune represents the passage through which we must enter in order to gain the knowledge and acceptance of our own mortality. Eihwaz symbolizes the physical manifestation within time.

Traditionally, the Eihwaz rune represents the yew tree. There is much association of the yew tree and the ancient Norse, principally derived from the fact that yews are evergreens which retain their greenery even through the coldest of winters, and because their red berries are seen as symbolic of the ‘Blood of Life.’

The yew tree is a powerful stave of protection and banishing, not only because of its association with the forces of life and death, but because of its association with the bow and arrow made of yew wood, which was common to the folk of the Norse.

Reverence for the yew tree dates back to before the times of the Celts and beyond. Yggdrasil, the World Tree or the Tree of Life, is a yew tree. Eihwaz represents Yggdrasil. In Norse mythology and cosmology Yggdrasil is the axis about which all else revolves and spins out of. Yggdrasil contains the mystery of life and death and is the life-giving force which has its roots in the Underworld and death.

The rune anticipates difficulties through thought and right action. It is a time to deal with things at hand, rather than put them off until they resurface at a later date.