Monthly Archives: March 2010

Week March 7 -March 13

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Ior

Ior is the sound io

Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem (from ragweedforge.com)

Ior is a river fish and yet it always feeds on land;
it has a fair abode encompassed by water, where it lives in happiness

The rune of this week is Ior, the river-fish. A creature who feeds on land and also lives in water. A life lived in two worlds.

It is a rune of boundaries, and mutability. As boundaries, it defines where one world begins and the other world ends. Property markers, fences, definition are all parts of understanding Ior. On the other hand, the markers, fences are themselves, both parts of either side, and yet also neither side. They are liminal items, and the experience of Ior is one of being a liminal being. Traditional liminal beings of human culture are the transgendered shamans, priests, girl boys, and boy girls, amazons and berdache, In Northern Europe the word often used is Ergi or Argr. They are equally applied to those engaged in religious and spiritual cross dressing, and even acts that cross those boundaries, like same sex orientation, or taking up the role and practices of the opposite sex. Before the modern day, traditional gender roles were often more well defined then current standards, as well as dress and behavior. But in many pre-christian and tribal cultures, they often had a spiritual functionary, and often frequent stories of people who would cross these roles. Even among the Gods, bi-gendered and dual sexual natures, cross dressing, gender shapeshifting, were often occurrences. Ior embodies this nature and takes part of that history. They are liminal beings, and so is Ior, crossing the boundaries that define things, and exisiting within it, as both and as neither. The third mind between self and other is both us and not-us; In, out and the threshold between the two.

March 6, 2010 – Jera

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Jera

Jera is the letter J

Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem (from ragweedforge.com)

Summer is a joy to men, when God, the holy King of Heaven,
suffers the earth to bring forth shining fruitsfor rich and poor alike.

I think today is going to be a good day. The turn of phrase that fills my mind is “Slow and Steady win the race.” Move thoughtfully and deliberately towards your goals for today, and everything will turn out fine.

March 5, 2010 – Thurisaz

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Thurisaz

Thurisaz is the sound “th”

Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem (from ragweedforge.com)

The thorn is exceedingly sharp,
an evil thing for any knight to touch,uncommonly severe on all who sit among them.
Thurisaz, the thorn and the thurse (ice giant) is the rune of misfortunes, challenges and difficulties. It indicates that things are doing to be difficult today, as you will be encountering a lot of things that are unpleasant or just hard to deal with. Perhaps an injury will occur, or a vehicle will break down, or you will miss your bus. Don’t expect today to be an easy day.

March 4, 2010 – Nauthiz

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Nauthiz

Nauthiz is the letter N

Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem (from ragweedforge.com)

Need is oppressive to the heart;
yet often it proves a source of help and salvationto the children of men, to everyone who heeds it betimes.

Nauthiz, the rune of need, necessity and troubles is the rune for today. It is a call to awareness, to be aware of what is pressing upon you, or where you might look and see what in your life is lacking. Focusing on that now, might help prevent other problems or difficulties later.

Often time when Nauthiz comes up in a reading, the necessity is unclear. At that time, you should expand the rune with additional runes to clarify what is being indicated. Today, the clarifying rune was Jera, year and harvest. The need that is calling is one about tending to those things that need time and investment to come to fruition. Another meaning I add to Jera is patience. Not everything can come in a hurry, even if that is what you want. Sometimes, you just have to be patient. Work what can be worked, labor where you need to labor and have things ready so that when it does come, it’s effects can be lasting and enduring

March 3, 2010 – Qweorth

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Qweorth

Qweorth is the letter Q

There is no rune poem for Qweorth

The meaning of Qweorth, much like Peorth, is unclear. The most common meaning I have seen with people who have sought to define it is the fire-twirl. The fire-twirl is the sacred brand or torch that was used by earlier peoples to re-ignite fires. In some cases, it was a longer branch and may have been lit at both ends. To me, that is what I see in the image of the rune Qweorth, a branch that has been lit at both ends.

The fires that the twirl would re-ignite may be home fires, and even sacred fires, although usually the twirl itself was probably lit from a sacred fire, perhaps one that was kept burning all the time, an eternal flame. As the harnessing of fire and learning to create fire is one of the advances that humanity used to protect itself and slowly transformed culture and society, it is often given a sacred status, and the re-lighting of fires was a unique ritual, especially done after the winter solstice.

The other sacred fire is the funeral pyre. This is the meaning that Raven Kaldera focuses on, understandably so as his mistress is Hela, the Northern European Goddess who governs the afterlife and the underworld, known as Hel or Helheim.

As the symbol of the sacred fire, Qweorth symbolizes all of these qualities. It shows that this fire is burning, and it either needs to be tended or perhaps now is the time to re-ignite. It may also show that a great purification is taking place or coming, in which all that is unworthy or lacking will be burned away. It is destructive, but the destruction quickly clears the way for new things to take it’s place. Much like a forest fire will destroy acres of trees, but often the seeds of the trees are now stimulated to grow, their seed coats opened or burned away, allowing them to propagate. The fire also quickened the cycle of fertility, as the ash of the trees and plants now fertilizes the ground that they once fed upon, which may have become depleted because the cycle had become slowed down. The fires of creation can destroy, much like the fires of destruction can create.

March 2, 2010 – Ac

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Ac

Ac is the vowel a (ah)

Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem (from ragweedforge.com)

The oak fattens the flesh of pigs for the children of men.
Often it traverses the gannet’s bath,and the ocean proves whether the oak keeps faithin honourable fashion.

Ac’s meaning of stamina, endurance and longevity is applied to our selves today. As the forces of the week move by like molasses in January, today is an opportunity to build our stamina. What form this takes depends upon you. It can have a feeling of being besieged on all sides, and having to stand strong and firm, or it may be quiet and still, allowing you to do the work of growing deeper into what gives you stamina and the ability to be strong and solid. It might even have opportunities to do both.

March 1, 2010 – Tiewaz

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Teiwaz

Teiwaz is the letter T

Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem (from ragweedforge.com)

Tiewaz is a guiding star; well does it keep faith with princes;
it is ever on its course over the mists of night and never fails

In the stanza, Tiewaz is considered the Pole star or North Star. It’s other names Tiw or Tyr connect to a God with the same name, who was a god of war (not blood thirsty savagery, but tactics, strategy, diplomacy and planning) judgment, and law. He has a very famous story that is easily found with a google search.

Teiwaz is a rune of wisdom and judgment. In the context of a reading Tiewaz indicates that wisdom, judgment and clarity are present or needed (depending upon the context and placement). Generally abrupt actions will be avoided, and so some mistakes will be averted as things are examined, contemplated and decided upon.

It often seems to me that Judgments is a value that is looked down upon in this day and age, and it is something I don’t understand why. The phrase that springs to me is “Don’t Judge me, dude.” I have come to understand that judgment is a good thing. Judgment is the skill that keeps us from doing things that are detrimental to us. It helps us to avoid people, situations and events that would cause un-necessary stress, discomfort and displeasure. It doesn’t mean that you should look down on people, but rather that you know the people you want to hang out with, and the people you don’t want to spend time with. Judgment helps you to perceive the right direction in life for you, instead of the right direction other people think you should go in. It helps to perceive those you mislead, falsify and manipulate you and others to get what they want, and leave you behind. For all these benefits, I just don’t understand why judgment is so looked down upon.

Rune of March – Thurisaz reversed

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Thurisaz Reversed

Thurisaz is the sound ‘th’

Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem (from ragweedforge.com)

The thorn is exceedingly sharp,
an evil thing for any knight to touch,uncommonly severe on all who sit among them

It appears the last week of February was a preparation for the whole month of March, as we are returned to Thurisaz reversed. There is a protective quality to thurisaz reversed that is like being a small animal who seeks protection amidst the thorns and briars. Because of being the type of being you are, you can be safe inside there, as you move cautiously past all the sharp thorns and pricks, meanwhile the predators, those who are coming after you, are not able to move through them successfully and are cut and pricked, and so leave you alone, allowing you to continue going on. Yes, they can be severe on you too, but for right now, they are protecting you from harm.

Another quality that Thurisaz has is the ability to slip past or penetrate defenses, obstacles and blockages. Looking at a small thorn, it seems such a tiny harmless thing, but yet they can just slip right through even the best protection and prick you. Many times as child growing up, I have been pricked from thorns of plants in my mother’s garden, even though I was wearing heavy denim and leather gloves. I made the wrong move, or that one un-protected spot just got through and pricked me. Thurisaz is also good at finding that one un-protected spot, that weakness, that chink in the armor. In the reversed state, you can use that to your advantage. It is an opportunity to break through obstacles, but also personal barriers to reach your desires or goals.