The Sacred Runes
Common Rune ideological associations:
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Fehu
This rune is associated with wealth, money, or property. The English word "fee" derives from this ancient rune.
Fehu at WikiPedia
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Uruz
This rune is associated with an ancient beast know as an Auroch. It was similar to our modern Bison and became extinct because it was over hunted. The beast was very powerful and young men passed to manhood when they could kill one unaided. So, the rune honors the animal and stands for strength and virility.
Uruz at Wikipedia
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Thurisaz
This rune is symbolic of Thor's hammer and generally means protection. It is also shaped a little like a thorn. A rose is beautiful, but protects itself with thorns. Black berries and raspberries taste good, but are protected with thorns. Some think it looks like a thorn. Thurisaz means protection.
Thurisaz at Wikipedia
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Ansuz
This rune is sacred the Gods. It means "the word of the Gods", voice, speech, inspiration, true vision and synthesis. This rune can also mean lies or liar; when in association with other runes.
Ansuz at Wikipedia
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Raidho
This rune often means Wheel, riding, motion, control of motion and direction, travel, a journey to visit a sick friend.
Raidho at Wikipedia
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Kenaz
This rune means controlled energy like a light bulb, the fire in a hearth or barbecue, or the light from a candle or lamp.
Kenaz at Wikipedia
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Gebo
This rune means gift, blessing, sacrificial offering to the Gods, or trade among men. There is a saying in our culture, "A gift demands a gift."
Gebo at Wikipedia
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Wunjo
This rune is the expression on the face of a child opening a present with the sun shining on his face. It is the rune of joy. Unconditional love, happiness, fulfillment, love without strings or judgment. The love of a mother for her children.
Wunjo at Wikipedia
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Hagalaz
This rune is the rune of necessary change. A hailstorm knocks down the grain about to be harvested, but clears the land for other plants to grow. It also seeds the soil by knocking the grain loose from the seed heads and provides water for new growth. Change is not always welcome, but change is a part of life. Some of the words we think of with Hagalaz are delay, disappointment, limits, health and well being.
Hagalaz at Wikipedia
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Naudhiz
Means "need." Need, destiny, fate, enduring strength. Naudhiz is fairly misunderstood in rune readings. Naudhiz can be used to say I need a pair of shoes. Or, the house needs painting. Need is not always negative. As in, "I need to stop eating. I am full", "I need another horn of mead." "I have a need for mead." Need is the same many times as the word desire.
Naudhiz at Wikipedia
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Isaz
Means "ice." Words associated with Isaz are stand still, stability, stillness, seal, maintain, preserve.
Isaz at Wikipedia
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Jara
This is the rune of consequence and justice. Litigation and law associated with time. A good way to think of Jara is the old saying, "What goes around comes around". This is also the rune of seasons. Words we may associate are harvest, rebirth, regeneration and natural change.
Jara at WikiPedia
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Perdhu
This is the gambler's rune. It is the rune of chance. It often implies a surprise outcome to a Rune reading. This rune is always a fork in the road of life. It is up to you and your personal luck (hyminja) to take a beneficial direction. Perdhu is the spice of life. Serendipity, personal identity, luck, hearth, paddock, evolutionary change, determining your path; are concepts associated with Perdhu.
Perdhu at Wikipedia
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Ihwaz
The rune of peace. It is symbolic of the archer's bow, and the Yew tree from which they were made. It is associated with death, endurance, flexibility, perseverance, and supportive energies.
Ihwaz at Wikipedia
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Algiz
This symbol is the horns of an Elk. This rune is always associated with protection. This is a different kind of protection than Thurisaz. Thurisaz is passive protection. Algiz is active protection. Wearing a rain coat will protect you from getting wet in a rain storm. That's Thurisaz. Algiz is carrying a concealed weapon in a dangerous neighborhood after dark. Words associated with Eohl are stone axe, warning, grounding power.
Algiz at Wikipedia
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Sowilo
This Rune is associated with the sun. It is the uncontrollable fire of the sun or a volcano. This energy can be useful, but usually turns into destructive energy. An erupting volcano is this kind of energy. A hurricane or a tornado are this kind of energy.Ê Words associated with this rune are, winning, zest, illumination.
Sowilo at Wikipedia
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Tiwaz
This rune is the spear of the God Tyr. It means positive male energy and focused determination. Words associated with this rune are, warrior, divine spinner, justice, self sacrifice, analysis, rationality. Justice here is different than Jera. Jera is justice which comes 'due' to someone for some previous action. Tiwaz is dynamic justice. A murderer is caught and tries to escape. The murderer fires on police. The murderer is shot dead. That is the justice of Tiwaz.
Tiwaz at Wikipedia
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Berkana
This is the female rune of birth. Berkana is always creative, and intuitive. The birth of a new idea, the creation of a new recipe, the birth of a child are all examples of Berkana. Words associated with Berkana are, Birch, growth, new beginnings, renewal, liberation, life changes, fertility, nurturing, fruitful material energy, femininity.
Berkana at Wikipedia
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Ehwaz
This rune is the rune of cooperation. "The twin riders" comes to mind. Ehwaz also means horse and connotes travel. Words associated with Ehwaz are dynamic harmony, balance and control, movement and teamwork, trust, loyalty, fertile ideas.
Ehwaz at Wikipedia
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Mannaz
The rune of mankind. This Rune speaks to the common bond of sentient beings. Man may war with man but not to the annihilation of the species. This is not the Rune of brotherly love, but the awareness that all humanity has a bond of kinship and respects the separateness between men of differing cultures and races. Words we may associate with this Rune are, kinship, community, cohesiveness, motivation, self awareness and self knowledge.
Mannaz at Wikipedia
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Laguz
This rune literally means "Lake." The rune pictures a bent reed that has blown over a little in the wind. This rune is always associated with softness, pliability and flexibility. The reed bends but doesn't break. The lake splashes against the shore but is not injured by the rocks on the shore. A Willow tree is like Laguz. This rune can bring on psychic powers when place beneath the pillow. Words associated with this Rune are, lake, sea, fluidic power, psychic power, flow, sea of unconscious, quickening, and healing. The power of Laguz is like the power of a martial artist using Jujitsu. The power of an opponent is employed to defeat of the opponent. This rune is also associated with female seduction and love because it is a submissive rune. Again, man is conquered by the submission of woman. If only more women truly realized what power they hold in their femininity.
Laguz at Wikipedia
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Ingwaz
This Rune is the rune of lineage, and human fertility. It also has a connotation to self identity. "Being" is more than being alive. You are who you are as defined by your interests, occupation, friends, beliefs, awareness, family, politics, hates, loves, passion for life and rejection of negativity. It is the sum total of who you are. That all comes from the teachings of parents and the family into which you are born. Words associated with this rune are fertility, renewal, regeneration, gestation, and sacred power of female sexuality.
Ingwaz at Wikipedia
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Dagaz
This Rune is the Rune of break through. It is the morning after the night's gale. It is the new day at dawn when the sky is set afire by sunrise and the clouds blaze red and fiery against the blue sky. This Rune is always brings good luck and joy to hearts long oppressed with listlessness and routine. Words associated with this Rune are break through, prosperity, fulfillment, awakening, sunlight, new day, dawn, hope, power of self change, transformation, and new beginnings.
Dagaz at Wikipedia
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Othilaz
This Rune is the rune of inheritance. Othila represents, the ancestral home, the homestead, family car, the family cemetery plot, the holdings and material wealth possessed by a family to which each member feels entitled at the death of the patriarch/matriarch. It is synonymous with the term "Roots". It is akin to patriotism and the feeling of belonging to a larger society. You are an individual blessed in America by our Constitutional protections. You are patriotic and believe in supporting freedom, justice and the American Way. Yet, you are free to be a pagan in that larger society. In your heart, you belong both to your faith and your country.
Othilaz at Wikipedia
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Nature's Whisperings
By Hans Mahler
The nature of divination is something many keep parked in the back of their minds with the grass that needs cutting, the dishes that need washing, and the car that needs a tune up. We want to know more about divination and would give our right arm to know the future and much information not available to our five senses. It is our procrastination that is primarily responsible for our not discovering the sixth sense known as intuition. So, this is a good place to begin.
Divination is a term we use to cover that fog shrouded area of consciousness between our rational mind and five senses. It is the stuff of dreams. The fact that dreams become reality often escapes us. Many have been in precarious positions were a choice presented itself. It is often a choice to remain or move. For instance you might be walking in the forest to suddenly find a huge spider web before you ; only inches away. You freeze with terror. The choice presents itself: walk around the obstacle or take a stick lying nearby and brush it down. A small voice tells you to walk around the web. You listen to that voice. Some call that intuition. Some call it common sense. Yet, a decision was made on the advice of that small voice. That voice is one of Nature's Whisperings.
You might not agree with me that this was one of Nature's Whisperings and certainly not divination. I would disagree with you. The future was on a knife edge at that moment of decision. There were two paths to take. One would lead to an enjoyable walk and the other to a nasty spider bite which would leave a necrotic wound for up to two years. There was no time to think. The small voice advised, "Walk around it." You did. You finished a wonderful walk in the woods and have no wound to tend into the future.
Because we live in a scientific age, many of us are analytical in our thinking, measuring every thought on our own version of the "Scientific Method." We try every consideration with the logic of the double blind test and weigh every consideration against known scientific standards of our three dimension world, which has mass, velocity, direction, and orbits the sun in our solar system. Never will we admit to believing anything to which we cannot apply the philosophical tests of the Scientific Method, or Jurist Prudence. Strangely, we often find ourselves annoyed as the dishwasher drones in the background while we are filling out IRS forms. Over and over, it seems to be saying "George Washington." How absurd! Our mind is tricking us. Certainly, we know a machine has not the power of speech. Yet I assure you that these sounds are Nature's Whisperings.
Dream interpretation, likewise is a subject which intrigues us but is often set aside because procrastination and our natural skepticism prevent us from following through and purchasing a dream interpretation book as a first step in a longer journey. Many of us could learn from our dreams if we only kept a diary. Our minds often lead us correctly when we pay attention to our dreams. This too is Natures Whispering. Women and children are a naturally gifted at hearing the still small voice of Nature's Whisperings. Men often have little time for the hidden or hard to find secrets of life because their lives are filled with fight or flight reactive decisions based on black and white issues.
Women are natural puzzlers and problem solvers. Men don't handle conditionality well. Women thrive on the gray areas of life as do children. Mysteries often draw women and children to discoveries that elude men completely. Yet many adult women outgrow their natural intuitiveness because they too confront a real world of practical reality. Children are the most talented with intuition because no one has told them not to listen to the still small voice. Their parents protect them, clothe them, feed them and remove the care of life; allowing them the leisure to own imagination, to have invisible friends, to see ghosts, to fear monsters, and be protected by angels. Children haven't the need to know the future nor consider the best course to take when several are presented; so are of little use in these matters. It would be a wonderful world if we could become innocent and childlike when required, and instantly become hard bitten realists at other times.
In a way, that is what the tools of divination are all about. There are many tools of divination available to the intuitive. Over the centuries, the various cultures which developed within the human race each favored and developed devices allowing the intuitive's mind the ability to listen to Nature's Whispering. Astrology, Tarot, bones, runes, divining rods, pendulum, Ouija Board, crystal ball, a pan of water, a mirror, the coals of a fire, the entrails of an animal, tea leaves, and even coffee grounds have all been used as tools of divination. Shaman and religious advisors often were able to hear the spirits talking after the act of sacrifice, or by listening in trance to the sounds of a conk shell. Rocks were placed into hollow trees and logs. It was claimed by Shaman that the rocks would soon start knocking together, speaking in a code only they could understand. The dreams of Shaman and the prophesies of holy men often were relied upon by kings and whole peoples.
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