Runes 403 - Rune Interpretations - Family, Friends, and Life

It's been a whirlwind summer for me and I don't expect to have much a weekly routine until early September.  However, until then (and over the past week), my life is going to be filled with family and old friends.  My family and friends are spread out all over the country (and some even around the world), so I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the importance of family and friends and the life they bring to my life.  I asked the Runes how they would summarize this important aspect of our lives.

Their response gave me pause, but answered my inquiry perfectly.  In fact, each Rune seemed to align with a different part the question.

Ehwaz in the first position represents many great aspects of family.  Although we saw Ehwaz just a couple of months ago at the solstice, Ehwaz has four main meanings, each of which relates easily to family - loyalty, relationships, journeys, and the ways in which we make those journeys.  Perhaps these speak to me especially now as I just spent the weekend at a family reunion, but if we think about these words, we can see how easily family fits into these characteristics.  Family is there for you; that's the loyalty.  It's also a comfort I carry with me, knowing that, no matter what happens, my family will always be there for me.  That ties directly into the idea of relationships; for better or worse, family creates the first relationships we have and, most likely, the longest and last.  They travel life's journey with us (whether we want them to or not sometimes) and, I think they are the ones we are most willing to travel for, especially in times of emergencies and celebrations.

I liked drawing Jera to represent friends.  Not only is it the Rune I consider to be mine - my guiding Rune - but it represents cycles, symbolizing the changes that can happen within the span of a year.  In other words, we know that, with friends (just as with family sometimes), our relationships depend on the cycle of our lives.  Sometimes we are so involved in things that are happening in our own lives, we "forget" about our friends for a while.  Other times, it's the reverse and we don't hear from our friends, because they get busy with their own lives.  But the magic of true friendship is that, no matter how much time we spend away from each other, when we cycle back together, that time of separation dissolves and it is as if we have been together continuously.

Sowilo symbolizing life... well, I am not sure I need to explain this one.  Sowilo is the sun Rune, light and life, and the feminine energies of caring for others, creativity, and compassion.  This Rune is energy in all its forms.  Not only is it the basic necessity for life, but through the feminine aspect, it brings those things which make us human, the attributes that give us the capacity to care and create, to life.

If we consider all three Runes together, it paints a picture of hope and reminds us not only of the importance of the relationships we form with family and friends, but of the energy that we bring to them and they bring to us.

Runes 201 - Individual Runes - Berkana 2

Nearly two years ago, I looked at Berkana as I was starting a new business adventure with a friend. Although that adventure has run its course, last week, I started another new adventure and Berkana came to mind once again.  In fact, when Berkana reveals itself to us, we tend to be drawn to ideas of beginnings, birth, and even creative unleashings.

What we tend to forget, because we frame things as every ending is a beginning, is that every beginning also means that something else has come to an end.  I like to think that something coming to an end is a good thing, but it isn't always or, even if it is, it isn't necessarily easy.  So, what I wanted to know is how we can experience the release of what is ending as we move forward into our beginning.  So, I asked the Runes, "Using Berkana to symbolize our beginning, how do we acknowledge what has ended?"

Wunjo, Nauthiz, and Raido came as the Runes' reply.

"Be happy," the Runes say.  Okay, it's not as simple as be happy, but it sets the tone.  More specifically, it means don't regret what happened, what has come to pass.  It may not have been great, but we can take or make something positive from every experience.  We can learn and grow and, in many ways, those experiences that are hard help us to grow the most.  They help us to find strength and courage.  And, even when good things end, we are grateful to have had those moments.  Take the good and move that forward.

Nauthiz came second and focuses on needs, wants, and what is necessary.  I find this Rune to be quite important, because it calls for awareness without actually warning us to be careful.  Instead, it seems to tell us to be smart, to use our wits and be wise in the way we approach things.  It does not say move slowly, rather move smartly.  How does this help us recall what has ended?  It adds to what Wunjo said.  Where Wunjo tells us not to regret things, Nauthiz says take the aspects of the past that we need and bring them forward, but be smart about what we choose.  Acknowledge what has ended, but don't let it weigh us down; we don't need that.

The final Rune is Raido; Raido is the journey.  This is the Rune that tells us that we are not alone on our journey and reminds us to live life.  Basically, Raido in this position, reinforces the need to move forward.  We cannot escape what has ended, because it was part of the journey that got us to where we are now, to that first next step to where we are going.  Coupled with Wunjo, its message is enjoy the ride and, coupled with Nauthiz, it says that even though we are enjoying the ride, we still need to be aware of the path.  Look back and see where you've come from.  Acknowledge the road behind you and build your next moment on the foundation that lies in your wake.  It is stronger than you think.

Runes 202 - Bind Runes - Priorities

I received some interesting feedback about last week's post, but one really stood out, because it was a nuanced aspect to the idea of dealing with change that relates to priorities.  The question was - how can you keep from losing track of your priorities, especially when change occurs?  The example was a personal project this person has been working on consistently for a few years.  However, her family is going through a big change right now and she wants to make sure that she manages to keep working on this project, which has come to mean a lot to her.

I asked the Runes her question and their response was simple, but I felt like I wanted to capture the strength that lies within its simplicity.  So, I made them into a bind Rune.  The Runes I drew were Nauthiz, Laguz, and Mannaz.

This is the way I chose to bind them, because, I felt that Nauthiz and Laguz were tied to Mannaz on the left, almost as if, even though Mannaz was last, it was actually first and they are responding to the foundation of the human experience.

Nauthiz, the Rune of need and necessity, came up about a year ago in a slightly different context, but its overarching meaning is still the same - the idea of need versus want.  Nauthiz acknowledges that it is easy to get caught up in the new things that come with change.  Whether they are good or bad, we can find ourselves dedicating far more time to them than we should or really need to.  As the first Rune drawn, it suggests that we need to create an awareness of the things we need and make sure that we keep them in our lives.  Too often we focus on a single aspect of 'need', such as money, but we need a diversity of things in our lives and that is what Nauthiz tells us.  For some it means time outside hiking or gardening, for others, maybe writing or reading, for example.

Laguz was second and also appeared in our last bind Rune about life's pursuits.  In that bind Rune, it told us that we must not get stressed out, but we cannot simply kick back and let our circumstances take control of lives.  We must move consciously.  Similarly, in this instance, Laguz says that part of moving consciously within the flow of our lives means that our hobbies or special projects or time with family and friends are not just going to happen on their own.  We need to make a commitment to them (maintain it) through the changes in our lives.  In essence, it is our responsibility to ourselves to engage in the activities that fulfill different parts of who we are.

That leads us to Mannaz, the Rune that came first last week and feels first today.  Last week's message was important, however brief.  We are human; we have strengths and weaknesses.  Beyond the self, Mannaz brings the larger human society into the picture.  When considering priorities, Mannaz reminds us to consider how we want our individual self to exist and interact with the society in which we exist.  How will it influence us and we it?  How do we want to be a part of it?

Joining these three Runes together as I have establishes us as part of a larger entity or force.  Placing Nauthiz lower and, in a way, closer to Mannaz allows us to acknowledge what we need to feel fulfilled, especially those things that we might be inclined to let slip away, because of some major change in our lives.  Laguz, then, helps us prioritize those needs and find a way to continue to honor their place in filling our lives with the things we need.