For the week of 3 February 2019
Deeper protection
Algiz is the half-month stave through 13 February. Ehwaz is the intuitive stave, and Gebo indicates the Nature’s message to us. Read right to left is Algiz, Ehwaz, then Gebo.
I truly believe that #theweeklyrune includes the keys to making better choices based on keen insight into the present, to help each of us be more active in creating a better reality for us all. That realization process includes learning to tend what can’t just be fixed, and using every tool at our disposal to accomplish that. The runes are such a tool, and in the Old Norse tradition, this process is wyrdweaving at it deepest potential.
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What’s a half-month rune?
“Half-month” is an astronomical concept in which each month is divided into two parts: days 1-15, then 16-month’s end. In terms of the runic calendar, the half-month rune is based on the Elder Futhark, and governs for a tad over two weeks (14 and 1/4 days, or a fortnight).
Learn More
The Weekly Rune is a three-rune cast. Those runes are the half-month, the intuitive rune, and the overview. The half-month is a set rune, which for the most part follows the traditional ordering of the Elder Futhark. The intuitive stave (meaning, I draw it blind) indicates the life force most available to us, to the focus of the half-month rune into sharper focus. It suggests how we can best handle the half-month energies. The final rune (also drawn blind) provides a high overview of the current time, and speaks from different voices. These voices are usually Nature, Earth, Creation, though are sometimes others. I note who’s speaking each week, as it is revealed.
New to The Weekly Rune?
- Catch a couple of my IGTV videos, which explain the intention and process behind the runecast, and what makes it different from other ways of casting.
- Listen to my What in the Wyrd podcast, which is available across all popular podcast platforms, including Google Play and iTunes. The latest episode discusses the nuances of Raidho.
- A few people have asked the reason that I switch between different rune sets for TWR. The short answer is: because. The more nuanced answer is I ask which sets wants to speak each week. I don’t assume the same elements are in play according to the timing of the runes; I also don’t assume the same elements of my runes are appropriate to speak each week. I did a podcast on this subject, so there’s more info there. (See above)
- Also, for deep work on coming into relationship with the runes in season, check out my book, Runic Book of Days.
The Runecast
We begin this week with the mid-winter sabbat in the north, specifically at 10:14 EST, 3 February. Most of the north is coming out of a severe polar vortex, which serves as further affirmation that the way we experience our seasons in relation to where the wheel of the year historically says we are isn’t the same for everyone.
Learn more about this seasonal progression, and how to draw its insights into the personal spiritual path in Runic Book of Days.
What does it mean?
Algiz is the rune of protection attained through deep Nature observation, engagement, and direct relationship. I talked in episode 51 of What in the Wyrd about how we accomplish such relationships with Nature. On its own, Algiz suggests we take stock of our Nature relationships, and be prepared to make necessary changes. What needs to change may not be evident until we have more light–closer to the next sabbat.
The framing runes for this week give deep insight into another way to do that, at least under the auspicious alignments of this season.
Ehwaz is the rune of taking things to their most animistic level. Meaning “horse,” it evokes all sensory response around the animal itself, its importance to the Old Norse culture as the human fylgja, and Odin’s eight-legged steed, Sleipnir, who carried him through his World Tree ordeal. When we sit with the significance of the horse in a runic context, Ehwaz takes that animistic component of Algiz and deepens it to not just a spiritual level, but a transcended transpersonal level. It requires us not to just connect with our natural surroundings and be present in them, but to understand our otherworldly connections to them, and tend those, as well. It requires us to become them. To see no division.
Gebo as the voice of the Futhark affirms that support comes from our efforts to go deeper with Algiz, this week. In fact, it may be beneficial to enlist the help of a trusted someone to do this work together. We don’t all have the same journey or outcome, though we all do best with it in community. So often the challenges the runes raise for us seem simplistic, straightforward in understanding. Yet doing them, letting them move through our lives and allowing the changes they can bring are another story entirely. I often tell my students and clients, learning the techniques of a modality or system are one thing. Coping with how they change our lives for the longhaul is where a mentor and community are invaluable. Such is the partnership that Gebo brings and often requires.
Such is the most optimific outcome for this week.
For suggestions on how to do that gracefully, subscribe to my private runes community on Patreon.
