For the week of 22 August 2021
Wyrdweaving for Survival

Ansuz is the half-month rune through 29 August. Sowilo is the intuitive rune, Jera indicates Expansion’s message to us, and the seashell occupies spring. Read right to left is Ansuz, Sowilo, then Jera.
The Weekly Rune Free Version - Ansuz for the Week of 22 August 2021
The Elder Futhark runic calendar provides to humanity keys for how we live in season with All Things. Through #theweeklyrune I share the Futhark’s insight on how to live better as animists, to make better choices based on keen insight into the present, and to help each of us be more active in creating a better life for us all. That realization includes living with All Things as family, learning to tend what can’t just be fixed, and using every tool at our disposal to do so. The runes are such a tool, and in the Old Norse tradition, this process is wyrdweaving at it deepest potential. The runes provide one way that we can create ourselves as fit elders, so that upon our good death, we can be well Ancestors.
This is the free version of The Weekly Rune. Get the full benefit of the ad-free, detailed version every Sunday, by joining my private runes community at Patreon.
The paid runecast includes:
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- introspective prompts to nuance and tend self-work
- galdr of the runecast, with sound files and instruction on how to use each sound
- live video sessions
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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, each half-month rune is one of the 24 runes of 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 have been 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.
- 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’ve been moving through this experience of the runic year in an incredibly difficult time, with a tremendous amount of support. We’ve had several reminders over the first few runes of the Elder Futhark to remember to call on our Nature Spirits, Spirits of Place, well Ancestors, Allies, and our own Sacred to support where we are and where we’re going. There’s been lots of emphasis on cultivating rituals that truly work to help us build within those relationships, and on finding new tools to help us make those connections and take them deeper. They have been really great preparation for the challenges of Ansuz, at a time when our inner truths are largely unsupported by external systems. This week’s runecast turns the focus back to our inner support and what work done there might improve all of the aforementioned.
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?
When Ansuz shows up, the checklist turns to walking it like we talk it. As animists, it’s the first point in the traditional progression of the Elder Futhark that we are required to apply our agency through our form to keep growing and learning how we show up in a way that leaves things better than we found them. We’re asked to realize the divinity of our being and how the alchemy of our breath generates change, whether through words, photosynthesis, inspiration, sheer respiration, the bottom line with Ansuz is a fusion of intention and impact. This week’s cast gives us pointers on how we can better understand our role in that alchemy, and adjust how we use our agency to improve it. Read more…
Gain animistic insight into the runes, learn to elder well with ancient wisdom, and cultivate a strong spiritual path
by joining the Runes for Change community.
For suggestions on how to weather the season gracefully, subscribe to my private runes community on Patreon.
#beyourcommunity
Meet Kelley

S. Kelley Harrell, M. Div.
Kelley Harrell is an animist, author, deathwalker, and death doula held by Tuscarora, Woccon, and Sissipihaw land. For the last 30 years, through Soul Intent Arts she’s helped others ethically build thriving spiritual paths. Her work is Nature-based, and centers soul tending through the Elder Futhark runes, animism, ancestral tending, and deathwork. She hosts the podcast, What in the Wyrd, and also writes The Weekly Rune as a celebration of the Elder Futhark in season. Work with her in the Runes for Change community or in her intensive soul tending training, The Spirited Path. Full bio.
#beyourcommunity ~ #youareecosystem
elder well, die well, ancestor well
Elder Well
To bear your unique gift to the world.
Die Well
To leave the planet better than you found it.
Ancestor Well
So that your descendants never elder alone.




