The Weekly Rune – Othala

Ingwaz is the half-month stave through 29 May. Kenaz reversed is the intuitive rune, and Dagaz indicates Rain’s message to us. Read right to left is Ingwaz, Kenaz reversed, then Dagaz.

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. The runes provide one way we can create ourselves as fit elders, so that we can become well Ancestors upon death.

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:

• more detail 
• ad-free
• the current runes’ impact on human life force 
• insights on how to best manage the curves and twists therein
• 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
• runic insights,  book excerpts, release news, free classes
• optional services with me
• discounts on soul tending services

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).

As we experience a shift between the half-month runes this week, the energies subtly reflect a change in focus.

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.
• 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.

What does it mean?

Ideally Ingwaz has prepared us for what is upon us now. In a lot of ways, it marks the end of the deep personal catharsis of the year, even though there are two runes left. By that I mean, the remaining two runes focus less personally, or are sort of the “lessons learned,” at the end of a project.

Recall that Dagaz and Othala are inverted in order, for the purposes of the runic calendar. This puts Othala on the rise for Wednesday. Until then, we remain under the watch of Ingwaz, refining exactly what this closure to initiation means. Carefully consider what began with the planting of the sacred seed of Isa, how it rooted and came to life in its own right with Mannaz, at this point it required presentation to the world. With Ingwaz it is its own life force with demands and a purpose, and we have had to adjust our lives to give it support for those things. In short, we can’t be mamby-pamby about moving out of Ingwaz. We must stand in our power, our truth.

What follows with Othala is nothing less than the demand that we know how to hold our space healthily on this planet. The rune of all things ancestry and inheritance, Othala represents the Ancestors. If nothing else in all my words is retained, know that the transition from Ingwaz to Othala represents the bridge that must exist between humans and the unseen. It represents that both are required for either to function well. We have a job that must be done here, as our spirit allies, specifically the Ancestors, have a job that must be done There. In that sense, we anchor each other. The Ancestors’ work is manifest through us, while we hold the physical space for that manifestation to happen.

Our successful completion of the Ingwaz initiation indicates we’re fit to be that anchor.

Reflect on that for a minute, because it’s the crux of this runecast. It represents the point of the annual progression of the runes that we state a clear, “Yes!” to the Ancestors, to all of our spirit allies. It says we’ve done the work, and are committed to continuing it. It isn’t just acknowledgement of that anchor, but commitment to what being it entails.

Kenaz reversed suggests we’re not as okay with that role as we may think we are. And because it’s Kenaz reversed, a rune of subtlety, it may not be evident what’s not jibing. As has been the current of Uruz reversed recently, some part of the personal system isn’t playing on the same team, and that lack of cohesion is creating dissent and inner tension. Because Kenaz is a rune of fire and creative spark, we need to examine the belief and mental levels of personal cosmology.

Recall, also, that a meaning of Kenaz is “kenning,” or the metaphoric combining of two things that don’t seem related until brought together and an entirely new meaning emerges. Think “mind reader,” as someone who knows the thoughts of another, or “tree hugger,” an environmentalist. Sit with the odds and ends of beliefs, memories, or thoughts that cycle around being the living anchor to the Ancestors, and see what new revelation comes. Look specifically among shadowed contradictions to find the light source of each. My bet is they are the same, and once revealed, they become part of the power arsenal.

Dagaz as the voice of Rain is curious. For its first visit to the runecast, this presence suggests we hold things very lightly right now. We need to be willing to honor the meaning and growth offered by the transition from Ingwaz to Othala, yet realize it, too, needs to pass to its own life trajectory. Growth, revelation, AHA moments are not ours to hold onto. We are only with it for a short time. They pass through us, then move on to nourish something else, to find new iterations of themselves.

The focus this week is to realize what has been gained through Ingwaz, recognize what in that realization connects us to the Ancestors, and let it.

For suggestions on how to do that gracefully, subscribe to my private runes community on Patreon.

#beyourcommunity