Thurisaz – thorn– Over the last week I’ve been reading forecasts for this week with one eye shut, partly due to the US election, and partly because on Election Day Mercury turns retrograde. When retrograde, Mercury makes communication a mire of miscommunication, thus, misinformation, which as a result creates discord interpersonally. It is generally advised not to sign contracts during this retrograde, as well as to fact check, then fact check again. Thurisaz generally indicates a thorn, beauty cloaked in prickly protection, an image quite suited to the dicey dynamics of this week. Reversed, as in this reading, it means a great deal more.
Many relate Thurisaz to the giant Norse god Thor, an aptly ascribed image of protection and power. This third Rune in the first aett indeed tells much along the human journey into form, presenting the point at which we begin to distinguish ourselves as distinct from Source–not separate from, but distinct from. We are beings of passion, life force always uniting us with All That Is, which is the setting of Thurisaz. In Old Icelandic mythology, this connection and its power stemmed from the Giants, whose primal nature rumbles in us as kundalini, which can simmer or blast us into active participation. Anyone who’s worked with kundalini knows it’s volatile stuff, and meted finesse wins over furiously forced success.
Indeed, Thurisaz is about overcoming the thorns along our path, though it also cautions us to heed the places where pain is inevitable in forward movement. It can’t be avoided, though this reversed position indicates that it can be gracefully scaled. As long as we recognize that this is not the time to stubbornly push forward, but to breathe through life force and discern the best path for the moment, how we free ourselves from our thorns will leave us better informed and intensely more aware.
Blessings upon us all this wild week.
Books by Kelley
Gift of the Dreamtime – Awakening to the Divinity of Trauma. Revised second edition, with a foreward by shaman, Christina Pratt.
Gift of the Dreamtime Reader’s Companion
Real Wyrd – A Modern Shaman’s Roots in the Middle World, true paranormal experiences from a lifelong intuitive.
