Mythology around runes: Jera

Mythology of Jera :

"The brightly decorated Christmas tree is the most familiar aspect of the rune Jera. Its image evokes happy memories and the yuletide spirit."


The symbolism of jera relates to the tragic tale of baldur and hodur, two of the sons of Odin. Baldur, who was known as "the Beautiful", shone like the sun. Poor hodur, on the other hand, was blind and so quiet that he was often ignored. Baldur was so beloved of both gods and humans that his mother, Frigga, spent a long time extracting a promise from every living thing that they would not harm him. However, she ignored the mistletoe because it was so puny that she could not imagine that it could possibly hurt her beloved son. Unfortunately, Frigga had not considered the malice of the deceiful fire god, Loki. Loki incited the other gods to trow weapons at baldur, all of which bounced off him. The he suggested other objects, such as pots and pans. No harm came to Baldur. Only blind Hodur held back because he could not see his brother, but wily Loki persuaded him to join in the game and offered not only to guide his hand, but to procide him with an unlikely weapon: a dart made from the puny mistletoe. This small dart alone hit its mark, and baldur fell down dead, slain by his brother's hand. But all was not lost, for Baldur eventually conquered death and was later resurrected, just like the sun on midwinter's day.

Jera

"Jera is a joy to men when the gods make the earth to bring forth shining fruits for rich and poor alike."
                                                                        
                                                         "The Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem"


This rune was also called Jer by the Anglo-Saxons of Northumbria, England, and Ar by both the Norwegians and Icelanders. The letter of the comun alphabet are the letters J and Y, although i use an other rune for Y but that one i will talk about in time.
Jera is connected with the yearly cycle of nature, particularly with the harvest celebrations that go with it. It is also symbolised by the strenght of the venerable oak and the humble herb rosemary. It is a rune of joy, of plenty and of rich blessings. Jera's association with celebration connects it with yuletide, or the Christmas season in todays Europe after its christianisation, and it expresses much of the warmth and happiness of this time. In this sense, Jera is symbolically assigned the winter solstice, when the sun is at its weakest, yet begins to gain strength once more. Jera is the twelfth rune and therefore the halfway point of the elder futhark. The year also has twelve months, and in ancient times the day was in addition held to cosist of thwelve hours.
The Christmas period isn't the only celebration associated with jera: the harvest festival that follows the reaping of abundant crops is also symbolised by this rune.


Meaning:

Jera is connected with the endings and new beginnings. Its presence in  a reading predicts a time when your present trials will end and you can make a fresh, optimistic start. The rune's association with the harvest also associates Jera with the concept of reaping the rewards of your past efforts. Its appearance signifies a completion of some project, which be celebrated with joy and relif. Jera shows that your optimism will not be misplaced and that personal success is very likely. A new home or the signing of contracts is also suggested by the rune. It may be that you will have to employ the services of a professional person, such as a lawyer or an accountant to put the final seal on some kind of advantageous agreement.
Jera's connection with the number twelve may suggest that a piriod of twelve months or a year is indicated.
This need not necessarily mean that you will have to wait a year for the good times to come again, just that the abundant good luck of the rune may last a considerable period, such as twelve months. After all, it may take some time and effort to reach the successful conclusion that you desire.
Like the preceding rune, Isa, Jera has no inverted interpretation.


Body Part: The liver, the Well of Plenty, the place where nutrients are broken down and "harvested".
Associated Maladies: Liver disease. Cirrhosis. Substance abuse. Toxicity - a polluted well.
Action: Working hard, but still healthy.
Solution: Long, hard, slow work to get better. Good nourishment.

Mythology around runes: Isa

Mythology of Isa:


Verdandi, the Norn of The present, is the third goddess of fate to appear in this sequence of runes. Her iron will, as guardian of the status quo, fits perfeclty with the nature of Isa. Another goddess whose cold heart resisted warmth and persuasion of all kinds is Rind, who refused Odin the means to avenge the death of his son. Rind is symbolic of the frozen earth of winter.

Isa

"Ice is too cold and slippery, it shines like glass and is most like to gems. A floor wrought by frost fair to see."
                                                                        
                                                         "The Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem"


To the vikings, this rune was known as is; to the icelanders, Iss, which literally means "ice". The respective letter in the common alphabet is the letter " i "
The shape of this rune represents an icicle: cold, hard, unyielding and capable of causing pain when grasped. By extension, ice in general is associated with the rune, especially the type of ice that makes walking difficult. It is connected with the slow-moving, inexorable glacier, too. Being notable for its hardness, Isa is also associated with the cold iron from which weapons are meade. The symbolic beasts associated with Isa are the herds of Reindeer, that roam the snowy wastes, as well as ferocious wild boars. The vegetable symbols of Isa include the alder tree and the poisonous herb henbane. The rune is also connected with the number seven


Meaning:

Like the infinitely slow-moving glacier, the force of the rune Isa is unstoppable. All you require when this rune is found in a reading is that rarest of virtues, patience. The appearance of Isa is most distressing when a question is asked about relationships, because this icy rune foretells a period of emotional cooling. Yet this is not necessarily a permanent state of affairs, because a thaw will eventually come and the icewill melt. In other affairs, Isa also slows events down to a crawl. Business partnerships may go through a rocky patch because expected events will not happen when they are supposed to. You may also find that any blocks to your ambitions will turn out to be disguised blessings because your aims and desires will change during the period of the delay.
Even though this rune is not the most comfortable to live with, and can be most distressing for afairs of the heart, the cool clarity of ice bestows a calmness conductive to quiet contemplations. The true gift of Isa is a respite from cluttered thinking, which will allow you to see your situation and prospects more clearly. It may even show you how to progress in the future to avoid the pitfalls and slip-ups that would otherwise occur.
If you are involved in a creative venture of any kind, it would be a good idea to take a pause from it. Even of you belive that you are wasting time, nothing could be further from truth. This interval will allow you to recharge your tallents, and when the thaw sets in you will thus be able to pursue your tasks with renewed vigour.
Traditionally, the rune Isa is associated with the number seven, so its appearance as a final rune could indicate a period of seven days. If it falls in the middle of a reading, it is said to emphasise the message of the other runes.
Isa is said to have no inverted meaning. However, if you choose to interpret, it in the reversed position, the immobility that it suggests can be taken as a message that you can go no further and must completely change your direction.





Body Part: Joints - which can slip freely like slippery ice, or freeze up.
Associated Maladies: Osteoarthritis. Paralysis.
Action: Blocked, stopped, stuck
Solution: Stop, block, prevent movement or action.

Possible Origins of Santa Claus.

The Amanita Muscaria, a well known mushroom throughout the world, and still a mysterious fungus with hallucinogenic properties.

What i am about to write, may be the origins of the myth of Santa Claus.
Many of the traditions we see across the world that are tied to the Christmas holidays have a suprising similarity to the ancient traditions of  the Siberian Shamans. Through the description bellow, you can easily see the role of Santa Claus being filled by the local shaman. His gift to everyone on Christmas (Winter Solsitice), was to give dried out mushrooms that were hung by the fire with care.

In ancient times, our ancestors had a great connection with nature, so it is obvious that this tale starts with something from nature, a mushroom, it was not something that was man-made, far back, humans had a great care, love, respect for earthly things.
The name of the mushroom is Amanita muscaria, also called Fly Agaric. Muscaria is a psychotropic, causing visions and altered states.  It is also toxic, and must be handled in a particular manner so as to get the psychedelic effects without the toxic ones, there is no record of someone that has died because of these mushrooms, most animals love them and eat them and they dont die, of course animals have a diferent metabolism then ours and are use to these things, but also human eat it, no one has ever died so far, but yes.. it is dangerous.The shaman would collect the mushrooms in a bag and deliver them to families, who would then often hang them in socks around the fireplace to be dried, the mushrooms would be ready to "share" their revelatory gifts in the morning of the solstice.

Amanita Muscaria grows only beneath a Christmas tree (coniferous/pine tree) in a symbiotic, non-parasitic relationship with the roots of the tree. It used to be thought to be the fruit of the tree.

To this day Siberian shamans dress in ceremonial red and white fur-trimmed jackets to gather the magic mushrooms. First they pick and place the mushrooms to partially dry on nearby pine boughs which prepares them for ingestion and makes the load lighter. This may be why we decorate our Christmas trees with ornaments and bulbs, because the gatherers would always adorn trees with drying mushrooms.
The tradition of the Shaman was to go into the forests and collect these mushrooms that grow under pine trees or evergreen trees. The Shaman would collect enough for the entire tribe and then go to each of the houses, sometimes due to heavy snow the doors would be snowed in and the Shaman would have to enter through the smoke hole in the roof.
I am not telling that Santa Claus is of Red and White in is clothes because of this tradition, because everyone knows his comercial figure is in those colours because of Coca-Cola, this may be a coincidence, because shamans can dress in other colours in this specific day.

Also there is the myth of the flying Reindeers, well, that may be because reindeers love to eat these specific mushrooms, even at winter reindeers dig the mushrooms from the snow to eat them, shamans belive they can talk and interact with the reindeers that are also under the efect of the mushroom.

The Earth Element

Note: The Painting to Illustrate this was made by me.

The Earth Element, it is the very ground you live in, the very place you make your daily life, all the other elements together and their powers, make this last one, the forces of chaos, harmony, beauty, power and energy, combined, make the perfect natural heaven.

The Earth is the home and origin of humanity, and has often been worshipped in its own right with its own unique spiritual tradition, for thousands of generations.
All over the world, many people from many diferent cultures have worshiped the natural elements, and even for the shamans, it was and is a goal to master them, at least the knowledge they possess.

As i have always said and written about, we must respect nature and its powers, when its fury is awakened, it has the most destructive powers we have ever seen, and there is no way to stop it, but also it has the most wonderful natural beauty, we must preserve the places were we live in, we must respect and be glad, and try to change the ways of the humanity, and led them into a more respectful way, with conscience, with the knowledge that we need this world to survive. Many think that in ancient times, humans were dependend 100% of nature, and needed it to survive, that is why most of the pagan religions of old, are turned to a great respect and careful way to deal with nature because humans depended on it to live, and that today we dont need it anymore and we dont depend of it, and that is a wrong thought and selfish! We always depend on it to live, the very air we breath, all we eat, the water that flows in our body, the ancients knew it better, to respect and take care of nature, for it without respect will turn its wrath against us, that is the way of things, and we see that today, the works of our own, not natural ones, the lack of attention and respect and care, has led us to a era of the world, were we are in constant danger and fear, the world is breaking and its vey fundations are being torn asunder. But we still have a chance to deal with this, making the diference, every day teaching others and our own children to respect nature and do everything they can not to ruin it, as i always say, do not fill the children's mind with nonsense and rubbish, without a specific religion, politics etc.

The Earth as a therapy has many strands that you can find for yourself, meditation in a beautiful place, even just looking at it, the sond of the runing waters, the deep forest music, the singing of birds, all is a part of nature, even the simplest thing to make a sand castle, to creat something out of clay, moving your hands into soft material, relaxation is the goal of it. Find for yourself the many ways you can contact with nature and be also a part of it, because we descended from it and we will turn to it one day, be in harmony and take a while just to listen the sounds that nature produces.

Nauthiz

"Nyd is oppressive to the heart yet often proves a help and is the salvation of children of men who heed it in time"
                                                                        
                                                         "The Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem"


To the Anglo-Saxon, this rune was known as Nyd, while in Scandinavia it was called Naudr, which became Naud in Inceland. All of these words mean "need" It is the Letter "N" in the common alphabet.
This is the rune of necessity, as its very name means "need". As the words of the rune poem say, that which is necessary is often "oppressive to the heart", but it can be a great teacher about the reality of the world and our place within it. Of course, managing life often relies upon little good luck, and it is possible that the custom of crossing one's fingers harkens back to the shape of the rune Nauthiz. This rune also has associations with the so-called "need-fires" or famine, and with rowan and beech trees, too.


Upright Meaning:

This rune is likely to appear when you are assailed by doubt an insecurity. Indeed, it indicates that you should think very carefully before acting. A realistic attitude is vital, but it is also important to remember that realism is not equated with pessimism. Nauthiz is fundamentally the rune of necessity, so some action is required of you, no matter how much anxiety and lack of confidence may hamper your activities. Strength of character and a determination of control these negative emotions will see you through this period. Another aspect of the rune is the importance of recognising your own limitations and acting accordingly. Pushing yourself too hard will solve little at this time.
Irritation with your limitations may make you intoletant of failings of others, too. Although the period forcast by Nauthiz is not likely to be pleasant, good will come out of it. Luck is waiting around the corner, and good fortune is particulary likely to come from older relatives and true friends, who will stick by you through thick and thin.


Inverted Meaning:

When casting the runes, you make a drawing or carve this rune Nauthiz, with a shorter "leg" so when it comes out, when it appears, you will know if it is upright or inverted.
The furstrations and stress of the upright Nauthiz are even more evident when the rune is inverted. The Norn of the future seems more heavily veiled then usual, and you will find it difficult to anticipate forthcoming events. You may lack a clear sense of direction and so may be easily led into taking unwise actions. Beware of get-rich-quick schemes and false friends. On the other hand, the appearance of the inverted Nauthiz may simply be an indication that the answer to your question is at present unknown... even to the runes!


Body Part: Stomach. The place that burns that which you need.
Associated Maladies: Malnutrition. Eating disorders.
Action: Crossed or stopped by a lack of something needful.
Solution: More nutritious diet, making sure to get necessary nutrients.