Ar-Kan Rune-Lag

Ar-Kan Rune-Lag

Tuesday 16 February 2021

Fire Within The Mound


The Beorc-Rune may well have a connection to the Old English beorg which later became burg/burgh which came to mean a 'fortified town', and later a 'market town'. But originally this referred to an earthwork or mound, which seems clear when we compare burg with berg the latter meaning a hill or mountain (mound). We have to trace back the word 'mound' which stems from the OE mund which has its origins in the idea of 'to protect' and more so Protection of the King'. Here we see the idea of the 'burial mound' which is in fact not merely a grave-marker or kingly burial, but suggests the idea that the kingly-figure buried in the mound gives some form of protection after death. 

If we turn the Beorc-Rune around it makes the figure of twin-mounds, which further emphasises this meaning. Each 'mound' is here also a triangle, and there are instances where triangular or 'spear-shaped' areas of land (in Anglo-Saxon times) were called by the name gar. It is well known from the Norse Sagas that the Ve (Weoh) was a triangular-shaped area. From the works of a chap named Bob Trubshaw we find that some sacred areas were indeed marked out in a triangle-shape. 




When we open out the Beorc-Rune we get the Peorth-Rune, and this, as I have shown before, is the 'Gateway' or 'Portal' linking one world to another - the liminal area between the worlds. This is also the 'Birth-Rune' and is thus the 'Gateway to Life', both on a physical and a spiritual level. 




From the Peorth-Rune we move to the Stan-Rune which is the 'stone' or 'boundary-marker-stone', made up of two Peorth-Runes facing each other. This itself suggests a two-way 'portal' or 'gateway' between the different worlds. It can also suggest the hearg which can be a 'pile of stones' marking the liminal area between the worlds. The Greek Hermes gave his name to the herma which was a 'pile of stones'. 




The alternative Stan-Rune (Stan-Ing) has the same symbolism, but adds to this the Ing-Rune, and thus also twin Beorc-Runes facing each other (as well as many more bind-runes). We have linked the Stan-Rune to the White Horse Stone, this rune being 'Twin-Horses' (two E(o)h-Runes) and the alternative Stan(-Ing) Rune to the Holy White Stone of Ing because it does contain the Ing-Rune in two versions.

Each one of the above runes is made up of a combination of Ice (Is-Rune) and Fire (Kenaz-Rune). This also applies to the Gar-Rune which is shown below -



The Gar-Rune is the 'Gift of Ing' (Gyfu-Ing) but it also contains the symbol for the 'crossroads' (Gyfu) which is yet another link to the liminal boundary-area which connects to the Stan-Rune. The Germanic Ing-Rune suggests much the same, an upward-pointing spear and downward-pointing spear. There is somewhat of a 'coincidence' in the names for a 'mound' and a 'ditch', which are seemingly polar-opposites. If we take the Old English beorg or the German berg (mound) and the German graben (ditch) they are seemingly polar-opposites in their make-up (barg spelled backwards is grab). Both the mound and the ditch are usually seen together in many of the 'burial mounds' we find scattered around the land. 

The Beorc-Rune contains both the 'mound' (burg) and the 'ditch' (grub); the mound, in ancient symbolism, is male and the ditch is female. The two are combined in the Germanic Ing-Rune, as well as many mound-ditch 'burial mounds'. The male-female symbolism here does not seem to have been emphasised as far as I can see. The point I would like to make here is that if these burials were meant to place the individual within the earth, then why would Woden have stipulated that the AEthlingas and Kings be buried within a mound, symbolic not of 'Earth' but of 'Heaven'? 

Going to Egypt for more knowledge of the ancients, we find the God-Kings and later Pharaohs were thought to go to the stars after death. We can see the pyramids as 'mounds' but built in line with the High Civilisations which arose in the more southerly areas of the world. Nevertheless, they were 'mounds' going by another name. 

Ken (torch) is known to each living being by fire
radiant and bright, it usually burns 
where nobles rest within. 

Steve Pollington translates inne restath as 'rest indoors', which seems to infer by the meaning that the 'nobles' (AEthlingas) rested indoors by the fire, which was 'radiant and bright'. What if this has a double-meaning, exoteric, as Mr Pollington seems to suggest, and esoteric, as I am suggesting here. Why describe the fire as 'radiant and bright' which makes the whole thing much more descriptive, and suggests some form of 'supernatural fire' maybe. I have suggested before that this verse of the Old English Rune Poem refers to the AEthlinga-Cyning (Noble-King) buried in the mound, and the 'fire' is that 'supernatural fire' that is recorded as coming from such mounds. The Ken-Rune can mean - 

Kin - the kinfolk or the people,
Cyning - the King who as the Sacral King is the people.
Kan - Fire or the 'Fire-Serpent'. 
Kienspan - The Pinetorch.

We have in the name 'Ken' or 'Kan' a runic-root with a number of different meanings, all of which in the concept of the Halidom are inter-connected and refer to concepts linked together as a whole. What we should also consider that the Pine-Tree (especially the Red Pine) is a source of fatwood which is a natural agent of fire (pine-resin). The term 'pyramid' (through Folk Etymology) can be seen to mean Fire (Greek pyra) and Mid (Middle), thus 'Fire in the Middle'. In the 'middle' of the pyramid is the 'sarcophagus' which are found in some pyramids without a body. This itself suggests the 'supernatural fire' in the mounds.




In this late symbol of 'The Caduceus' the torch that runs through the centre of the Twin Serpents is clearly a 'Pine-Torch' where the Pine-Cone at the top symbolises both fire and the cone. The pine-cone clearly symbolises the Pineal Gland which many see as a Pine-Cone, and is named after this. In the above we can see the 'mound' as the arch at the top (containing a Sun-Symbol) and the 'ditch' at the bottom (the inverted arch). 



Cweorth-Rune





The Long Man of Wilmington


The Cweorth-Rune is very similar to the Long Man of Wilmington, who has twin 'poles' or more likely 'spears' originally. The symbolism itself is very similar to the above 'Caduceus' in the following ways -

  • The Twin Spears are akin to the Twin Pillars.
  • The body of the man is akin to the central 'pine-torch' or column.
  • The W-shape of the arms is akin to the 'wings' on the Caduceus. 
  • The head of the hill-figure is the Pine-Cone - the Pineal Gland. 
  • What we do not have is the Twin-Serpents, although the very similar depiction of what is usually seen as Kukulkan holds Twin Serpents where the Twin Spears are. 
  • Above the Long Man is a phallic-shaped long barrow, but the section above the hill-figure is a round-barrow - The Sun?



The above 'round-barrow' is shaped as a 'cone' (conical) which suggests a link to the 'Pine-Cone'; it also suggests a 'pyramid', which is a cone that has been squared off. Of course, a 'pyramid' has four equilateral triangles upon a square base. The 'cone' has a round base. 

The W-Shape is actually that of a 'wave' or 'wavelength'; this is both the upright and inverted 'V' shape. A 'wavelength' also suggests vibration as well as being linked to the 'antenna' and 'communication' (between the worlds). 



 
The above is the Franks Casket where on the far left of the main central panel we find a figure sitting upon a conical 'mound'. Sarah Semple wrote in a work in 1998 that this referred to a Goddess named 'Hos' sitting upon her burial mound, since the wording was herh os sitaeth ('Here sits os'). However, the word Os has always referred to Woden, and the name is 'OS' and not 'HOS'. When blown up the figure resembles a horse (horse's head and feet on a human figure) and we know that Woden was associated with the Horse Totem. This does suggest Woden 'sitting out' on a burial-mound (utiseti). We find the horse in the same panel. 


The Ur-Rune is that of the Primal Mountain and there has to be a link between the 'mounds' and the 'mountain'; in some way the mound represents the Primal Mountain. This obviously relates to the Sacred Centre which is the 'Cosmic Axis' which is the 'World Pillar' or 'Sacred Tree' ('Steed of Ygg'). The horse is the 'steed' by which the shaman moves between the worlds, hence the horse-symbol on the 'mound' or 'burial mound'. Woden, of course, is the Ancestral God and the God of the Dead. 




The famous Sutton Hoo Helm comes from a ship-burial of what is thought to be King Raedwald of the Wuffingas. The ship is obviously the vessel that takes the king on his journey to Valhalla; also nearby is a figure buried with a horse, again symbolic of a journey, though this time by land and not sea. The symbolism on the helm is that of a Serpent over the crown of the head, and an Irminsul as the nose-piece. This symbolism is much like the Caduceus again. That the helm was dedicated to Woden is seen by the garnets set around one eye; when a torch (light) is shone on this eye it glimmers. The finds at Sutton Hoo featured in a recent film on Netflix.



Sunday 7 February 2021

The Peorth Rune (Revisited)

 


This rune has been the subject of some earlier posts but I have since found more meanings to this one, and would like to share them with you here. Hamasson pointed out that this is the foetal position of an unborn child; I have since found that the rune-position was actually used in the child-birth itself. It is common knowledge that there was some form of magical act during childbirth where runes were written around the wrists of the woman in labour. What is not common knowledge is that the midwife sat in the Peorth-Rune posture holding the wrists of the woman giving birth. And the woman gave birth in the same position as the midwife. 




Some burials in Europe from very early times showed the dead buried in the foetal position and this is also known to some American-Indian Tribes. This seems to be done so that the dead spirit could actually return, being reborn in the same position again. We can see this position in the above sketch of one of the Horns of Gallehus from Denmark. This position appears no less than eight times on the horn.

I have shown the links before with the idea of a portal or gateway which is a link between this world and the Otherworld. This links with the 'birth of the soul' and also the 'departure of the soul' after death. The Peorth-Rune thus contains the Mysteries of Birth and Death. 





The Beorc-Rune shows a pregnant woman, a suggestion made by Hamasson again, so this rune does not actually refer to 'birth' or to 'rebirth'. It refers to the gestation period before new birth and new life - the potential for new life. The Peorth-Rune is this rune opened outwards in the position of birth; Peorth is the Rune of Birth and thus Rebirth. True, the Birch-Tree is symbolic of regeneration after destruction, and thus it stands for rebirth in that sense. But even so I feel that this rune represents the potential for rebirth and regeneration. 




In the above runic talisman (Rebirth of the Spirit 88) we find the Ing-Rune (Earth - Venus), inside of which are two Wyn-Runes (8-8), the upright staves of which have three staves (Spirit). At the top is the Peorth-Rune (Rebirth - Resurrection) inside of which are two Wyn-Runes (8-8) but this time each one having four staves (Matter). Here the Peorth-Rune is the 'portal' or 'gateway' from one world into the other; the 'generator' is the Ur-Glyphic Irminsul in the centre.

It seems obvious that the Peorth-Rune has far more to it than the physical birth of a man; it has a magical usage in 'birthing' whatever the magician wishes to bring into manifestation. This is clearly shown in the above talisman, where the rune is used to 'resurrect' the Spirit 88 into the physical world. This is certainly the 'rebirth' of a man, but the use of the rune is not restricted to this, but can be used to bring into manifestation whatever we wish to use. 




We could just as well use the English Ing-Rune here (DNA Spiral), placing the two Wyn-Runes inside the centre 'diamond'. In fact this would perhaps increase the potential and power of the talisman because of the following reasons -

  • This represents the DNA Spiral,
  • This brings into play the act of 'giving' and receiving (two Gyfu-Runes), two-way travel between the worlds,
  • This also brings into play the concept of the Edel-Land because the rune is made up of an Edel-Rune upright and inverted made into the bind-rune. Rune of Blood & Soil and of the Homeland

The Peorth-Rune as the posture used when playing the Taefl-Board may actually be based upon the idea that Wyrd can be subtly altered, affecting a magical change. It could also be based upon the idea of seeing the outcome of a coming battle through moving from one world into another, thus seeing into the future. We know that the Wyrd Sisters or Norns spun threads, as shown in the Lay of Helgi Hundingsbane. For the great heroes this was a Golden Thread or Golden Cord; spinning and weaving were the domain of the women-folk. This rune contains some of the Women's Mysteries.