It is usual to relate the term alu to 'ale' and thus 'intoxication', which is perhaps a major part of the meaning of this concept. We have the following root-words from various different tongues that aid us in finding what this really means -
alua - Greek, meaning 'I am beside myself'.
aluot - Latin, meaning 'to wander aimlessly'.
alwanza - Hittite, meaning 'bewitched'.
IE Root *alw - 'to put under a magical spell'.
Here we seem to have the meaning of being 'bewitched' or 'under a spell', though this may not be quite what it seems at first sight. I doubt if such a formula would be put on medals or bracteates if it just meant 'I am under a spell'. The Greek meaning 'I am beside myself' may be nearer to the point, in which case it would be related to *woda - 'divine madness' and back to 'intoxication'. We need to analyse the runes to find out more -
AS/ANSUZ - This is the 'god-force' and also the 'ancestral-force' which we have situated in the forehead as the Woda-Roarer (Odroerir). This is the area that represents Spirit and is around the Third Eye. This area must also be associated with the Od-al Rune (Od-roerir) too, in this case linked to the idea of 'noble', and to odr or woda. This is the area of 'Divine Excitement' and 'Divine Inspiration'.
LAGUZ- This area is related to 'movement' and to 'motion', and since it can be related to the Heart Centre this is the area where the Blood is pumped around the body - this is thus the flow of Blood and not simply 'water' as the rune suggests. It is also related to the Solar Plexus Centre and the Sun (i.e. Son, as the cauldron is called) and thus the Sowilo-Rune.
URUZ - This is the base centre that is found at the Hara Centre and in the area of the genitals. The base area is associated with the element Earth as the name of the cauldron - Bodn - suggests. Ur is the origin or source from which the force emanates.
We have the runic formula ALU-GOD which can thus be used for the descent of the Spirit into Matter, the formula that creates the 'God-Man' of Nietzsche and Serrano. I have said 'descent' because the formula ALU moves downwards, once more spiritualising matter and mankind. This force must first be moved upwards from the base, using the alternative mirror-runes ULA.
The *root alw can also mean 'growth' which itself has a part in the transition from man to god-man; growth also relates to the idea of expansion and thus the fiery element that expands. There are 3 runes in the term ALU and they number (using the Futhark) - 4 + 21 + 2 = 27. Here we have 27 which is 3 x 3 x 3 or 3 times the Holy Nine. 27 is the number associated with Fire and with Kingship (Ken-Rune).
There is another formula that contains ALU and that is SALUS - ALU which can mean roughly 'health, let grow'. SAL is the basis of the Listian Sal und Sieg - 'Salvation and Victory'. The word sal is also associated with sol - the Sun - so this invocation doubles the Solar-Power through the words.
The object of the use of this formula is to create The Awakened Man who is symbolised by the Mann-Rune - which is clear from this being Manu which is the title of The Awakened Man. Buddhism calls this a boddhi-satva which means 'Enlightened One', though we could just as well us the term Elf which refers to 'light' and to the 'Shining One'.
I have shown before how in the initiated work The Tablets of Thoth the Atlantean there is a formula using these three, or at least that is how I interpret the piece. This was used prior to death in order to retain the Blood Memory. This is perhaps the right view since the area around the centre of the brain where the Pineal Gland is found also has a section called the Hippocampus which means 'Sea-Horse' and which is the processing unit that stores memories. This area is also known as Ammon's Horn or Amun's Horn named after The Hidden God of the Egyptians. This begs the question as to whether the mantra OM - which has various variations - is connected to this centre, and looking up the Ajna Centre I see that its 'seed-sound' is indeed OM.
OM/AUM - India
Amun - Egypt
Amen - Judaeo-Christian
The mantra AMN uses an open-mouthed 'A' sound', then the mouth is closed to form the 'M' sound; if we add the 'N' sound the tongue is pushed against the upper palate just behind the upper teeth. When doing this the 'M' sound puts pressure on the nose, whilst the final 'N' sound forces further pressure upwards to the bridge of the nose - which hints that this is the aim of the mantra, since this goes up to the centre of the forehead.
The Yr-Rune can be linked to the Primal Giant Ymir whose root ym- would be sounded 'uum' as in the French 'lune', and thus itself related to Om/Aum etc. We can see in the English Rune-Row how the two similar runes Os & Aesc (A & O) have the same A-O sound change, and this also goes for the Norse Rune-Row which has Os rather than As or Ansuz.It is coincidental that the rune-stave usually used for Yr is a bind-rune of the A-Rune, Lagu-Rune and Ur-Rune with variant runes inside the main one.
Amun is depicted as a Ram with curved horns, and since we find that Odroerir is the 'cauldron' found at this level, and that the 'cauldron' could be interchangeable with the 'horn' then this fits well with this centre. It should be noted that the Giallarhorn was said to be in Mimir's Well - the Well of Memory. This is the Horn of Hama. (Note that Hama - Heimdall is definitely associated with the Ram. It should be noted that Woden's Eye was placed in the Well of Memory and this is the same area of the brain mentioned here. This is also the Eye of Horus and thus the Hero's Eye. The function of this work is the Resurrection of the Hero.
From what has been said in the first part alu would be linked to the Odroerir - 'Woda-Roarer' - which 'excites' and gives the 'ecstatic trance' state. It is the 'Exciter of Inspiration' that also produces the 'Mead of Inspiration'. In such a sense then perhaps the alu-ale idea is indeed the key to the secret, since it is a formula that links totally with the Three Vats of Mead that Woden won from Gunnlod through a Tantric Ritual in which he transmuted from a Serpent into an Eagle.
The idea of being 'bewitched', 'under a spell', or 'beside oneself' could also be linked to the concept of Woden as the fetterer of his Initiates, who are 'under his spell' as he works his Will through them on Middle-Earth. For myself, after I have done certain pieces of work, and later gone back to them I cannot even remember doing them, let alone the content, which I see as coming through me from a higher source. Very often I do not recognise them as my own work!
* Of course, the runic formula can be slightly altered to As-La-Ur if necessary or the mirror-runes Ur-La-As when the direction is changed.
** The translation of Midgard or Middangeard to 'Middle-Earth' may not quite give the true sense of the terms, since 'gard' or 'geard' means 'enclosure' as much as 'earth'. That is not to say these terms are not equated with 'Earth' since the name Gerda is given to the Earth in Norse Mythology, but some would have it that 'Middle-Earth' does not mean the whole of the world, just a section of it that concerns the Aryan Origins.
I am indebted to Mike in Vinland whose ideas gave impetus to this post and made certain things clearer.
