Ar-Kan Rune-Lag

Ar-Kan Rune-Lag

Sunday 26 February 2017

Rahwhan & Alu-Ula

This post was sparked by a quick reading of an article by Osred in Odin's Lore - The Magick and Symbolism of the Runes (*) which features the mystery of a runic formula etched onto a roe-deer bone found at Caistor-by-Norwich, dated around 425 - 475 CE. I am not going to go into the history of this, which can be found in the article itself, but look at another angle, that of its featuring in a fictional book by Nikolai Tolstoy 'The Coming of the King'.

In this work the runes are Rad-AEsc-Eoh-Haegl-AEsc-Nyd; Tolstoy interprets these as R - ae - hw - ae - n. Raehwhaen. The 'ae' is a single letter represented by the AEsc-Rune. The first point made is that, read from right to left, this reads as naeh (near) hwaer (where) which does not get us far really, at least it does not give clues to the interpretation. Tolstoy goes on to say that Rahwhan is the basis of the strife of the world, meaning perhaps the conflict of opposites, and this same force governs the Taefl game, which features in this section. This struggle ends in 'death' which he sees related to the Nyd-Rune at the end.

Rahwhan influences the conflict of opposites, and perhaps directs it in some way. He goes on to give the following meanings to the runes -

Rad - The Driver of the Wagon. By Iring's Path drives the Chariot of the Bear, Woden's Waen. This is the 'Chariot of the King of Men' that leads the host of the slain towards Valhalla. This chariot wends eastwards to the 'place of death'.

Os - Os is Woden who hangs upon the World Tree (here the Eoh-Rune).

Eoh - The 'windswept tree', Yggdrasil, the World Yew-Tree.

Haegl - 'hail' representing 'elf-shot' and the 'arrow-storm' of battle.

Nyd - That which binds man's wyrd,  death, the ending of all.

However, using his version of the runes in the book the second and fifth rune is not Os but AEsc, though the meaning may still be more or less the same. But Tolstoy uses the AEsc-Rune to start with and then changes to the Os-Rune. This may seem to be an error if it were not a fact that the runic formula could be from the Common Germanic Futhark rather than the Anglo-Frisian Futhork, especially since the Haegl-Rune has a single cross-stroke as opposed to the usual twin cross-stroke of the Anglo-Frisian row.

This is where the mystery comes in since by all accounts at this time in history the Old English Rune Poem runes should have been used, not the Common Germanic Futhark - according, that is, to some historians. I would like to point out that the Horns of Gallehus come from an area of Denmark once inhabited by the Angles - the English - and the runes are of the CGF with rune-postures from the Anglo-Frisian, i.e. both runes feature. Some have claimed that the use of the CGF here, at this early time, suggests that some form of runic alphabet was used at an earlier period here in England. The problem lies, once again, in the 'Anglo-Saxon invasions' theory which makes for later dates, so this type of evidence has to be dismissed because it does not fit in. (**)

We thus have the formula - R - a - hw - h - a -n with these being - Raidho, Ansuz, Aihwas, Hagal, Ansuz, and Nauthiz. The Taefl-board represents the conflict of opposites, Rahwhan being the force that directs that conflict. I would like to look at more meanings of these runes -

Raidho - The Chariot of Ingwe; Ingwe being the force that moves the Chariot, Woden's Waen (Great Bear). Ingwe is here Bootes, the 'Driver of the Chariot'. This happens at the Wheel of the Cosmos, at the area where the northern stars revolve around the Pole Star. This is also the rune of 'right order' of the Rita, that which governs the movement of all things, the rhythm of the cosmos and of nature. This rhythm is governed by the sacrifice, and the supreme sacrifice of Woden upon the Ancient Yew-Tree. Here he is Waendal who is the world-turner, the turner of the world-mill, he who spins the Fire-Whisk, whirling the cosmos into creation. The 'long mile-path' is the Road to Valhalla, the Road of the Dead, the Hel-Waeg. This rune leads the dead hero to the Road to Valhalla along the Milky Way or Iring's Way. This rune is also that of the 'rat' the animal that 'leaves the falling house' after it has left a trail of destruction; it then moves to another host and continues the process again.

Ansuz - Rune of Woden, the Ancestral God, the God of the Dead, the Lord of Valhalla, Leader of the Einheriar - Woden Herian. Woden's rune is placed alongside the two central runes - Aiwhaz and Hagal. Ralph Blum uses this rune as a 'Rune of Loki' which I have always seen as a distortion, yet the rune (as all runes) must have its equal and opposite meaning, and Loki is indeed on the opposite pole to Woden. Maybe there is some reason to see the negative side of Ansuz as Loki the Trickster.

Aihwaz - The Yew Tree, Yggdrasil in this case, the World Tree upon which Woden hang in order to recover the Ancient Runes. This rune is also that of aiw which is the Life-Force, the rune-root giving us our word 'eternity'. This is outside the bounds of time and space, a force that permeates all things and animates all things. This rune is the rune of Eternal Life, of Immortality, and of regeneration, since certain yews regenerate themselves from within as they die off. The Immortals are the Warrior-Heroes who go to Valhalla after their death on earth. But this is also a Rune of Death since the yew-tree is deadly poisonous when eaten.

Hagal - This is not just a rune of destruction, of 'arrow-shot' or 'elf-shot' but a rune of wholeness, of healing, of health. Both equal and opposite meanings apply, as they do for all of the runes. This is a rune of health, but also a rune bringing death and destruction.

Ansuz - as above.

Nauthiz - Rune of Need; this is not just death since it infers 'necessity', that when things go bad it forces change upon us, forces us to get over the problems. It is also the Rune of Friction, the friction of the conflict of opposites, the friction created by the Eternal War of the Goten and the Joten. It is the Sword of Need, wrenched from the Barnstock Oak by Sigmund the Wolsunga, placed there by Woden. The tale of King Arthur pulling the Sword from the Stone is one of the right to kingship, whereas the tale of Sigmund the Wolsunga is different, it is the right of kinship as much as kingship, the right to bear the sword placed there by the High God - Sacral Kingship. This sword passes through the Wolsunga Royal House, it is not the property of a single king, it is the property of the Kinfolk of the Wolsungas, passed down from Sigmund to his son Sigurd, who reforges it when it is broken by Woden. What was given by Woden is taken in death by Woden. The rune is also of 'Friction-Fire' which is kindled when the need is greatest, it is the Flame of Life.

We do not seem to be much nearer to solving the mystery; I have covered this topic many years ago in the first runic work we put out between ourselves in Woden's Folk. The mystery was no nearer solving then, and though I cannot find a copy of this work now I do recall looking into the concept of 'raw' in regard to Rahwhan. We need to turn elsewhere first, and in the runic article Osred recalls this to be linked to regin and ragna in the Norse Lore - the former meaning 'divinely established magical power' and the latter 'invoke magic upon'. If the link is right then this is a Magical Formula to do with death (this and the sheep's bones were found in a burial urn).

It is interesting to note the link to ragna and thus to Ragna-rok, this being the 'invoking of magical power'. When I went through the mystical experience and Wodenic Initiation back in 1997 one of the things that I learned was that this experience was based upon the 'conflict of opposites', like Ragnarok, which ended in their being transcended creating another reality, another way of being, in human terms another Race of Man.

Regin comes from an IE Root *reg- meaning 'to move in a straight line', or 'to direct in a straight line'. 'to lead or to rule'. This gives us the OE riht meaning 'right, 'just', 'straight', and thus our modern word 'right'. Of course, the first rune - Raidho - covers this very meaning. From this root we get terms associated with kingship, ruler-ship, and leadership -

  • realm,
  • regent,
  • regime,
  • regimen,
  • regiment,
  • region,
  • regal,
  • reign,
  • real.

There are also other words stemming from the same idea -

Latin regire meaning 'to lead straight', 'to guide', and 'to rule'.

OHG rih meaning 'king', 'ruler', from which we get the title Rig-Hama.

*reg- tribal king,

Germanic riks meaning 'king',

OE rice - 'realm',
ON riki - 'realm',
OHG richi - 'reich', 'realm',
OE rice - 'strong', 'powerful',
Sanskrit raja/rajan - king.

All of these varied meanings suggest ruler-ship and kingship; the term 'ruler' can also refer to a means of measurement. We can also get certain other words that bring us further to the meaning -

  • reger - 'the movers',
  • erreger - 'the initiators',
  • regiereden - 'the ruling ones',
  • an-regended - 'the inciting ones',
  • rege - 'the active one'.
We have also the German word recke which means 'hero'.

I have mentioned before about the idea of the Straight Road by which other realms of being can be seen; this was the theme used by Tolkien when he declared that the Gods had made the Earth round, and that only the few could see the 'sunken lands' by taking the Straight Path as opposed to the curved path of the world today. I also hinted that perhaps the idea of the 'Flat Earth' was a misunderstanding (in one sense) because it does not refer to the physical earth and to the physical realms but to a different state of consciousness in which the worlds are different. In other words it refers to different dimensions of being.

Perhaps, just perhaps, the idea of 'moving in a straight line' referred to the higher beings (such as kings, shamans, aethlingas etc.) who were able to attain higher states of consciousness, thus seeing into other worlds of being. As 'wise men' they were fit to rule the peoples, the tribe, but this (of course) came to an end as we plunged deeper into the Warg-Age or Kali Yuga.

Thus regin or ragna refer to the magical force that moves in a straight line, the force that influences or even directs the conflict of opposites; it is the power hidden within the Ancient Runes. These ideas must be all linked to the meanings of the Raidho-Rune. We shall now move on to look at the thought I had earlier concerning 'raw'.

German rauh - 'raw',

German rauch - 'rough',

The idea here is something that is rough, raw, primal, and we might consider these to refer to some form of Primal Force or Power. I am here reminded of the very ancient Vedic God, Rudra, who is linked to these same ideas. We can thus link Woden to them too.

The 'straight line' could also represent the World Pillar or Cosmic Pillar, the Sacred Centre. There is also a Latin regula which means - 'a straight piece of wood', 'a rod'. Again, these terms also come from the Raidho-Rune which seems to form the basis of this formula. There is also another IE Root *regw -es which means 'darkness' and from this stems the Greek Erebos which is a place of darkness under the earth. Scientists do not, as yet, know what role Dark Matter or Dark Energy plays in the universe but they do theorise that it makes up most of what we call 'space'.

We can see the conflict of opposites as being the conflict of 'Ice and Fire' represented by the Isa-rune and Ken-rune, and thus it is Rahwhan that directs or influences the interplay of these opposing forces. Ginnungagap is the Primal Void, made up of Niflheim and Muspelheim, the forces of Ice and Fire. It is the conflict of these two forces that causes what we term 'creation', which is not something that happens at some fixed time in the past, but is a continuous process caused by this conflict of Ice and Fire. Ginnungagap is the magically-charged void and we can thus assume that this 'magical force' is Rahwhan which is what influences the other forces.

An interesting point to note is that the Ancient Runes were always drawn as straight lines and never as curves, the curves only coming into being when writing became part of the Germanic world. Runes were carved on wood, so straight lines would perhaps be easier, but the real reason seems to be that they were always meant to be straight lines, taking the straight path, representing the power of regin/ragna.

I am going to suggest that Rahwhan may have been a magical formula which was meant to guide the Woden-born to Valhalla, as suggested earlier in the article. The concept of Valhalla needs to be covered in more detail, which I shall try to do now.

Some  modern scientists, those who concern themselves with consciousness and with such things as 'out-of-body-experience', and 'after-death-experiences' have suggested that what we think on the point of death, and thus what we have thought for some time before death, is how we experience death itself. This seems to make some real sense. In the case of Valhalla we can only see how the Vikings saw it, and that is a place where they went after death, fought and died each day, were resurrected to feast with the Gods, and then fought and died again - over and over - until Ragnarok when they would be resurrected to fight the Last Battle.

Looked at this way it was essential that the brave warriors of this time, and no doubt throughout the history of the Germanic Folk, actually believed wholeheartedly in the concept of Valhalla, an afterlife in which they would be prepared for their next incarnation on Earth. This said, the Warrior-Hero who died in the struggle would be well prepared for his next incarnation; this would go some way in explaining how certain figures in history, heroic figures, have a strong sense of self-destiny, a sense that they have a heroic destiny ahead of them, indeed, a sense that they were born to undertake a higher destiny. This is in fact the driving-force behind their whole life. They live an Archetypal Myth because that is what they are, that is what they were in previous incarnations, and that is what they will be for eternity.

The process thus means that there has to be a belief in an afterlife, a belief in the idea that they will be reborn or 'resurrected' again and again in order to fight the Eternal Struggle. This also explains the concept of Ragna-rok which is not only the end product of this conflict of opposites, but the manifestation of this 'magical force' that causes this conflict of opposites, and which aids the process of the transcendence of these opposites to (re-)create a new cosmos and a new order. It may be that the Rahwhan Formula was the magical force that helped to 'send' the dead to Valhalla, to send the dead along the Straight Path that leads to Valhalla. It must be remembered that the Dead-Ways or Hel-Ways were invariably placed in a straight line upon the earth, the roads being almost always in a straight line.

If I am near the mark here there is a need for more research in this direction, since this is an important concept that must be incorporated into the teachings of Folkish Wodenism. We have seen here in England, and in many other European Nations as well as the rest of the White Nations, how in our time there is a growing youth-movement springing up, manifesting the Will of Woden shown by the dress and methods used in their work. This suggests the resurrection of the Einheriar into the youth in our times.

The idea of Valhalla was replaced by the idea of a 'Heaven' and a 'Hell', so that those who went to heaven stayed there are would not come back. This idea is alien to our Folk, and dangerous too if how we think before death affects us after death. The concept of Valhalla must be instilled into our Folk once again in order to further this cosmic struggle.

The ALU-ULA Magical Power -

Another runic formula that has been found on funeral urns, and thus connected to death, is the ALU or ALU-ULA runic formula. I have covered this in detail before so I will merely state a few points of relevance to this post. The runic formula embodies another magical force rooted in the IE Root *alu- or alw- which has the following meanings, and the following words that stem from this root -

IE Root *al-  to grow, to nourish,
                     beyond,
                     to wander,
                     to grind, to mill,
                     all.

alua (Greek) - 'I am beside myself',

aluot (Latin) - 'To wander aimlessly',

alwanza (Hittite) - 'bewitched',

IE Root *alw- 'To put under a magical spell'.

I see no reason why the word alu/alw cannot stem from most of these roots, even though this is not the usual way it is seen. What is implied is a magical force very much like Rahwhan, and indeed a magical force connected to death and no doubt resurrection. I have recounted the incident at Wayland's Smithy where a 'New Age' woman told me about a vision she had, a vision of a tall, fair warrior. This suggests something connected to the Ancestral Spirits, and here it seems one of these appeared at the Smithy. The words he spoke to her were -

ALU - ALU - ALU

Yes, the formula was repeated three times and this is part of the numerology of this runic galdor. I connected this to the Ancestral Spirits since this was obviously a Saxon Warrior from the past, a warrior who passed into and out of our world to give a message. Meeting the woman at that time, and at that place, was what Carl Jung called a synchronicity, but even more important was the message which I took as a personal message because the woman did not understand the term 'ALU' at all, so I took it upon myself to interpret the message. Below is a section from The Emerald Tablets of Hermes the Atlantean, which if anything should be regarded as an initiated work and not as a written record from such ancient times. I have placed certain sections in bold print so as to make these parts stand out; it is these parts that I shall comment upon.


Hear ye, O man, and list to my voice.
List to the wisdom that gives thee of Death.
When at the end of thy work appointed,
thou may desire to pass from this life,
pass to the plane where the Suns of the Morning
live and have being as Children of Light.
 


Pass without pain and pass without sorrow
into the plane where is eternal Light.

First lie at rest with thine head to the eastward.
Fold thou thy hands at the Source of thy life (solar plexus).

Place thou thy consciousness in the life seat.
Whirl it and divide to north and to south.

Send thou the one out toward the northward.
Send thou the other out to the south. 


Relax thou their hold upon thy being.
Forth from thy form will thy silver spark fly,
upward and onward to the Sun of the morning,
blending with Light, at one with its source.

There it shall flame till desire shall be created.
Then shall return to a place in a form.

Know ye, O men, that thus pass the great Souls,
changing at will from life unto life. 


Thus ever passes the Avatar,
willing his Death as he wills his own life.


List ye, O man, drink of my wisdom.
Learn ye the secret that is Master of Time.
Learn ye how those ye call Masters are
able to remember the lives of the past.

Great is the secret yet easy to master,
giving to thee the mastery of time.
When upon thee death fast approaches,
fear not but know ye are master of Death.

Relax thy body, resist not with tension. 

Place in thy heart the flame of thy Soul.
Swiftly then sweep it to the seat of the triangle.

Hold for a moment, then move to the goal.
This, thy goal, is the place between thine eyebrows, 

the place where the memory of life must hold sway.
Hold thou thy flame here in thy brain-seat
until the fingers of Death grasp thy Soul. 


Then as thou pass through the state of transition,
surely the memories of life shall pass, too.

Then shalt the past be as one with the present.
Then shall the memory of all be retained.
Free shalt thou be from all retrogression.
The things of the past shall live in today.


The Emerald Tablets of Thoth the Atlantean.

The passage talks about death and the means to gain access to the 'plane' where dwell the Suns of the Morning, those who are the Children of Light. It is clearly stated that it is the Avatar spoken of here, the higher beings or Warriors of Light, who will their death as he 'wills his own life'. This is the same as the Tibetan Buddhist idea of the Boddhisattva who incarnates at will in order to aid mankind.

What is then stated is the means to recall the 'lives of the past'; this is another way of saying that the methods here will enable the Einheriar (Fallen Hero) to awaken the Blood Memory when he resurrects again in the next life. The above tells us how this is to be done at the point of death - this is a method linked to our own ALU-ULA Runic Formula.

The consciousness is placed at the Heart Centre where resides the Lagu-Rune; this consciousness should be the Flame of the Soul, in other words the Initiate should visualise the Sacred Flame of his/her Being at this point, around the heart/solar plexus.

The consciousness is quickly moved downwards to the 'seat of the triangle', i.e. the Hara-Centre two fingers below the belly-button. Then the energy is moved upwards to the Mind's Eye Centre (Third Eye) which is 'between thine eyebrows' and which is where the 'memory of life must hold sway'. The visualisation of the Flame of the Soul (Divine Spark or Litr Goda) at this point should be held until death. This act retains the Blood Memory into the future incarnations.

The part which is not fully clear here, which is important to investigate further, is the movement of the 'Flame' to the 'seat of the triangle', since it is not clear which centre this is. I have placed it at the lower centre because this is an Inverted Triangle, as we have seen it in our own ideas. In doing this we invoke another formula - LUA. This uses all three centres in the formula, which seems to be logical.

This is the Way of the Solar Warrior, the Divine Hero who wills his own death and his own rebirth in a new form, a rebirth into the Eternal Struggle, as outlined by the master - Don Miguel Serrano. The place of these 'Sons of the Morning' ('Morning Star'?) is of course Valhalla! The 'source of thy life' is said to be the Solar Plexus Centre, which is used in the daily exercise designed to pave the way for death. The 'soul' is described as a 'silver spark', this is the Flame of Life or Divine Spark within the Solar Hero - this is the 'Flame of the 'Gods', the 'Gift of the Gods'.

When Hama incarnated at the end of the Golden Age, incarnated as Sheaf-Ing, he came from the Gods after being given a drink from the Three Wells or Three Cauldrons, and thus he incarnated, forgetting who he was in order to move freely amongst men. Rig-Hama is equipped with strength, endurance and wisdom through a draft of the -

jardar magn

svalkaldr saer

sonar dreyri

These are most probably the same as -

urdar magn

svalkaldr saer

sonar dreyri

These are the 'Earth's Strength', the strength of the Well of Wyrd, the 'cool-cold sea' is from the Well of Hvergelmir, and from Son or Mimir's Well - the Well of Memory. This is significant to the arguments above since the Well of Memory lies at the Heart Centre/Solar-Plexus Centre. It is from this centre that the 'Blood Memory' is raised to the Mind's Eye Centre in order to retain this memory into the next incarnation.

It is interesting to note that the words 'ALU' as spoken by the Saxon Warrior at Wayland's Smithy are the runes used to bring the power downwards from the Mind's Eye to Bodn at the Hara-Centre/Root Centre. This itself suggests the movement of the spirit of the warrior from the 'Otherworld' into the Realm of Midgard, the energy moving downwards to the Earth Centre (Midgard). Since the Well of Memory/Blood Memory dwells at the Heart Centre it fits in well to see this as the starting-point as in the Tablets of Hermes, from where it moves downwards to the Hara-Centre, then swiftly upwards to the Mind's Eye Centre - Odroerir.

To sum up, we have a formula which links to our own ideas on the Three Cauldrons, a formula that can be used at the point of death to ensure that the Blood Memory is retained into the next incarnation. This is based upon a Formula LUA derived from the ALU-ULA Formula of the Three Cauldrons or Three Energy-Centres of the body. We have also the Runic Formula RAhwHAN which is a magical force that is behind and directs the Eternal Conflict of Ice and Fire - the Eternal Conflict of Opposites. The first guides the Warrior-Hero on the Road to Valhalla, and the second seems to have a similar role in this process. It might now be appropriate to look again at these runes -

Rad - the Road to Valhalla, the 'long mile-paths' on which the dead journey through Iring's Way (the Milky Way) to reach Valhalla. This is both the 'road', the 'journey' and the Warrior-Hero who makes that journey. This rune represents the 'Journey of the Dead' along the 'Dead-Ways' or 'Straight Tracks' that can be found across the country. It also represents the 'Journey of the Dead' across the waters in the Viking Ship-Burial, where the 'Fire' is kindled, transforming the individual, and returning the Fire to the Water.

Ansuz - Woden as the Ancestral God and Lord of Valhalla; this is the Ancestral Force because the IE Root *ansu- means 'spirit' - these are the Spirits of the Dead Warrior-Heroes. This represents here, as the second rune, the Spirit of the Warrior-Hero who undertakes the journey to Valhalla.

Aihwaz - This rune represents the Yew-Tree, the Tree of Eternal Life and of Resurrection and Regeneration; it is also the Tree of Death. The stave represents the World Tree and in particular the upward-downward movement from the centre to Asgard and Hel. The stave is made up of twin Lagu-Runes which is interesting in that the Lagu-Rune is central to the Three Energy-Centres in Wodenic Lore. The IE Root *aiw- means 'Life-Force', 'Vital Force', 'Vital Energy' and 'Eternity'. Here we see the secret of Valhalla - the Road to the Immortals, to Immortality.

Ansuz - This rune represents the Warrior-Hero who undertakes the journey to Valhalla along the Dead-Way, along the Straight Road which leads to Valhalla. Guided by the Ancestral God, Woden. The 'Straight Road' in a way suggests the Spinal Column through which the energy or 'Life-Force' moves. This 'Life-Force' leaves the body as the 'Silver Spark'.

Nauthiz - This represents 'Death' but it also represents the need to overcome 'Death', to go beyond to Eternal Life in the Halls of Light - Valhalla. This tells us that the 'death' of the 'memory' can be overcome through spiritual exercises at death, but more importantly through the knowledge that the spirit of the Warrior-Hero will pass at death to the Halls of Valhalla. This is also the Need-Fire which is kindled as the 'Cremation-Fire' which is the Fire of Transformation, the fire that transforms the earthly warrior-hero into the Divine Warrior-Hero who then dwells in Valhalla awaiting rebirth in order to continue the Eternal Struggle. (***)

This is why the great Warrior-Heroes were buried with their earthly belongings, because it was believed that they would need them in the next world; they would need them because they retained their essence into the next world, and into the next life. They had recreated their Body of Light (Astral Body) and were thus able to move on to the Otherworld Realms in their own body, and not be absorbed into the 'All' or the 'One'. They remained as individuals, creating the Absolute I  that Miguel Serrano speaks of.

It is not our place to intellectualise, or to argue as to the meaning of 'Valhalla'; we have to believe in Valhalla, to believe that it exists and is the place where we shall go after death. To feast and drink with the Gods and the Warrior-Heroes we knew and struggled with in our lives. This is the core of our religion, the core of Folkish Wodenism. Valhalla is not a point of debate, of scholarly research into what it is, where it is, and why it is. Valhalla is the place we go after a glorious life in the struggle between the Goten and the Joten - it is the training-ground for our next incarnation  on Earth. Believe! - And it will be so! We have willed this life, and we shall will our death! And we shall will the life to come in the same heroic struggle.


Lo, there do I see my Father,
Lo, there do I see my Mother,
Lo, there do I see my Sisters and my Brothers,
Lo, there do I see the line of my people,
Back to the beginning.
Lo, they do call to me, they bid me take my place in the Halls of Valhalla,
Where the brave may live forever!

Hail the Glorious Dead!
Hail the Victorious Dead!

Victory or Valhalla!

(*) 'Odin's Lore - The Magick and Symbolism of the Runes edited by Troy Southgate (ISBN: 978-0-9955677-4-0) available from Black Front Press and no doubt on Amazon. The article is 'An Unsolved Runic Mystery' by Osred.


(**) There is also another theory that the 33-rune row was earlier and, like the Younger Futhark, some runes were dropped out at a later date, leaving 24 runes in this case. We have no evidence of this, though that does not negate the idea since there may be evidence somewhere out there which has also been 'dismissed' because it does not fit in. This is another subject though.

(***) In the article Osred points out that there is an Old English word nidgedal defined in the Bosworth-Toller Dictionary as 'An inevitable parting, the parting of body and soul'. The 'exit' for the soul to leave the body would be the 'hole' at the top of the head, the hole that exists when we are born (to allow the soul to enter). When I use the term 'soul' it is not in the Christian sense of the term but in the sense engendered by the IE Root *sowil- which means 'swift-moving' and also the Sun. The 'Suns of the Morning' would be the sense used.

Friday 17 February 2017

Hael!

Having studied the runes for decades I still wonder at how many people who write books and articles on the runes dwell on the negative aspects of the Haegl-Rune. Yes, this rune means 'hail' which gives rise to the notion of the destructive force of frozen rain. But this is just one side to the coin, one level of a complex rune having a many-faceted meaning. All runes have their equal and opposite meanings too.

The basic, positive meaning of the Haegl-Rune (the 'g' should be silent) is that of a wholeness, a harmony, the harmonious working of the whole organism. This was also the basis of the Hael Force or Heil-Force which is usually related to 'luck'. When we start to perform our rites the intention is to create a Haeldom, a kinship and fellowship of those present working in harmony with each other as a group - the group itself being a Living Organism. When we address each other we say 'Waes thu hael' which means roughly 'be thou whole', though hael is somewhat more complicated than the simple meaning given to is as 'whole'. The cry 'Waes Hael!' (wassail) thus means 'Be Whole' and is directed towards the fertility of an orchard, when used in the usual sense of 'wassailing'. It would be perhaps right to see it more of a rite designed to create a 'wholeness', a 'health' of the trees in order that they produce fruit that year. Fertility would be part of the process since healthy trees produce better fruit.

To be 'whole' suggests a harmonious and healthy organism, all parts working as they should. Thus, when an organism is 'unhealthy' it means that some part is not working in harmony with the rest. This was the basis of ancient healing techniques, and more awareness of this is happening today. Some sections of science have taken up the ancient belief that the 'Energy Points' of the body (usually known as chakras) can be out of 'sinc' and thus cause an unhealthy situation. Modern materialistic science treats the symptoms since it cannot recognise the cause which is based upon energy-centres rather than a physical cause.

The Haegl-Rune not only represents this 'wholeness' but it is also the rune used to recreate this wholeness when it breaks down - it is a healing rune. The English word 'heal' stems from the same root as 'whole' and really means 'bring back to wholeness (hael)' or 'make whole again'. Modern materialistic science will not understand this simply because it does not understand anything beyond the physical, and yet our own language verifies that this is right. (*)

We should not see this healing process in just a physical sense either, since many forms of illness develop due to psychological problems, perhaps the most common being negative thoughts and emotions. This is the greatest problem that we face today, since much of the 'mental illness' is due to a total negative approach to life, this negative approach having been forced upon our Folk for nearly 2000 years through a man-centred religion based upon fear, guilt and self-pity. Indeed, it seems likely to me that the underlying cause of most of the problems and the illnesses that we face today is the fact that our Folk have broken their links to the Divine Powers. This idea gives rise to another side of the Haegl-Rune, and another level of meaning to this rune.

Perhaps seeing this 'wholeness' as being restricted to the physical body, and to the energy-centres of the physical body, does not go far enough. These energy-centres or 'chakras' are the centres of the body which link mankind to the Divine Source, the Life-Force or Universal Energy Force. The centres are not physical, but are links to another world, 'gateways' if you like to another dimension of being. They are only linked to certain parts of the human body for convenience, since they are Spiritual Centres. This concept gives rise to the idea that certain stone-circles may be energy-centres or 'chakras' of the Living Earth, placed there as physical structures only because the ancients had the foresight and knowledge to know that mankind would at some future date not be able to see these centres intuitively, as they had done before. It makes sense to think that the ancients knew that a great change was coming and had the foresight to create physical structures that would be known as 'energy-centres'. Unfortunately, much of what we read about these structures has taken us from their real meaning and purpose.

In my humble opinion not enough emphasis is put upon the divine aspect of this 'wholeness' or 'harmony'. This is not just the harmony of physical parts of a physical organism, and we should go even further than seeing this as just 'energy' in the usual scientific sense. This 'energy' originates outside the organism, indeed outside our physical world - it originates in the sphere of the Divine Powers. This is made quite clear when we consider another root-word coming from this root-rune - 'Holy'. Again, this means, as it phonetically tells us, 'wholeness'. But we use the term specifically for the Divine Powers and the Divine Source, not merely in a physical sense of 'wholeness'.

The use of the term 'Universal Energy', 'Zero Point Energy' or any other alternative science term may actually hinder the work we undertake, though we must use them for convenience. The same goes for 'Universal Consciousness' or 'Cosmic Consciousness' which seems to seek to avoid the idea of a 'Divine Source' (in realistic terms) in order to rationalise the whole thing in order to fit the modern materialistic society. We need to go further and to be honest in the process - it is the link to the Divine Powers, the Sacred Centre, the Divine Source, the Holy Gods, which keeps us 'whole' and which creates the necessary harmony within our Folk.

Put in another way, when Becoming (the state of change we go through in the cyclic process) becomes impregnated with Being (the Divine Source) then a creative harmony exists, and new and creative nations arise, new and creative individuals arise. Even simpler, when a society, a tribe or a nation re-connects to the Divine Source (returns to its True Gods) it is 'resurrected' anew in a creative and vital form, the genius of its people being unlocked once more, thus arises a New Order. This state comes about through a 'Victory of Hael', a victory which comes about through a reconnection with the state of Hael, the state of Holiness which comes from the Divine Source. 'Sieg Heil!' would be a suitable invocation to use to achieve this end.

If I see someone I know on the other side of the road I would shout 'hello!' across to them, in the process raising my right arm in a salute of greetings. In doing so I am invoking the Mysterious Power of Heil (Hael) as did the ancient Germanic Folk. The shout 'hello' is not a mere greeting but is the same as saying Waes Hael or Waes thu Hael for I am saying 'be thou whole' which invokes 'good health' just as we do when having a drink with friends. These things are ingrained in our being, and have never been lost to us, even though most people today have no idea what they are doing. Imagine how they would feel if they knew that the greeting 'hello!' means the same as 'heil'.

As I have said this symbolism is not lost to us, but it is somewhat distorted and lost its original meaning. When we bless the Mead-Horn the Folk-Warder or Hearth-Warder/Kindred-Warder uses the cry - 'Waes thu Hael!' - raising the right arm in the Heil Salute. This is not merely a blessing of the people there, and raising a 'good health' to them in the physical sense, it is a call to create the Haeldom, to connect the Folk present to the Divine Source, to create a 'holiness' within the fellowship there present. The idea of ritual is to create another time, to create a Magical Time, to invoke the Ar Var Alda - the Primal or First Time. In different terms to connect to the Divine Source that existed at the First Time or Golden Age, and that exists in our time but most do not know it.

Waes thu Hael or Waes Hael is thus not just a call for 'health' but has the deeper meaning of creating the Haeldom, of recreating that harmonious world that existed in the 'First Time' or 'Golden Age. The Haegl-Rune is thus symbolic of that First Time or Golden Age in one sense, and in its healing form symbolic of the return to that state, just as in the physical organism there is a need for a return to the state of equilibrium that existed before the illness. Treating the symptoms does not create this return, it merely puts off or eases the inevitable which is the continuation of the illness. When science realises that mind affects matter then perhaps we shall see change, for physical illness can stem from the mind through an effect upon the energy-centres of the body. It is usual to see this as a blockage at these centres, or in the 'channels' through which the energy flows.

This concept seems to apply just as much to the Living Earth which has energy-centres just the same. Through modern materialistic building methods these energy-centres are blocked or diverted, and thus the Earth becomes 'unhealthy' or 'un-whole' 'Un-Hael'), it is sick. The building of houses, structures and roads in the wrong places must block the energy-channels, or divert the energy-channels, and thus create 'illness' in the organism. Whereas mankind should be part of a Living Earth, a Living Being, he no longer sees the 'wholeness', neither the 'holiness', and thus works against the Earth. Aided by the evil Judaic doctrine that the Earth and every life-form upon its was made for man to 'dominate' and to 'subdue' the process has led to mass-destruction of a kind unknown before.

If we are to see the victory of Hael or wholeness, and to create a healthy society and healthy race, and then a healthy Earth, then the connection with the Divine Source must be renewed. The Haeldom must be recreated, the Ar Var Alda or First Time must be imposed upon our mundane time, the Golden Age must be recreated. The Wyrd of Man is to create the Superman, to create a Race of Immortals, to recreate the Aryan Man, the Noble Man, to Resurrect the Hero. This should become the basis of our lives, not just a part of our Wodenic Activities. Folkish Wodenism is a way of life and not a 'weekend' pastime; it is not something like some of the 'hippies' take part, a 'part-time' venture to take them out of the 'rat-race'. Folkish Wodenism is a 'Way of Life' and Folkish Heathens say 'Yes to Life!' Life means living in a harmonious way, in harmony with the Gods and the Divine Forces of Nature. Nature should not be seen as just a physical being but is also a spiritual being, and the Earth may well also lose the link to the Divine Source and need to be 'healed' through being reconnected. Aryan Man, as Nietzsche stated, must be true to the Earth, as much as true to themselves. Hael & Sieg!

(*) Modern medicines are designed to cure the symptoms and not get to the cause. The use of drugs to do so stems from the lack of knowledge of this 'wholeness' or 'health' and the roots of the words used. Modern doctors are, in the main, legalised drug-dealers dishing out an endless supply of drugs that in the main do not affect cures, but stop the symptoms to some extent. We will never see change whilst the 'National Health Service' is run on these lines, since the whole thing is based upon the profit-making of the massive Global Drug Companies who make billions out of this, and who will not change things due to this massive profit-making. Health, of course, should have nothing whatever to do with making money; ancient healers, no doubt, asked for a small 'donation' since they had to make a living, but this is far different than making massive profits from peoples health. Whether the 'health service' is nationalised or private makes no difference since the problem lies in the lack of knowledge of 'health', or 'wholeness' and that the cause of illness is due to the disharmony, and the breaking of the links with the Divine Source. Man 'killed' God and is now reaping the consequences.

Thursday 16 February 2017

The Sig-Rune & The Serpent

The Sig-Rune or Sigel-Rune is usually seen as the Rune of Victory, but this is just one of its many meanings. The shape is that of an 'S' straightened, and the 'S' is symbolic of the Serpent. This is indeed the Rune of the Serpent at one level. The sound 's' recalls the hiss of the serpent, and the shape recalls the movement of the serpent along the ground. Although this seems quite obvious I have seen few rune-workers giving this meaning, though it was given in one of the works of Rudyard Kipling.

In the Judaic Bible the Serpent is seen as the 'evil' creature that tempts mankind to eat of the Tree of Knowledge and thus gain the wisdom of the knowledge of 'good and evil'. The knowledge of 'good and evil' gives choice, one can choose which way to take. It also leads to being able to eat of the Tree of Life and thus gain Eternal Life or Immortality. The Serpent is banished from the Garden of Eden for aiding mankind on this path, and the path to immortality is blocked by the 'flaming sword'.

In this sense 'victory' is the overcoming of the obstacles to reaching the Tree of Life and the victory over the forces that seek to obstruct this and divert our True Wyrd. If the 'Garden of Eden' is Thule-Hyperborea, the Ur-Home, where lies the Tree of Knowledge and the Tree of Life, then it is a return to the Ur-Home that is needed to achieve this victory. The Sig-Rune thus also represents the Lightning Flash of Illumination which breaks through the barriers of consciousness to reach this Primal Land or Primal State of Consciousness. The Serpent is thus the 'Great Initiator' who acts as guide through the ordeals that have to be passed through in order to overcome the normal human consciousness and achieve a higher consciousness which we shall call the super-consciousness.

The rune also represents the Sun and Light, the Light of Higher Consciousness; again this is the Lightning-Flash or Lightning-Bolt, the Lightning-Bolt of the Thunder-God, Thunor or Thor. The Hammer of Thunor is the weapon of the Gods wielded against his enemies the Joten; the Joten are the Dark Forces, the Forces of Chaos that bar the path to Eternal Life through their role as 'Eaters of the Dead Souls'. They 'eat' the souls of man, returning their essence to the Primal Chaos. The gods enforce the Primal Order and the Joten seek to overthrow that order, creating chaos and disorder. 'Racial Chaos' through the blood-mixture seeks to destroy the gene-pool of our Folk and thus destroy the Blood Memory of the Hyperboreans, the key to the search for immortality.

Woden is not usually associated with the Serpent, but in a dream of January 1st 1989 he appeared in a 'broad-hat' with a Hooded Serpent (Cobra) which he had 'tamed'. Since he is The Hooded One the symbolism is quite relevant. So perhaps there is a link between Woden and the Serpent which has been lost to us. In another sense the Serpent is an important symbol since it lies at the foot of Iggdrasil, symbolic of the earthly state, and its transformation into the Eagle or the Dragon (Winged Coiled Serpent) is symbolic of the transformation of normal consciousness into a state of Higher Consciousness or Super-consciousness.

The symbolism of the Hooded Serpent should not be dismissed out of hand because it happens in a dream. Another dream of a later date showed Woden as God of the Dead, dressed in a red cloak and red hood but with a faceless appearance - his face was a Black Void. This is something recorded by a leading figure in Theodism in the USA and one of my sons from my first marriage had much the same dream of a hooded, faceless figure, though his research was in a different direction so he did not interpret it as Woden. Another dream showed Woden as the Masked One which fits with his role too, so there may be some truth in his link to the Hooded Serpent.

The Serpent figures in many ancient myths and legends from all over the world, sometimes associated with the White Gods which appeared in Central and South America, as well as the Nagas of ancient India. It is always associated with knowledge and wisdom as in the Old Testament account, obviously a copy from Aryan sources. The Serpent symbolism also appears on the headdress of the ancient Egyptian Pharaohs also symbolic of their wisdom.

It forms part of the symbol within the Rad-Rune as the Path of the Serpent which climbs the World Tree, the World Mountain or the spinal column of man. It represents the upward path through the 33 Runes from the base of the spine, moving backwards from Gar to Feoh, Gar being at the lowest point. The 'tree' being upside-down in reality Gar is at the 'top' and thus the highest point; Woden hangs upside-down on the World Tree.

The Sig-Rune also symbolises the spinal column in man - Mount Su-Me-Ru - since this is shaped like a serpent. It thus represents the rune-row in its totality, the means to the End-Sieg or Final Victory. It is said that the 'Serpent Brain' resides at the base of the skull, at the top of the spinal column, and this seems to be the oldest part of the brain, now lying dormant in most but perhaps being the key to latent powers that can be re-awakened to serve our need in this hour of need. In the Sutton Hoo Mask we find the Serpent moves from the base of the neck (Serpent Brain) over the top of the skull, meeting the Eagle-Dragon-Swan at the Mind's Eye (Third Eye) between the eyes in the forehead. The mask was most likely worn by the ancient kings who were also Priests of Woden.

In the ancient forests of Europe Woden sired the Race of Wolsungas whose origins can be traced back to Sigi, their Divine Ancestor. The Wolsunga Race were created as a Divine Race whose wyrd was to war against the Joten, and to further the Destiny of the Woden-Born. Sigi was a name widely used and occurs in the lineage of the famous German Folk-Hero, Herman the Cheruscan. The Sigambrian or Sicambrian Franks are most likely descendants of Sigi the Wolsunga, and thus the Merovingian Kings of the Franks - the 'long-haired' wizard-kings whose symbol was the Spear of Woden. The most famous of the Wolsungas are Sigurd and Siegmund, whose names derive from this rune.

Whereas the Thorn-Rune symbolises the Hammer of Thunor the Sig-Rune symbolises the Lightning-Bolt of Thunor. This is the weapon of the Goten against the Joten. It is the Rune of Light, the Rune of the Lightning-Flash in the Darkness of Night, the Rune of the Lightning-War (Blitzkrieg). This swift, devastating type of warfare was used by Alexander the Great, and is typical of the role of Woden and Thunor in warfare. It was used by the Germans in World War II thanks, I am led to believe, by an English Army Officer named Major Fuller who studied the tactics of Alexander.

The Sig-Rune is symbolic of the Sun, whereas when it is reversed it forms part of the Black Sun. The Black Sun thus symbolises the Aryan Science of Implosion, the moving towards the centre, the inward movement also seen in the form of the widdershins Swastika. Movement inwards towards the source, the return to the source - Hyperborea/Thule. This is the movement against time, against the flow of time towards decay and death.







The rune forms part of the Sun-Wheel, and can be found in the Rad-Rune as the Wheel of the Sun. It represents a yearly cycle (Rad-Rune) and also the Cycle of the Ages (Great Year Cycle). Whereas the yearly cycle moves clockwise through the signs of the Tiw's Kries (zodiac), the Great Year cycle moves anti-clockwise through the Tiw's Kreis (zodiac). This is called the Precession of the Equinoxes. This is a 26,000 year cycle, sometimes seen as a 24,000 year cycle going through 2,000 year world-ages, twelve in all.

The Sig-Rune is an important symbol and has been used in various forms as the 'Lightning-Flash' and the 'Double Sig-Rune'; it is a Germanic Symbol of great power. As the 'Lightning-Flash of Illumination' it breaks through the barriers of consciousness, opening us to the Higher Worlds and to a higher state of consciousness in which we break through the veils of the worlds. Its power should not be underestimated.








The Rad-Rune & The Universal Force.

In India there is a widespread use of certain idols which are made strictly to a religious standard, and which are used in religious rituals. These idols are made to a certain measurement based upon what is called a Tala which is the measurement from the palm of the hand from the tip of the middle finger to the wrist. This type of measurement is rather widespread and was once part of our own system of measures; what seems to be involved is a correlation between the human body and the cosmos. From what I have read it seems that some of these 'idols' are rather more complicated than we would imagine, using some form of electricity to move energy. More than that, it would seem that the noise of bells, blowing conch shells and chanting mantras create sound energy vibrations that can effect human consciousness. This, I am led to believe, is all based upon a gold-lined vessel known as a Rasakhumba.

The term Rasakhumba is made up of the following Sanskrit words -

Rasa - This has to do with 'vital essence' or 'elexir'. In this case it would seem that Mercury is used for the purpose in rituals. This played an important part in Indian Alchemy by the followers of Shiva, who was seen as a God of Metamorphosis. The 'elixir of life' was called by the name Rasayana. The 'Vital Essence' may be seen connected to electro-magnetism.
Rasa seems to be the name of a mythical river, personified as a Goddess, and said to flow around the world. This obviously refers to some form of energy that flows around our Earth. It has been linked to the Van Allen Belts.
Rasa is also a cosmic dance of Lord Krishna and his Gopis or 'herdswomen', which could be symbolic of the movement of the planets around the Sun (Krishna). At a smaller level this could be the movement of electrons around the nucleus of an atom. Whatever the case this is a movement of energy around a centre.

Khumba is a container or pot in which is placed water and other substances; it is a container of the Life-Force or the Serpent Power.
The root of the word rasa - as I have stated before - is 'rapture', 'ecstasy' or 'orgasm' and we have seen this term before in Rata-tosk and Rati which both feature in Norse Mythology. Both of these are rooted in the rasa, with a letter-change to 't'. From this we can go further in connecting this to our Rad-Rune or Rat-Rune.

In the Old English Rune-Poem we find the use of the word 'riding' which is obviously connected to the rune in its sound, but which also has hidden sexual connotations too. Indeed, the shape of the rune when turned sideways suggests this aspect too - the joining of male and female. This links to the root of rasa and its root-meanings.

Rati is the name of the auger or 'borer' used to get into Knitbjorg; after having the hole bored Woden actually changes into a Serpent - an ancient phallic symbol. What follows is a Tantric Rite and we could easily link this rune to Love Magic or Sex Magic using this as a base to do so. Linked to the rune are the terms ritter (German) and ridder (Dutch), both of which can mean 'knight'; from this we can see that a 'quest' can be involved, which is the basis of the medieval knight's work.

Rata-tosk has a different task, that of 'carrying messages' from the Serpent at the base of the World Tree to the Eagle on the top of the World Tree. At a microcosmic level this is the Serpent at the base of the spinal column and the Eagle at the top. Now, Norse Mythology seems to be near perfect in placing a Hawk between the eyes of the Eagle at the top, since using the eyebrows as the wings of the Eagle (as on the Sutton Hoo Helmet) the 'Hawk Eye' would sit in the exact position of the Third Eye. Ratatosk runs upwards and downwards along the spinal column, linking the Cauldron of Bodn to the Cauldron of Odroerir. This movement along the spinal column does produce a form of ecstasy or rapture, generating heat (energy) in the body.

The name Rite or Ritual stems from the Rad/Rit Rune; but there are other concepts linked to this rune, and to the rites and rituals we perform -

Rhythm,
Rhyme,
Round/Rota (wheel)/Rotate,
Ring (Circle),

These all go together to suggest the use of sound and of a circular dance (movement producing energy) which is part of ritual; bells, drums and other instruments can be used to do this. It is thus perhaps significant that here in England - up until recent years - this type of 'ritual' survived within the 'nursery rhymes' that people once used to sing to their children. Nursery Rhymes such as Ring-a-ring-a-roses and Here we go round the mulberry bush were certainly 'ring-dances' performed by children, using the circular dance (ring-movement) together with the song (sound). The widespread use of the Maypole (at one time) was also part of the same type of ritual - the Circle Dance. This is also dimly remembered in the Witch's Dance.

What most people do not realise is that these old 'Nursery Rhymes' were designed to fit the minds of young children; many of them are illogical, but they are not meant for the logical side of the brain - the Left-Brain. Today these are going out of 'fashion' but only because children are being forced into using only one side of the brain, the logical side, that is. This is a quote from a Hindu Sage -
'Some people consider that nothing apart from the body exists, because movement arises from the body. This conception, peculiar to individuals of a low stature such as idiots, is, by the materialists, elevated to the status of a "system".'
Even modern science has begun to see that consciousness can exist outside the human body, recognising such phenomena as the out-of-body-experience. This cannot be accepted by the gross-materialists since it means that their oft-quoted phrase 'You only live once!' can be proven false. If consciousness exists outside the body then some form of after-life becomes a reality. And the 'soul-journey' of the shaman also becomes a reality. All of this can be linked to the Rad-Rune and its many meanings. Since one of the meanings of the rune is linked to the concept of 'right' and right order' we can also link it to the 'right-brain'. The right-brain is the seat of poetry (rhyme), song (rhythm), art, ritual movement, etc.

"People have become weary of scientific specialisation and rational intellectualism. They want to hear truths which do not make them narrower but broader, which do not obscure but enlighten, which do not run off them like water, but pierce them to the marrow."

Carl Jung.

The Rad-Rune, as I have stated before, can be seen as a symbol of the blood running down the World Pillar - the zig-zag pattern. But this pattern can also be seen as the Serpent (S) climbing the Tree (I). It can be seen as the Fire-Serpent (Kundalini) rising upwards along the spinal column. We recognise that we live within a vast ocean of Universal Energy, which is sometimes called the Life-Force, and which is a form of 'consciousness'. When this force manifests itself in the material realm it works as the forces of attraction and repulsion - centripetal and centrifugal forces. It also moves in a spiral path, which indeed could be hidden in the Rad-Rune, the movement of the Serpent being in a spiral movement. Indeed, in many cultures the Hooded Serpent (Cobra) symbolises this Universal Life-Force.

Some scientists now believe that the universe is filled with radiation, a form of energy. What is know as the 'ether' is not the carrier of this energy but the materialised forces themselves. In other words there is no such thing as 'empty space', a concept already known in Norse Mythology which saw this 'emptiness' as Ginnungagap - a Magically-charged Void. Plato referred to this as 'archetypal essence'. Contrary to the usual opinion Sir Isaac Newton recognised knew this -
"Is not the heat of a warm room conveyed through the vacuum by the vibrations of a much more subtle medium than air which after the air is drawn out remained in the vacuum? And is not this medium the same with that medium by which light is refracted and reflected - and by whose vibrations light communicates heat to bodies? And is not this medium exceedingly more rare and subtle than the air and exceedingly more elastic and active? And does it not readily pervade all bodies? And is it not (by its elastic force) expanded through the heavens?"

Sir Isaac Newton - 'Optiks' (1704).

Today the concept of 'ether' is known by the scientific name of Zero Point Energy; this is the energy that permeates everything. This energy cannot be measured directly but has been accepted due to its workings that produce certain results. When something continually expends energy it should collapse, as an electron should do, gravitate towards the nucleus; but it simply does not, since it absorbs the energy around it ('ground-state energy'). This energy can be highly concentrated in such things as crystals, plants, trees, humans etc. In humans it is concentrated in such things as 'Pressure Points', 'Chakras' 'The Cauldrons' etc.

Scientists have begun to see the universe (multiverse really) as being interconnected like a web; in doing so they have reached backwards to the ancient idea of the Web of Wyrd. It is this energy - Life-Force - which permeates the whole. In ancient times the vortex was seen as the basic form of energy; this was inherent in the Vedas as The Churning of the Milky Ocean which was the worlds being 'whirled' into creation through the nebula created through the action of Fire and Ice. This is the same as the Norse god Mundilfore who 'whirled' the cosmos into creation; the Holy Swastika is symbolic of this Creative Force.

Going back to the Rad-Rune this, of course, suggests rad-iation itself: the term 'radiate' stems from 'ray' or 'to shine' which is one of the meanings of this rune. What we see is a spiral form of energy, symbolised in two-dimensional form as the Swastika. Another meaning of the Rad-Rune is that of a 'wheel', a circular movement around a fixed centre. If a piece of copper wire is wound into a spiral it acquires properties that it did not have before. Since the term 'spiral' is linked to 'spirit' we are talking in terms of Spiritual Forces.

The word 'man' derives from the same root as 'mind' which tells us that man is a 'Mind-Carrier'; Man and Mind are thus a whole, and not separate parts. The Sanskrit word for 'mind' is 'manas' and we have the idea of the Hidden Man-na which has to be seen as 'Hidden Mind'. This is our 'inspiration' (in-spir-ation) or intuitive faculties which seem to be infused with ideas from a 'hidden' source.

Some years ago a fellow Folkish Wodenist had a mystical experience centred around the chakras (he used seven); these were not the usual 'wheels' but were the 'sun-wheels', shaped as the Wewelsburg Black Sun. The 'Serpent' force climbed these in the form of an S-shape, moving between each 'wheel', each one thus rotating the opposite way to the one below it. Again, we are seeing the Rad-Rune in action, the Serpent climbing the Rod (Rod-Rune).

We can easily over complicate things by being too scientific; in the case of health it would be easier to see the cause of health problems as being a state of 'chaos' within the body. The body is not 'at ease', it is dis-eased. This applies as much to the national body too, and the race as a whole; 'racial chaos' produces a state of decay and disease within the organism. The Rad-Rune is the solution in bringing 'right order' and the correct 'rhythm' within the body. When we lose a pride in ourselves, and when the people lose their pride in their nation and race, then degeneration sets in, followed by decay and finally death. This is what is happening today, here and now, and is something that has been done deliberately to destroy our Folk.

The key to what I am trying to say is that everything is vibration; all things vibrate at a certain frequency, and when this frequency alters then change takes place. This can either be good or bad, it must be pointed out. Changes for the bad can mean ill-health; changes for the good can mean a change in the DNA, which could in time create the God-Man. The Rad-Rune contains the idea of vibration, and we know that doing gealdor/mantra this creates vibration, which can be easily seen when using different tones and learning by practice to use the tones that suit us as individuals.

"Are not gross bodies and light convertible into one another, and may not bodies receive much of their activity from the particles of light which enter their composition? The changing of bodies into light and light into bodies is very comfortable to the course of nature, which seems delighted with transmutations."

Sir Isaac Newton - Optiks.

Quantum Science is quickly taking over the old 'classical' science, and this is due in the great part to scientists who have studied the Rig Vedas and other ancient texts. Science is coming full circle in finding the lost knowledge of the ancients. Irminsul by Vargs Vikernes is a small booklet that also contains a new Aryan Science but this time using Norse Mythology. It is an interesting little booklet that at times makes good sense. We should see our own Ancient Runes as facets of a larger whole, as being forces within the Web of Wyrd. Each rune represents a particular facet of the whole, but must be seen in regard to that whole, and not as a separate entity. The 'modern' world sees everything as being separate; our own lore sees the whole as the Hag-All or All-Hag, linked to the Haegl-Rune. Everything is interconnected, interlinked, as the Web of Wyrd.

The Rad-Rune is often seen as some form of 'path', 'way' or 'road' and in a sense this is right. It is the Path of the Serpent (S) which rises upwards along the spinal column (I) in the form of the Fire-Serpent or Kundalini. The Ken-Rune represents the Fire-Serpent, as does the Sig-Rune, and the Rad-Rune represents the upward path of the Serpent along Mount Me-Ru or Su-Me-Ru. These three runes are subtly connected through the Serpent symbolism. Through the Ken-Rune we find the link between the Serpent (Kan) and Knowledge and Wisdom (Kan). The Aryan Root *kan/*kna gives us 'knowledge'.

The negative side of the Rad-Rune is symbolised by the rat the parasitical animal that feeds off the waste of mankind, and is the source of the plague and other pestilences. This animal 'leaves the falling house' which means that when its destructive work is done it moves on elsewhere to start the process once again. This is the polar-opposite to the Rita or 'Right Order' which is the basic meaning of the rune; this is harmony, rightness and light. All runes have polar-opposite meanings within them, we have a choice as to which path we take.

The Rad-Rune is the Rood-Tree or Gallows Tree upon which the Young Hero hangs; this is the Bleeding Tree which represents the 'wounded cosmos' and the 'wounded earth' which have to be healed - made whole once more. Through a growing knowledge of this Universal Force or Life-Force this can be done. Our work is to gain this knowledge.