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.