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.