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[Spiritual] Rune Study
Nov. 22nd, 2006 06:43 pmInaugral meeting for our 6 month rune study group.
This first meeting we honored Odin for his role in bringing the runes to us and reviewed the relevant verses in the Havamal. L wrote a prayer to Odin that I quite liked and we all toasted with mead. I got a definite feeling of a deity as we sipped our mead, watching us to see what we would do.
My knowledge and understanding of the Norse material is quite spotty so this is going to be an interesting journey for me. I knew that Odin had hung himself on the tree to gain wisdom, but I hadn't quite put that together with him learning the runes. I also hadn't quite realized that the tree was Yggdrasil, or that he hung upside down over the well of wyrd.
I found the verses of the poem really interesting - particularly that he hung upon the tree, stabbed by a spear and 'myself to mine own self given'. At first I thought that referred to an offering to his godhood (as an acknowledged god of wisdom), but upon further reflection I think it points more to a path of self-reflection, meditation if you will.
So the runes are symbols of power and might, gained by the sacrifice of a god, found by gazing into the well of wryd from the branches of the tree that spans the worlds. Not something to be fooled around with, quite obviously.
I'm quite looking forward to learning more. The Norse are the gods of my ancestors, at least some number of them, and while they haven't drawn me strongly, there are elements that I find really appeal, especially now that I am now much more familiar with the celts.
This first meeting we honored Odin for his role in bringing the runes to us and reviewed the relevant verses in the Havamal. L wrote a prayer to Odin that I quite liked and we all toasted with mead. I got a definite feeling of a deity as we sipped our mead, watching us to see what we would do.
My knowledge and understanding of the Norse material is quite spotty so this is going to be an interesting journey for me. I knew that Odin had hung himself on the tree to gain wisdom, but I hadn't quite put that together with him learning the runes. I also hadn't quite realized that the tree was Yggdrasil, or that he hung upside down over the well of wyrd.
I found the verses of the poem really interesting - particularly that he hung upon the tree, stabbed by a spear and 'myself to mine own self given'. At first I thought that referred to an offering to his godhood (as an acknowledged god of wisdom), but upon further reflection I think it points more to a path of self-reflection, meditation if you will.
So the runes are symbols of power and might, gained by the sacrifice of a god, found by gazing into the well of wryd from the branches of the tree that spans the worlds. Not something to be fooled around with, quite obviously.
I'm quite looking forward to learning more. The Norse are the gods of my ancestors, at least some number of them, and while they haven't drawn me strongly, there are elements that I find really appeal, especially now that I am now much more familiar with the celts.
