Rune Study: Aetts and the Course Outline

[Kiama]

The Grouping of The Runes and How We Will Go Through Them

The Aettir

The English word 'Eight' is said to be derived from the Nordic word, Aett, which itself means Eight. (8 was a sacred number to the Norse, and still is to quite a few Norse Pagans today.) The Elder Futhark Runes (Without the Blank Rune) are organised into three Aetts:

Freya's Aett:

Feoh, Uruz, Thurisaz, Ansuz, Riadho, Kenaz, Gebu, Wunjo.

The Runes of Freya's Aett are concerned with matters of love, achievement, and creative energies. These Runes also serve as a reflection upon the other Rune to give clarity to the immediate situation. This Aett is named after Freya, because the first Rune in it is said to have been derived from the name Freya...

Hagal's Aett:

Hagallaz, Naudhiz, Isa, Jera, Eoh, Peorth, Elhaz, Sigil

The Runes of Hagal's Aett are concerned with matters of achievement, opportunity, and success. The achivement within this Aett is a different kind compared to those in Freya's Aett: Whilst those of Freya's Aett tend towards more comfortable achievement, the Runes of this Aett tend to wards achievement gained through hard work and struggle. This Aett is named after the God Hagal, whom the first Rue of this Aett is named after.

Tyr's Aett:

Tiwaz, Berkana, Ehwaz, Mannuz, Laguz, Ingwaz, Othila, Daegaz

The Runes of Tyr's Aett are the Runes concerned with spiritual attainment and growth, aswell as mental achivement. This Aett is name after the God Tyr, because the first Rune in this Aett (Tiwaz) is named for Tyr.

How We''ll Be Doing It

After discussion, Malachite, Umbrae and I decided that, whilst it would be nice to go through each Rune individually, it might be too slow, and to go through it Aett by Aett might be a bit too quck... So, we plumped for doing 4 Runes at a time instead! Malachite suggested we give each Rune its own thread, however, so that not only is it easier to organise, but it is also easier for those of you who want to print the threads out for your jounrals. So, whilst the Runes will be given individual threads, they will be posted 4 at a time... After that, we'll go through how to cast or read the Runes. But beyond this part, we haven't reall yplanned yet!

So, that said... Here we go!

Enjoy!

Kiama

 

[MystiqueMoonlight]

Just wanted to say thank you for your time Kiama...

 

[Kaz]

i am all set and ready

i am gonna enjoy these runes, i just know

kaz

 

[Malachite]

Ætts and their Significance

I was gonna post a bit more on what each of the aetts means, but, to be honest, I'd just be killing it to death...Kiama has already explained enough of the concepts, and I don't want to run over the same ground twice, so, I'll go post on Fehu instead...

Thanks Kiama!

 

[zorya]

i find it curious and interesting that tyr's aett would represent spiritual attainment and growth, as he was the god of war. any thoughts on this?

 

[Kiama]

Hmmm.... Goo point Zorya!

Maybe its cuz to the Norse, war was a big part of life. Even their afterlife is centred around war. (Ragnarok) And they believed that to get to Valhalla, you had to die by the sword... Fighting, death, and their religon were all mixed up into one big kaboodle... I think Tyr was also the God of Justice.... Malachite can surely help us out here, he's go the Gods himself!

Cue Malachite....

Kiama

 

[Malachite]

Kiama, you really wanna spellcheck that post!

Ummm...lets see..

Tyr represented natural justice, law was more the realm of Forseti, although the two are possibly avatars of the same god.
He was also the Sky-God, as well as the warrior, and in a sense, it is the same vein of competition and success that leads from these to spiritual growth.
He represents the active principle...

He also is noted in Norse myth for losing his hand to the wolf Fenrir, due to a truce agreement between the Wolf and the Gods that fell through...I'm trying to see how that links in...there is something about sacrifice....
hmmmm.

Anywho, all the runes in Tyr's Aett deal with fertility of mind and body, rightness of path, speed and activity, and fraternity...but in readings, they feel far more spiritual...

 

[Kiama]

Okay: Changes to the course outline!

After finding out just how long it took Malachite to write that Fehu thread, I think we may take longer than expected to go through the individual Runes. You may have to wait a few days for the person to write about that Rune.

Kiama

 

[Kaz]

that's no problem at all
gives us more time to get a feel for each.

kaz

 

[tigerlily]

There's no escape - I'm everywhere

Hey, I promised Mermaid that I'll join the runes group ...

As to Tyr's aett being concerned with spiritual development ... in Freya Aswynn's book about runes, she mentiones that the old Persian name for the star Sirius was Tir. Since the Persians are Indo-Europeans, too, there might be a connection between Tir and Tyr - after all, stars are part of the sky and he's a sky god...

Perhaps you could think of the "guiding star" (I think this is even mentioned in the rune poem for Teiwaz ... not sure)