Runes

Higher Level | Making Runes »

May 12, 2003

The Stolen Symbols

I've always felt an affinity with the Runes, but similarly felt there was something missing about them.

The legend states that Odin sacrificed himself on the Yggdrasil tree during which time he spied the Runes and takes up the Runes, screaming. It has always seemed to me that Odin did not create the Runes, but was initiated into the Mysteries by his shamanic quest. So where did they come from?

It is a personal quest that I have given myself and put off for far too long. There are so many texts that go beyond the "this Rune means such-and-such." One of those texts is Leaves of Yggdrasil by Freya Aswynn. She delves deeper than any other into the Feminine Mysteries and has more to say than a mere delineation of the Runes. The other texts I have meant to read are the Edda translated by Snorri Sturluson and The Poetic Edda translated by Lee M. Hollander. I am not a Norse scholar by any means and must rely on translations. But, the lack of being able to read the Eddas in their original language should not be such an overwhelming obstacle. I'm sure there are threads to be teased from the fabric of these stories.

My yearning came to me many years ago. During a regression, I caught a glimpse of a past-life battle. I was the female priestess of the village. There was a male priest who battled me for the spiritual leadership of the village. He politically and physically overpowered me. This is how the village changed from goddess worship to the worship of a male god. When I realized that he had politically overpowered me and that my physical existence was in jeopardy, I took my small bag (which held my power) and hid it at the roots of a tree. The bag held round objects (stones?) which had symbols on them. Knowing the symbols and being able to use them was my strength and power. I could not let them fall into his hands. I buried them beneath the roots and promised that in a future life I would return to reclaim them. I was killed soon afterward, and he was furious that he could not extract the bag from me. He wanted to use that as a proof that I had given everything over to him. Although I was powerful, I fell for his manipulations and was somehow betrayed. The feeling of betrayal in this scenario was very strong. It was like I had agreed to share my spiritual duties with him and somehow that opened the door to his takeover. He had no intention of sharing. Sharing was a ruse to easily get half - and take the other half by force.

I do not know if the symbols were Runes. I did not see the symbols - I only knew that "symbols" were there. But this scene was played out in many ways in many villages in the distant past. There's a deep gnawing inside me. Perhaps the thread that points to a female origin of the Runes is there. Perhaps it isn't. But I won't know unless I look.

Posted by BlueWolf on May 12, 2003 07:10 PM