Casting Runes
Fehu: domestic cattle, wealth | possessions won
or earned, earned income, luck / abundance, financial strength in the
present or near future / sign of hope and plenty, success and
happiness / social success / energy, foresight, fertility,
creation/destruction | reversed or merkstave: loss of
personal property, esteem, or something that you put in effort to
keep / indicates some sort of failure / greed, burnout, atrophy,
discord / cowardice, stupidity, dullness, poverty, slavery,
bondage
Uruz: auroch, a wild ox | physical strength and
speed, untamed potential / time of great energy and health / freedom,
energy, action, courage, strength, tenacity, understanding, wisdom /
sudden or unexpected changes (usually for the better) / sexual desire,
masculine potency / the shaping of power and pattern, formulation of
the self | reversed or merkstave: weakness, obsession,
misdirected force, domination by others / sickness, inconsistency,
ignorance / lust, brutality, rashness, callousness,
violence
Thurisaz: thorn or a Giant | reactive force,
directed force of destruction and defense, conflict. Instinctual
will, vital eroticism, regenerative catalyst / tendency toward
change / catharsis, purging, cleansing fire / male sexuality,
fertilization | reversed or merkstave: danger, defenselessness, compulsion, betrayal,
dullness / evil, malice, hatred, torment, spite, lies / a bad man or
woman
Ansuz: the As, ancestral god, i.e. Odin | a revealing message
or insight, communication / signals, inspiration,
enthusiasm, speech, true vision, power of words and naming / blessings,
the taking of advice / good health, harmony, truth, wisdom | reversed or merkstave: misunderstanding, delusion, manipulation
by others, boredom / vanity and grandiloquence
Raidho: wagon or chariot | travel, both in
physical terms and those of lifestyle direction | a journey, vacation,
relocation, evolution, change of place or setting / seeing a larger
perspective / seeing the right move for you to make and deciding upon
it / personal rhythm, world rhythm, dance of life | reversed or merkstave: crisis, rigidity, stasis, injustice, irrationality / disruption, dislocation, demotion, delusion, possibly a
death
Kenaz: beacon or torch | vision, revelation,
knowledge, creativity, inspiration, technical ability / vital fire of
life, harnessed power, fire of transformation and regeneration / power
to create your own reality, the power of light / open to new strength,
energy, and power now / passion, sexual love | reversed or merkstave: disease, breakup, instability, lack of creativity / nakedness, exposure, loss of illusion and false hope
Gebo: gift | gifts, both in the sense of
sacrifice and of generosity, indicating balance / all matters in
relation to exchanges, including contracts, personal relationships
and partnerships | merkstave: greed, loneliness, dependence, over-sacrifice / obligation, toll, privation, bribery
Wunjo: joy | joy,
comfort, pleasure / fellowship, harmony, prosperity / ecstasy, glory,
spiritual reward, but also the possibility of going “over the top” / if
restrained, the meaning is general success and recognition of
worth | reversed or merkstave: stultification, sorrow, strife,
alienation / delirium, intoxication, possession by higher forces,
impractical enthusiasm / raging frenzy, berzerker
Hagalaz: hail | wrath of nature, destructive,
uncontrolled forces, especially the weather, or within the
unconscious / tempering, testing, trial / controlled crisis, leading to
completion, inner harmony | merkstave: natural disaster, catastrophe / stagnation, loss of power / pain, loss, suffering, hardship, sickness,
crisis
Nauthiz: need | delays, restriction / resistance
leading to strength, innovation, need-fire (self-reliance) / distress,
confusion, conflict, and the power of will to overcome them / endurance,
survival, determination / time to exercise patience / recognition of
one’s fate / major self-initiated change / face your
fears | reversed or merkstave: constraint of freedom,
distress, toil, drudgery, laxity / necessity, extremity, want,
deprivation, starvation, need, poverty, emotional hunger
Isa: ice | a challenge or frustration / psychological blocks
to thought or activity, including grievances / standstill, or a time to
turn inward and wait for what is to come, or
to seek clarity / reinforces runes around it | merkstave: ego-mania,
dullness, blindness, dissipation / treachery, illusion, deceit,
betrayal, guile, stealth, ambush, plots
Jera:
a year, a good harvest / the results
of earlier efforts are realized / time of peace and happiness,
fruitful season / can break through stagnancy / hopes and
expectations of peace and prosperity / the promise of success earned /
life cycle, cyclical pattern of the universe / everything changes, in
its own time | merkstave: sudden setback, reversals / a major change, repetition,
bad timing, poverty, conflict
Eihwaz: yew tree | strength, reliability,
dependability, trustworthiness / enlightenment, endurance / defense,
protection / the driving force to acquire, providing motivation and a
sense of purpose / indicates that you have set your sights on a
reasonable target and can achieve your goals / an honest man who can
be relied upon | reversed or merkstave: confusion, destruction,
dissatisfaction, weakness
Perthro: lot cup, vagina | uncertain meaning, a
secret matter, a mystery, hidden things and occult abilities.
Initiation, knowledge of one’s destiny, knowledge of future matters,
determining the future or your path / pertaining to things feminine,
feminine mysteries including female fertility etc. / good lot,
fellowship and joy / evolutionary change | reversed or merkstave: addiction, stagnation, loneliness, malaise
Algiz: elk, protection | protection, a
shield / the protective urge to shelter oneself or others / defense,
warding off of evil, shield, guardian / connection with the gods,
awakening, higher life. It can be used to channel energies
appropriately / follow your instincts / keep hold of success or
maintain a position won or earned | reversed: or merkstave: hidden danger, consumption by divine forces, loss of divine link / taboo, warning, turning away, that which repels
Sowilo: the sun | success, goals achieved, honor / the
life-force, health / a time when power will be available to you
for positive changes in your life, victory, health, and success /
contact between the higher self and the unconscious / holeness,
power, elemental force, sword of flame, cleansing fire | merkstave:
false goals, bad counsel, false success, gullibility, loss of goals /
destruction, retribution, justice, casting down of vanity / wrath of
god
Tiwaz:
Tyr, the sky god | honour, justice,
leadership and authority / analysis, rationality / knowing where one’s
true strengths lie / willingness to self-sacrifice / victory and
success in any competition or in legal matters | reversed or merkstave:
one’s energy and creative flow are blocked/ mental
paralysis, over-analysis, over-sacrifice, injustice, imbalance / strife,
war, conflict, failure in competition / dwindling passion,
difficulties in communication, and possibly separation
Berkano: Berchta, the birch-goddess | birth,
general fertility, both mental and physical and personal growth,
liberation / regenerative power and light of spring, renewal, promise
of new beginnings, new growth / arousal of desire / a love affair or
new birth / the prospering of an enterprise or venture | reversed or merkstave: family problems and or domestic troubles / anxiety about someone close to you / carelessness, abandon, loss of
control / blurring of consciousness, deceit, sterility,
stagnation
Ehwaz: horse, two horses | transportation / may
represent a horse, car, plane, boat or other vehicle / movement and
change for the better / gradual development and steady progress are
indicated / harmony, teamwork, trust, loyalty / an ideal marriage or
partnership / confirmation beyond doubt the meanings of the runes
around it | reversed or merkstave: not really a negative
rune / a change is perhaps craved / feeling restless or confined in a
situation / reckless haste, disharmony, mistrust, betrayal
Mannaz: man, mankind | the Self; the individual
or the human race / your attitude toward others and their attitudes
towards you / friends and enemies, social order. Intelligence,
forethought, create, skill, ability / divine structure, intelligence,
awareness / expect to receive some sort of aid or cooperation now | reversed or merkstave: depression, mortality, blindness,
self-delusion / cunning, slyness, manipulation, craftiness,
calculation / expect no help now
Laguz: water, or a leek | flow, water, sea, a
fertility source, the healing power of renewal / life energy and
organic growth / imagination and psychic matters / dreams, fantasies,
mysteries, the unknown, the hidden, the deep, the underworld / success
in travel or acquisition, but with the possibility of loss | reversed or merkstave: an indication of a period of confusion in your
life / you may be making wrong decisions and poor judgements / lack of
creativity and feelings of being in a rut / fear, circular motion,
avoidance, withering / madness, obsession, despair, perversity,
sickness, suicide
Ingwaz: Ing, the earth god | male fertility,
gestation, internal growth / common virtues, common sense, simple
strengths, family love, caring, human warmth, the home / rest stage, a
time of relief, of no anxiety / a time when all loose strings are tied
and you are free to move in a new direction / listen to yourself | merkstave: impotence, movement without change / poduction, toil,
labour, work
Dagaz: day or dawn. | breakthrough, awakening,
awareness / daylight clarity as opposed to nighttime uncertainty /
time to plan or embark upon an enterprise / the power of change
directed by your own will, transformation / hope and happiness, the
ideal / security and certainty / growth and release / balance point, the
place
where opposites meet | merkstave: a completion, ending, limit, coming full
circle / blindness, hopelessness
Othala: ancestral property | inherited property
or possessions, a house, a home / what is truly important to one / group
order, group prosperity / lLand of birth, spiritual heritage,
experience and fundamental values / aid in spiritual and physical
journeys / source of safety, increase and abundance | reversed
or merkstave: lack of customary order, totalitarianism, slavery,
poverty, homelessness / bad karma, prejudice, clannishness,
provincialism / what a man is bound to
