This is the rune known as 'Inguz', signifying (depending on which book one reads) the completion of beginnings, or the quiet period (gestation) required for new growth and preparation for birth. It is in this latter context of gestation or quiet development that Inguz is most appropriate for this stage of our progress through this course in Ancient Runes.

To avoid confusion, this rune is often shown with just the central 'tilted square' or diamond-shaped middle portion, without the 'arms and legs' above and below that square. Both are Inguz.

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Lesson One was packed full of a great deal of information (you may have noticed!), only because you will need to have most — if not all — of it available to you as we make our way through these remaining three lessons. We won't have to deal with nearly that quantity all at once from here on. Promise. *fingers crossed behind back*

Idea for the Day

It was Albert Einstein who said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge."

Freebie for the Day

For those of you who would like to collect a great deal more information about our topic of runes, and not have to pay anything to get it, search Elder Futhark on Google. In addition to the usual assortment of odd bits, you will get pages and pages of very fine, detailed information that will help you greatly in this course (and after you complete it). Just copy-paste the things you like and find helpful, pasting into a blank Word document. It's great fun!

Remember, the red arrow beside the text points to information I consider particularly important; it will also frequently point to information about which you can expect to answer questions in your homework. Just a reminder.

So let's junp right in....

Last time, we mentioned the discovery of the Meldorf Brooch, bearing runic characters and dating from ca. 50 C.E.. Some of you may have gotten the impression that runes just did not exist before that date; if so, let me correct that impression.

Runes, more or less just as we know them today, may have existed as early as 800 BC... we just don't know of any actual examples that go back that far. This is very largely because most (if not all) of the actual runic inscriptions were made on perishable materials — wood, leather, bark, cloth, etc. — and were never intended to last thorugh the centuries.

Then there is the matter of the traditional runic basis in Germanic-Norse mythology extending back far beyond the time of Jesus. According to that mythology, the runes were said to have been the gift of Odin (Ódhinn) to his people, and the stories go on from there. If you have interest in these beliefs and tales, this is a fascinating area of study. A good place to start is Thorsson's books (see the Reference page).

When I used the word 'tales' just now, I did not intend to imply 'old wives tales' or any other derogatory flavor. Actually, aside from their general merit and interest, some portions particularly applying to runes and rune-casting mesh closely with today's psychological and metaphysical principles.

For example, we find references to The Three Norns in the directions for rune-casting with three rune-staves. We'll look at the rune-casting part below in M-2, but The Three Norns correspond to the later notion of the three Fates (Maiden, Mother, and Crone) and their function in viewing Life (particularly our own). The Norns and especially their over-arching Old Norse concept of ørlog can be very useful to the serious rune-student as well as the accomplished runester (vitki — Old Norse for mage or wise one, esp. one who knows and uses rune-lore; plural: vitkar). More about ørlog in sections M-2 and M-3 below.

Next month we'll look at some of the historical and literary sources that describe the Germanic practice of casting 'staves' for both divination and gambling. The implication is very strong that the staves used could actually have been rune-staves.

Earlier in this lesson you read briefly about the three Norns ("Maiden, Mother, Crone") in connection with rune-casting. In Old Norse mythology these three symbolic feminine entities (sister-goddesses of Time) represent three interactive aspects of the human process of continuous Becoming; they are the individual examples of Ørlog, that same worldview of eternal Becoming and the effects on each of us as a result not only of the choices we make along the way, but of the immensely complex interactions of myriad factors constantly intertwined with our own path.

The Crone, Urdhr, is constantly looking back onto the Past, preoccupied with what was and what might have been. The Maiden, Verhandi, is lively, interested in everything happening now, and quite creative. The Mother, Skuld, stands veiled in the Future, holding the unopened scroll of events not yet born.

If you are puzzled about how these three archetypal figures can help understand ourselves or, even less clear, why and how they have significance (other than purely symbolic) in our rune-casting activity... bear with me. Too large a bite all at once is hard to chew, much less to digest. We'll meet these ladies again later.

In section M-3 of your first lessson, it was recommended that you start the process of making your own permanent set of rune-staves. Before we discuss that project, let me clarify something that you may notice throughout the rest of this course. I now reserve the word 'rune' by itself to name a powerful and not-altogether physical energy-pattern that we first encounter as the graphic symbol itself, but which extends far beyond that to include the emotional, psychological, and metaphysical qualities intimately associated with the symbol.

The individual material paper, wood or stone / ceramic 'markers' or 'stones' bearing the graphic symbol I shall simply refer to as rune-staves.

So much for that at this time; let's go on with what else you need to do now.

Whether or not you choose to make your own set of permanent rune-staves, in order to complete this course and get a quill, you will now need at least to make a temporary set of paper or cardboard staves (if you have not already done so, since it was 'suggested' as Exercise #1 in Lesson One!). These should bear just the symbol itself and its name; nothing else.

Very well, as soon as you have these paper rune-staves ready, here is what I want you to do: spread them all out, face (symbol) up, on a table or desk. Place several sheets of paper and a pen or pencil within easy reach. Allow yourself some time (about thirty minutes will be sufficient at first), and relax. Sit and make yourself comfortable. Now, pick up each rune-stave (one at a time) and simply look at it.

This next is important! Do NOT 'think about' what you see! Observe instead what feelings (if any) arise as you just allow yourself to 'be with' each rune. Remember what I said above... let yourself 'be with' the full multi-dimensional rune in all its aspects, not just with the material object in your hand.

While you hold each rune-stave, notice how you feel. Are you more comfortable holding this stave than you were some of the others? Does this one somehow give you a 'good' feeling? Does this one for some reason make you feel uneasy? Does this one remind you that you are hungry (or thirsty)? Do you 'like' this one, perhaps for no reason? Or do you dislike this one? Do you feel that this one might perhaps have something to 'tell' you, that you would like to hear? Do you just get no particular feeling from this one at all?

Whatever your emotional or imagining response may be, including none at all, make a note of it on your paper. Put down the name of the rune and your feelings. Date the paper(s) at the top. Keep these notes; you will need them.

In order to get the full benefit of this exercise, you will need to repeat it at least ten times before Lesson Three... more often if you can. Do not expect that your feeling responses will necessarily always be the same; they may or may not be, and that is one reason to keep notes. Also do not expect that you must experience these feeling responses as great sweeping emotional sensations in order for them to 'count'; probably none of them will fit that description. Simply notice and write down whatever you feel (not think) as you hold each rune-stave. Your Assignment this month will ask you about your experiences with this exercise.

Please consider a couple of questions before we go on. Why are you taking this course? Have you already examined that one, and come up with a satisfying answer? Next, what do you propose to do with the rune-information you will acquire?

If your answer to either or both of these questions is something like "to get information" or "to know more", we need to have a serious conversation. Now. What follows is not a digression; it is an important part of our conversation.

In this section of Lesson One, I mentioned the Oracle of Delphi and told you that, engraved over the door of the pronaos or entry-hall are the words "Know Thyself". In English, that translates (sort of) what is carved there... but it is not accurate. Chiselled in the stone are (in Greek letters, of course) the words "gnothi seauton" and, strictly speaking, the Greek word advising one what to do (gnothi) has nothing whatever to do with 'acquiring intellectual fact' or with rational inquiry.

Those of you for whom English is not your First or Native Language, especially if your First Language happens to be German, French, Italian or Spanish, will have no difficulty understanding this. You will naturally understand the difference between wissen and kennen or können, connaître and savoir, cognoscere and sapere, etc. You will use them appropriately and automatically in your speech and in your writing.

So you will undoubtedly recognize (a related word!) the inaccuracy and inappropriateness of translating 'gnothi' with any form of wissen, savoir, or sapere. The inscription at Delphi commands one to achieve a gnowing of self that is intimate, comprehensive, non-intellectual but accurate, and irrational. Sort of like gnowing a parent, a sibling, or a lover. A native Italian speaker would (I believe) translate the command as 'ti cogni!'

We English-speakers are denied that fine accuracy of expression; we are allowed only the single verb 'to know'. In fact, that austere authority on our language, The Oxford English Dictionary, goes so far as to tell us (and the world) that yes, other languages choose to make a distinction between their two 'ways of knowing' but that there is really no difference and that 'know' adequately covers both situations! This is hardly surprising, as The Oxford English Dictionary throughout is firmly dedicated to the notion that the left-brain rational intellect is paramount and is, in fact, all anyone needs to deal with, to understand, and finally to conquer the Natural World (and that's all there is to Reality anyway).

My response to such arrogance and tunnel- vision is to propose our own variant, to stand equally with other, more enlightened languages; that variant is a second verb to gnow, replacing the k of know with the g of gnosis. In these lessons, I will use both know and gnow, as may be appropriate, but not interchangeably.

By now you are probably scratching your head and wondering what all this linguistic nit-picking has to do with runes and rune-casting. Rather a lot, actually.

Visitors and particularly querants at Delphi were reminded that the information they sought — the only sort of information the Oracle would give them — could only be a gnowing of self that is '...intimate, comprehensive, non-intellectual but accurate, and irrational.' That information would be sought and returned by a means that even the Greeks of 200 BC would admit was also both non-intellectual and irrational... the Oracle.

The situation is essentially the same when we purposefully cast the runes. Can you intuit why and how?

Probably a good many of you have already looked this Lesson over, perhaps even several times; if so, you may recall that I originally asked you to research the word 'irrational'. I have changed my mind. The subject is too large, too deceptive, and too important to leave it up to chance or, worse, to compete with all the other events and interests clamoring for you attention.

You see, when we begin to examine such notions as 'irrational', 'reason', and 'intellect'... just for starters... we very quickly run into the same left-brain intellectual bias that we encountered with the English all-purpose / fits-all 'to know'. This bias can accurately be re-stated this way: "There is only one legitimate way to know anything, and that is through the logical, left-brain intellectual process of acquiring knowledge." In other words, if I am harboring a notion that did not come to me through this intellectual process, and perhaps that eludes anyone's efforts to discover or invent a logical 'proof' of its validity, then I do not and cannot know it; it is by definition irrational. Next, by community standards, if I persist in holding on to this notion, I am viewed to some degree as 'irrational' also.

By this time, we begin to detect the associated opinion that 'irrational' is by nature 'bad' or perhaps even bordering on 'crazy'. I want you all to understand that it is no such thing! We noted Einstein's statement that 'imagination is more valuable than knowledge'; however, if it were not for Einstein's professional and personal stature, the public (and most of the academic world) would simply have snickered at his statement and then would have promptly forgotten it. Most of what we (and Einstein) call 'imagination' is certainly irrational. That is why it is so valuable.

Equally 'irrational' are the perceptions and 'information' we gain through the process of Gnowing... the vast treasure of intimate 'being-one-with' family, loved ones, true friends, the natural world (before we kill it and dissect its parts in our laboratories), and communication with Self and the Unconscious.

Our runes are (or can be) a valuable tool in extending our Gnowledge.

For the Record, then... throughout this course, our definition of 'irrational' will be this: irrational describes any idea, experience, or other perception that, for its existence and validity, does not involve, depend on, or require the use of logic or any other process of rational intellect (left-brain abstractive cogitation) and which, in fact, intellect will most often attempt to discredit, deny, or ignore. Examples of irrational activity and experience are found in nearly any form of creativity (from original art and music to growing-edge work in the sciences) and certainly also include: the gnowing of intimacy, passion, gratitude, forgiveness, beauty, love, intuition, communication with Self, awe and wonder.

As an added diagnostic, you might want to note this: The irrational can only be fully experienced in the Present... The Now.

And, as a last important tid-bit, let me drop in a seed... hopefully to let grow and harvest in future Lesson(s). The 'seed' is this: Do you 'day-dream'? If so, how often do you allow yourself this creative luxury? If you do 'day-dream', what are your feelings about doing so?
Enjoy.

Your Assignment ('homework') for this lesson is waiting for you at the link below. Be sure to follow the instructions for submission carefully.

Good luck, and enjoy playing with Runes!

Click here to access your Assignment.