Metempyrion Lexicon of Symbols
(Quaternary acted upon by the Ternary within the Universe)
A sign composed of eight subsidiary signs taken from a French calendar. It represents the eight corners of the heavens, the whole forming a rhumb.
Rhumb —Any of thirty-two points of a mariner's compass. To turn or whirl as in the seasons of the year, or the constellations visible above the southern horizon.
The symbols of these signs illustrate the waxing and waning of life and, in winter, the storage of food.
No. | Image | Name | Translation | Esoteric Interpretation |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | fehu | livestock, money | dynamic power | |
2 | uruz | aurochs | primal, formative energy | |
3 | thurisaz | thurz | the breaker of resistance Thorr | |
4 | ansuz | the Ase | sovereign ancestral force Odhinn | |
5 | raidho | chariot | vehicle or path of cosmic power | |
6 | kenaz | torch, wound | controlled energy exchanged force | |
7 | gebo | gift | exchanged force | |
8 | wunjo | joy, pleasure | harmony of like forces | |
9 | hagalaz | hail stone | seed form and primal union | |
10 | nauthiz | need | need-fire (resistance/deliverance) | |
11 | isa | ice | contraction - need | |
12 | jera | year good harvest | orbit (life cycle) | |
13 | ihwaz | yew | axis (tree of life and death) | |
14 | perthro | lot cup | evolutionary force | |
15 | elhaz | elk/protection | protective and tutelary numen | |
16 | sowilo | sun | sun-wheel (crystallized light) | |
17 | tiwaz | Tyr, the sky god | sovereign order (Tyr) | |
18 | berkano | birch (goddess) | birch numen (retainer/releaser) | |
19 | ehwaz/ehwo | horse/two horses | twin equine gods (trust) | |
20 | mannaz | human being | human order from divine ancestry | |
21 | laguz/laukaz | water, leek | life energy and organic growth | |
22 | ingwaz | Ing, the earth god | gestation, container (Yngvil) | |
23 | dagaz | day | twilight/dawn (paradox) | |
24 | othala | ancestral property | self-contained hereditary power | |
The runes here are the 24 most widely spread by Celtic, Nordic, and Germanic peoples. Although subtle changes occurred over time, the basic runes remained recognizable. Each rune has an association with a number and significance on several dimensions. The runes have always been divided into three sets of eight, the number of completion. The origins are mysterious and ancient.