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The summary opposite concerns the upright interpretation
of the
rune Eihwaz. Theoretically, the reversed interpretation is
the same so in practice there is no "reversed" meaning
of this rune.
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This rune is about defence, protection, endurance, powers of aversion,
and sometimes a trying time/experience.
Eihwaz may also be thought of in terms of the
active/concious generation of extreme opposites such as night and
day, or life and death.
It carries
within
it the essence
of the latent (hidden) fire from within. Understand this as the burning
fire of spirit within each one of us, a passion which may be
held constrained but is always there.
The rune Eihwaz counsels patience through adversity. Perseverance and
fortitude are virtues - especially in situations in which a certain
time must elapse. The seasons change at their own pace and sometimes
there
is great wisdom in awaiting expecting improvements in circumstances
before acting. In particular, do not act in ill-judged haste.
More about the symbolism of the rune Eihwaz:
Eihwaz is sometimes given the English name "yew" with reference to
the Yew Tree. In ancient Norse mythology the yew was not just any
tree, but the "World-Tree" known as Yggdrasil - the great tree
of life from which Odin hung upside-down when he discovered the
runes. Some texts explain the
symbolism
of the rune Eihwaz with a description
of the vertical stem of the rune representing the axis of the yew
tree and describing it as a channel along which the "cosmic squirrel"
propogates disharmony between the eagle at the top of the tree
and the serpent at its roots. This "charge" can be thought of
as an electrical charge represented by the half-arrows at the top
and bottom of the rune.
The wood of the yew tree was used for making long-bows, hence its
association with protection and defence.
It is also associated with a endurance and longevity as the yew is one of the
most long-lived tress (from the regions of origin of the runes).
Other properties of the yew also indicated by the rune Eihwaz include
strength and flexibility.
Eihwaz is a strong, yet sober and meaningful rune that has the same
meaning regardless of the orientation in which it is cast.
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Note that each rune may be referred to differently
in different texts. One reason is that some books prefer to use
the traditional meanings as the names/titles
of the runes (as we do here). Other books refer to runes using
the Old English name, their Old (High) German names,
or their modern English letter equivalent. There are also other
sets of symbols that are associated with runes. These are more
difficult to represent electronically because they do not all correspond
to standard alpha-numeric characters. More about the runes as
listed here.
Other terms used to refer to this rune
are mentioned below:
The ninth rune
in the series listed on the left is Defence (Eihwaz).
The name of this rune in English is "eoh". It is associated with
the
modern English character/sound "e (ei)". The Germanic name of this
rune
is "eihwaz".
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