#naudhr

[witnesstruesorcery]

Nauðr

“Consciousness is the Necessity.”

This photograph is from the local woods in my hometown, quite near where I live. The branches are of a fallen Pine wood which I clumsily arranged to form the rune. I took this quite recently actually (in late August of 2019). 

Nauthiz (often spelled "Naudiz" or "Naud") is a complex rune. It means and it represents need, necessity, constraint, friction. It is connected to the Norns - Urð, Verðandi and Skuld. 

“That which does not destroy me makes me stronger.” 

– Friedrich Nietzsche

Key Concepts: Need, resistance, constraint, conflict, drama, effort, necessity, urgency, hard work, need-fire, life lessons, creative friction, distress, force of growth, the consequence of past action, short term pain for long term gain. The ninth rune is the "need" rune. Nauðr denotes "need", and above all "necessity". It is the rune of fate and is connected to the three Norns who are weaving the web of destiny. Nauðr is also the rune of magic and initiation. Magic is the ability to influence destiny, a knowledge that sometimes not even the gods and goddesses possess. Not even the deities can influence the decisions of the Norns. Destiny is the thread of life that man has given. Skuld, the youngest of the Norns, is veiled since she represents the future. She cuts the thread when the time comes for a person to die. Destiny is connected to time and death. The magical initiation is the path to control destiniy and to enter the deepest levels of the realms of death. Óðinn hangs nine nights on the Yggdrasill tree, deeply wounded by a spear in order to be initiated in the mysteries of the runes (ie. to know the secrets of the underworld). The realm of death consists of nine worlds. The distance is nine days by horse, as we know from Hermóðr's journey to bring back Baldr and thus change destiny. Nauðr is the ninth rune in the Uthark. (notice that we are dealing with a different runic system from the well known and widely spread Futhark). The fact that the number nine is connected to Nauðr is revealed on the Sigtuna-amulet where it is written: "Have nine necessities, wolf". The connection between the Norns and the number nine, is reflected in the late Edda poem "The Sun-Song" where it is told: "On the chair of the Norns, for nine days I sat". In Nordic magic in spirituality, the number nine is recurrent. The Icelandic books of magic and of the "black arts" (Galdrabók, Galdrakver, Galdrablóð, etc.), instruct and show us how to carve nine Nauðr runes, thus revealing the connection between the number nine and this rune. Nine is 3x3 and is thus a higher aspect of the magical power of the trinity. The three witches in Macbeth (that might have been very much inspired by the Norns), chant: "Thrice to thine and thrice to mine, and thrice again to make up nine". Nine is not just destiny and necessity, but also the possibility to influence fate. Nauðr is time, destiny, necessity and death, and thus also rebirth. The Nauðr rune is connected to the nine months in child birth and the pains involved are an initiation into a new reality. In Nordic spirituality death and life are intimately connected. Certain aspects of the initiatoric meanings of the Nauðr rune continue in the eighteenth rune.

The Norwegian Rune Poem

ᚾ Nauðr gerer næppa koste;

nøktan kælr í froste.

ᚾ Naudhr

Constraint gives scant choice;

a naked man is chilled by the frost.

Wardruna

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWuZlMcgKqM

© Borislav Vakinov, 2019

[mannazandwyrd]

I was playing with finding the individual runes that make up Icelandic runestaves like the Rotaskross (protection plus, see my photo below), which are snowflake forms but with unnatural 8-fold or 10-fold symmetry, as a learning exercise when I realized:

1. I could also find the runes in natural snowflakes (which have 6-fold or 12-fold symmetry);

2. The shapes of the runes are based on the crystalline structure of water (which is in turn dictated by the shape of the H2O molecule, look at all those 60-degree angles); and

3. If you include both elder and younger futhark, all the runes can be found in a single snowflake.

No, really! But to include all the runes’ wisdom, a natural snowflake needs to have both a hexagon and a 6-point star at its centre, where it developed a degree of 12-fold symmetry without riming over completely. The central hexagon’s 6-fold symmetry contains isa/is, laguz/logr, teiwaz/tyr, gebo, kenaz, dagaz, wunjo, raidho/raeidh, berkana, hagalaz/hagall, nauthiz/naudhr, ar, eihwaz, and uruz. The 6-point star outside it adds the longer parallel lines needed for ehwaz, mannaz, and the S-form of sowilu/sol, as well as the lines needed to ingwaz/ing, othala, the E-form of sowilu/sol, and perthro. A 6-point star inside the central hexagon (so, 12-point symmetry) is needed to add thurisaz/thurs.

It also needs needle-form spiky edges with lots of consummate V’s. That adds fehu/fe, ansuz/os, algiz/yr and kaun, as well as repeating isa, laguz, and tyr.

Do such snowflakes exist naturally? OP’s photo is very close, but a bit too rimed to see the structure clearly. This macro shot by John Entwistle (from this article) shows it better:

(OP’s photo source, btw, is almost certainly Alexey Kljatov’s instagram feed. He describes his macro photography methods here:)

So, a single snowflake contains all the wisdom of the runes. Mind = blown.

I’m sure I can’t be the first to notice this and write about it - please let me know who else did if you run across it.

Does this mean Odin’s Sacrifice took place in winter?

Edited to add: I’m now creating a Kickstarter Make100 campaign to make a rune card deck with its seeds in this post! Stay tuned for details, it’ll launch soon.

[tipsycad147]

The Rune Poems

Three ancient poems were created as mnemonic aids for remembering the rune symbols, their names, meanings and properties. Because the runes changed slightly in each culture the three poems differ in some aspects.

The Old Norse Rune Poem

   From Runic and Heroic Poems by Bruce Dickins

   Fe

   Wealth is a source of discord among kinsmen;

   the wolf lives in the forest.

   Ur

   Dross comes from bad iron;

   the reindeer often races over the frozen snow.

   Thurs

   Giant causes anguish to women;

   misfortune makes few men cheerful.

   As

   Estuary is the way of most journeys;

   but a scabbard is of swords.

   Reidh

   Riding is said to be the worst thing for horses;

   Reginn forged the finest sword.

   Kaun

   Ulcer is fatal to children;

   death makes a corpse pale.

   Hagall

   Hail is the coldest of grain;

   Christ created the world of old.

   Naudhr

   Constraint gives scant choice;

   a naked man is chilled by the frost.

   Isa

   Ice we call the broad bridge;

   the blind man must be led.

   Ar

   Plenty is a boon to men;

   I say that Frodi was generous.

   Sol

   Sun is the light of the world;

   I bow to the divine decree.

   Tyr

   Tyr is a one-handed god;

   often has the smith to blow.

   Bjarkan

   Birch has the greenest leaves of any shrub;

   Loki was fortunate in his deceit.

   Madhr

   Man is an augmentation of the dust;

   great is the claw of the hawk.

   Logr

   A waterfall is a River which falls from a mountain-side;

   but ornaments are of gold.

   Yr

   Yew is the greenest of trees in winter;

   it is wont to crackle when it burns.

http://sacredwicca.jigsy.com/runes

[ravenousnightwind]

My Interpritation of Naudhr

"I am that which is being. I take form in action and cause what shall be to come forth in the form that is most likely. I protect family and their ways, I protect tradition and the ways it is practiced. I am the old crone that sits in the chair providing stories. This isn't a game to be played, for I am one you call to change, but that change may be what you need and not what you most desire. I work with forces that one dares not to touch and I allow distance from them so that one cannot be burned. It is the way of things in wyrd that I work, making what is most needed come to pass. Do you have the will to summon me? Are you willing to hand your life over to allow change that is most needed? Allow yourself a moment of thought because denial will not be tolerated. When you travel down this road of need, you can never turn back. Wallow in self pity of the actions you take with me but that will not stop what I do or what will become until your needs are met."

Naudhr's voice was that of a older lady. Its abilities govern over what you really need, making things happen according to what you need to improve your life. It's an unstoppable force once summoned. It will continue to work until you and your life has changed according to what you most need.