First, I must apologize for today's post being a day late. I had a ton of family stuff to do yesterday. The post is going to be a little short because I've a fair amount of distractions over here in the form of two young men discussing various topics and occasionally arguing. Life with kids, it makes things interesting for sure.
Now, some people when they're going over the runes would go in the order known as Futhork. I am not that organized right now (see the line above). Today, we're going to discuss the first rune card on my pile, Othala. Some of you may recognize this rune because there are some unsavory people who have taken it up as a symbol of their hatred. The first thing I am going to tell you is that Othala is not a rune of hatred. It is a rune of heritage. It is a rune of history and the ties that bind us to family and society. Othala is a rune strongly associated with the concept of frith (keeping faith and peace with one's familial unit and social group).
Othala is part of the third major grouping of runes associated with Tiw/Tyr. Since the late 1980s and early 1990s, the 'standard' definitions of Othala are:
- Separation (reversed orientation)
- Inheritance
- Ancestral home
[An estate] is very dear to every man,
if he can enjoy there in his house
whatever is right and proper in constant prosperity.
Unfortunately, Othala was taken up by the Nazi SS regiment as a symbol to represent them. It has serifs (feet) on the bottom of it in their interpretation of the rune. It has been banned in Germany on the basis of this association. If you encounter someone who is wearing the Nazi version of the rune, go in the other direction. Don't expect them to keep frith with you. Indeed, some white supremacists have gone with the older version as part of their iconography. Thus, you must be careful with these individuals because they are not going to be peaceable and accepting of views the deviate from their own.
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