Dear Reader,
Today we are looking at the rune Eihwaz which stands for the Yew tree. Eihwaz is also known Eoh or Eihaz. This is a rune that is present in the same format in the Elder, Younger, and Anglo-Saxon Futhork. It is an irreversible rune.
It shows up a both a vowel and consonant. As a vowel it is associated with an 'I' sound, as a consonant is it associated with 'X' and 'Ç'. The association with 'I' is found more in the Elder Futhork and the other letters are found predominantly in the Anglo-Saxon Futhork.
It appears to have no connection with Nazi occultism from what limited research I can do, which I find curious. For the yew is a tree of death. Some associate the yew with the world-tree Yiggdrasil. Through this association, it is associated with Odin as well. It is theorized by some scholars that Eihwaz is a bind rune of Isa and Jera. It is unclear what this would change about the divination meaning of this rune if it is indeed a bind rune.
Eihwaz is like the Death card. It speaks of a spiritual period of rapid change and upheaval. It can speak of an actual death but typically it is focused on the stripping away of old and outmoded thought forms and concepts in our lives. This interpretation is based on the fact that the Yew tree is inherently very toxic in all its components and was used for making weapons of war. (Yew was an especially good wood for making bows if you're taking from the heart wood of the tree. The berries are particularly toxic and most birds will leave them alone, from what I have observed in growing up with yew trees around my parents' house. If you burn yew, stand upwind from the fire because the smoke will be an irritant to your lungs and can cause a serious reaction.)
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