Divination: Rune Study - Tiwaz

 Dear Reader,

This is one of the runes directly associated with a deity. Tyr or Tiw is one of the oldest recognized deities within the Norse pantheon. He is known as the Sky-Father, the god of War, and the god of Justice. He is most famous for having his right hand bitten off by the wolf Fenris when he was bound by the Aesir through trickery.

Unfortunately, this rune has a strong modern association with Neo-Nazis and neo-facism. There is an effort to 'take back' this rune from these groups, but like all grass roots efforts, it is taking time and much of the work is happening behind the scenes. Tyr is a god of warfare and is strongly associated with the protection of warriors. It is for this reason that the rune was taken as part of the regimental logo of the 32nd SS Volunteer Grenadier Division. The Nazi appropriation of the Runic system has left something of a bitter taste in the mouths of all who encounter runes, leading to suspicion when they appear as part of a tattoo or some other form of bodily ornamentation.

One must remember, however, that Tyr is a god of justice and likely cursed the Nazis for their use of his rune in that fashion (and said curse likely continues upon others who do the same). Tyr is also a god of sacrifice for the greater good, which one does not find extolled in the communities that use the runes as short hand for white supremacist ideology. In my experience, Tyr is a humble deity who is very approachable, much like Forseti (another deity of justice). From what I have seen, in dealing with justice situations, Tyr handles the adversarial situations (such as criminal justice cases) where Forseti handles the situations where negotiation and mediation are necessary (such as civil cases).

When this rune appears in a reading, it can indicate a number of things. Upright, it can indicate victory over a current conflict, success in legal matters, and a just outcome in a difficult situation. Reversed, it speaks of sacrifice to maintain status quo, ill turn of luck in legal matters, and a possible miscarriage of justice. This is one of the runes that if pulled for a yes/no question gives a very definite answer. Upright the answer is yes, reversed the answer is a hard no.