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Thoughts, lessons, and theology from an eclectic witch from a varied background.

Tuesday, April 25, 2023

Divination: Rune Study - Ehwaz/Eoh

 I apologize for how long it is has been since I posted and that I dropped the ball on the Rune Study. Today we are looking at the rune Ehwaz/Eoh. The first spelling of the rune's name comes from Proto-Germanic reconstruction by a whole heap of linguists trying to figure out just how the ancient runes sounded. The second spelling of the rune's name comes from Old English and Anglo-Saxon.

This rune translates as the word horse. While some readers would say the cognate of this rune in the tarot deck would be the Chariot, I would contend it is the six of wands (frequently depicted with a rider carrying a laurel wreath topped want and surrounded by other who carry similar wands). Horses have famously been described as 'untrustworthy at both ends and uncanny in the middle'. Still if you build a good relationship with a horse and treat them well, you'll have a boon companion for just about your whole life. (Horses can live up to 30 years. I have heard rumors of one living to 50 years, but I can't confirm or deny that one.)

The six of wands shows a victorious rider arriving with all honors. It warns, however, that these honors may vanish and the horse will no longer serve the rider if the rider is not prudent. How, one may ask, does this compare to the only existent Anglo-Saxon rune poem regarding this particular rune.

"The horse is a joy to princes in the presence of warriors.
A steed in the pride of its hoofs,
when rich men on horseback bandy words about it;
and it is ever a source of comfort to the restless."

The source of this translation is the Wikipedia link given at the beginning of the article. Comparing this rune poem to the interpretation of the six of wands, we find focus on the arrival in glory and how the horse is a good help-mate to their rider. If one is inclined to read runes as reversed, they would find the result in many ways identical to the reversed reading of the six of wands. Perhaps this is a cultural memory preserved in both systems recognizing the importance, high status, and wealth indicated by horse ownership in antiquity.