At the foot of the Majestic Yew
Skulls and skeletons lie
Abandoned and serene
In the coolness of the plain.
Seated on a high branch
The newborn smiles
Leaning against eternity.
Once again Yggdrasil appears, but here in its ambivalence, revealing the bond that unites and separates our personal and inner becoming, the genesis within us of Tir Na Nog. We discover the empty shells, the remnants of our former world.
After the harvest comes the sorting, the death of all that cannot be assimilated, the slow burning of the useless husks of the harvest. If Isa “froze” time and Jera put it to use in production, here time condenses into our inner growth. From Nauthiz, the Yew has learned frugality; from Isa, verticality and the power of silence; from Jera, the work at the opportune moment of the harvest. It becomes aware of the ambivalence of death (the abandonment of obsolete forms) and of life (the genesis of new forms of consciousness).
In Isa, we became aware of a radical verticality. In Jera, this vertical ray radiated outward to produce the harvest. Here in Eihwaz, the two glyphs combine: the two separate, clockwise-spinning “arms” of Jera, which provide the dynamic force, anchor themselves at the top and bottom of Isa. The restored stability of Isa generates a simultaneous and balanced growth of the roots (lower oblique) and the branches (upper oblique).
There is a slow, continuous combustion, a gradual development of our inner heritage through the work of the sap, nourished by the soil’s nutrients and drawn upward toward the branches that rise toward the sky, and the drying out of the withered bark. The force of fire drives growth; the form of ice tempers it and provides the materials.
This rune speaks to us of both growth and death.
Measured and balanced growth between our conscious self, the light, the Fire, our branches, and our underground part—our roots in the depths (our unconscious, our shadow side, the ice). Apoptosis of the obsolete parts of our being, empty shells returning to the earth to fertilize it. There is in Eihwaz a notion of slow, persevering work.
If this rune is properly understood, this transition will be imperceptible, even liberating: skulls and skeletons lying in the grass no longer concern us, for we feel within us the gestation of the inner child.
Awareness of these two rhythms is essential; no matter how strong our motivation, it is important to respect the tempo of the deep life flowing within us by focusing on what will ensure the growth and persistence of our inner Yggdrasil. Genesis takes place in the darkness, in our depths: we must feel this subterranean work while accepting not to disrupt it with our personal will.