As the night fades
The forest awakens.
Suddenly you stop
Sensing a threat.
The shadow looms before you,
Menacing.
And in the light of Tiwaz
You see
All fear vanishes.
The shadow dissolves
As the remnants
of the night flee
you resume your journey
In the splendor of the Day
At the beginning of this cycle, the shadow—our disinherited self—demands an accounting, standing in our way.
In the clear light we see it, and in that light it fades away.
Strengthened in our resolve, we continue on our path.
The glyph is an upward-pointing arrow, a sharp tool that will separate light from darkness, piercing the veil of illusion. The fire of Kenaz; here, the eye is focused in the direction of the arrow: with all distractions avoided, the archer hits the target. It is also an obvious phallic and warlike representation.
Finally, it is the compass needle which, even if the sky is veiled and the mist thick, always points north, the direction of our journey, the inner island of Tir Nan Nog.
Each beginning of a cycle sees the emergence of a decisive rune, as the Force penetrates more deeply into Form. The first Aett with Fehu, the irruption of Fire; the second with Hagalaz, the coagulation of ice into hail. Tiwaz opens the third and final Aett, that of Tyr, who will establish a new inner form within us. The initial impulse of Fehu has matured after the trials endured in the second Aett and now becomes unwavering commitment, represented by the arrow.
If the previous Aett taught us to refocus on the essential at the dawn of the final Aett, this arrow embodies the resulting discernment as an essential asset enabling us to free ourselves from all past baggage. The sun of Sowilo has illuminated our inner and outer worlds with a new light, revealing every part of them so that we may clearly discern the target, the path. This light must now be put to use to renew this world. The radiant solar energy of Sowilo becomes the dynamic of an arrow in Tiwaz, an ascending ray responding to the descending lightning.
Having acquired the flexibility of the reed of Elhaz—representing the potential energy stored in the tension of the string that will propel the arrow—and in Sowilo the clear perception of the goal, we cannot miss the target.
While the difference in polarity between the two forces generated lightning from the sky to the earth in Sowilo, here this energetic difference arising from accumulated potential energy will allow us to make a qualitative leap, a transformation that will affect everything we are in this final Aett.
Precision and lucidity are the qualities of Fire which, combined with the latent energy in the string—the ice—will allow the archer to strike the heart of the target. To be effective, an arrow combines mass, which is the attribute of ice, and impulse, which is the energy of fire. This energy, stored in the previous Aetts, will here become an irresistible force of metamorphosis.
In this new beginning, this rune lays the foundations of the third Aett. We approach it with unwavering determination: the direction the arrow points is an integral part of our future; our commitment has become evident and an integral part of our destiny.
While the glyph’s warlike and aggressive nature may suggest a form of violence, in reality this achievement is long-term and concerns our inner struggle. Focused on the goal like the archer who forgets everything but the target, we have acquired the clarity inherited from Sowilo, which allows us to make decisions by distinguishing the essential from the incidental. Such clarity brings with it a responsibility: we can no longer say we did not see!
The resilience gained from previous stages is accompanied by a keen perception of the direction indicated by the needle of Tiwaz, regardless of the twists and turns of the journey or the storms that obscure the stars.
Tiwaz both teaches and demands the right moment: shooting too early or even at the position of a moving target will miss that target; the wise archer will then know to shoot just ahead of it.
This arrow, aimed at a target, allows for no distraction; it pierces the veils of illusion: this rune speaks to us of clarity and sincerity. The discernment referred to at this advanced stage concerns, first and foremost, a clear understanding of the forces that govern us—forces whose mastery is essential if we are not to stray from the path that lies before us in this final Aett.