THE LORD OF THE RUNES.
The ancient Norse Shaman God and powerful one-eyed sorcerer called Ódhinn sacrificed the mundane self of his ego upon the tree of worlds known as Yggdrasil so that he could acquire a deeper understanding of his Shamanistic potential. In his song of the Hávamál, Ódhinn has this to say:
I know, that I hung
on that windy tree
all of nine nights nine,
wounded by spear
and given to Ódhinn;
myself to myself,
on that tree,
which no man knows,
from what roots it rises.
They dealt me no bread
Nor drinking horn,
I looked down’
I took up the Runes
I took them screaming,
I fell back from there.
To this tree was also tethered his eight legged horse called Sleipnir upon whom he rode into other alternate worlds that hang as fruiting toroidal spheres within the serpentine branches and roots of Yggdrassill.
Odhinn’s self sacrifice to himself upon the world tree of Yggdrassill symbolizes ones ingress into the depths of an ecstatic death trance to which is tethered Sliepnir, whom represents the carrying ability of trance to warp the very fabric of space and time, to travel without moving into other realities.
While Ódhinn was in the deep trance of conscious dreaming, his spirit flew forth from the confines of his physical frame and thereby went beyond the mundane self of the every day world into the underlying microcosmic Implicate Order of the Explicate macrocosmic reality of physicality.
He was able to access the collective subconscious-dreaming mind of the Morphogenitic Grid so that he could acquire the secrets of creation, encapsulated as sacred glyphs of magical potency known as the Runes.
The Runic glyphs are symbols that represent internal star portals that allow ingress into the microcosmic Implicate Orders of the collective subconscious dreaming mind that underlie the Explicate Orders of alternate macrocosmic realities. The Runes enabled Ódhinn to consciously open up gateways within the dream enabling him to access whatever knowledge or powers the Runes represented.
There are twenty-four Runes known as the elder Futhark, arranged into a very specific order of three columns of eight. Each Rune has a Mantric name as well as a numerological correspondence associated with it, whose magical usage is at least a thousand years old and very likely far older, whose roots are of a Shamanistic understanding. The arrangement of the three columns of eight Runes appear to correlate with the three Nerve channels that run along the trunk of the Spinal Column around which are the branches and roots of the Nervous System.
The Spinal Column it self is symbolized by the world tree Yggdrassill being the Axis Mundi of perceptual awareness upon which the Shaman God Ódhinn sacrificed himself into an inspirational ecstatic trance in order to win the secrets of the Runes. The Runes appear to be associated with the mysteries of the Nervous System and how to re-program it.
The Nervous System determines how much information one can access, acting akin to a filter of experience yet it cannot differentiate between a real or a vividly imagined event. This would indicate that one has then the ability through certain techniques to redefine and retune the filter of the Nervous System and thereby tune one’s self into other possible perceptual realities.
One’s internalized self image is the key, for it is the imprinted program that determines the Nervous System’s filtering of information. By changing the internal self image one can redefine the tuning of the Nervous System to other kinds of information that was initially filtered out. This redefinition of the self-image can be achieved through trance states as well as lucid dreaming. The self-image can be consciously observed within a dream, which reflects back dreaming scenarios that are the projections of the internal self- image, which in turn stabilizes and reinforces it.
Ódhinn is known by many alternate names, each name being associated with an alternate self-image. These alternate by-names pertaining to magically constructed personas of Ódhinn were known as an Ek to the ancient Norse Shamen and sorcerers whom sought to emulate Ódhinn. When an alternate self-image is strongly visualized and charged with ecstatic emotion one can re-imprint the Nervous System.
Ódhinn can be seen, as identifying himself completely with each Rune that he worked with, for each Rune in essence was associated with an alternate persona. By focusing upon the Rune via meditation and by utilizing the Mantric sounds associated with each Rune known to the ancient Norse Shamen and Sorcerers as Galdr, and by visualizing it’s symbolic representations he was able to awaken those hidden powers within himself, locked up within his Neural Network.
The Runes as one can see are in alignment with the three Nerve Channels along the Spinal Column. The Runes indicate power points pertaining to the length and breadth of one’s Nervous System.
One can see an association here with the ancient Hindu Yogic understanding of these power points upon the body known as Chakras as well as their observation of the three Nerve Channels that run along the Spinal Column. These three Nerve Channels the ancient practitioners of Yoga classified as the Ida, being the left Nerve Channel, the Pingala, which is the right Nerve Channel and the central Nerve Channel, called the Sushumna.
The Runes would then appear to correlate with the Chakras of ancient Hindu Yogic practice. Should one take the time to look at the Runes in connection with the Chakra points in the body, one will observe a direct parallel of understanding. However, this understanding appears to go much deeper!
The eight-legged horse Sleipnir is a fusion of two horses. These two horses would then represent the two Nerve Channels of the Ida and the Pingala. The fusion of the two horses as Sleipnir thereby represents the third Nerve Channel of the Sushumna. The Yogic and Tantric practitioners of ancient India knew that when the Ida and the Pingala were brought into balance, a subtle energy would then move along these Nerve Channels in an ascending double Helix fashion. Its movement through the Nerve Channels would be akin to that of a serpent winding it’s self around a trunk of a tree. This subtle energy was known as the Kundalini Shakti, which would then shoot up forth along the central Nerve Channel of the Sushumna when the Ida and the Pingala were brought into a state of balance. This would indicate that the eight-legged horse known as Sliepnir, which carries Ódhinn into other realities is one and the same as the Kundalini Shakti.
The Tantras teach various methods for “awakening” and channeling the Kundalini-energy. According to the Gheranda Samhita, “the great Goddess Kundalini, the primordial self, sleeps in the sexual region of the body. She has a form rather like a serpent, having three and one half coils. As long as she remains asleep, the individual soul (Jiva) is limited and true knowledge does not arise. But just as the right key unlocks a particular door, so Hatha Yoga unlocks the door of Kundalini, allowing one’s self to experience Brahma and obtain liberation.” The same text goes on to explain how breath retention, visualization, mental repetition of specific sound vibrations and certain physical movements together awaken and control the all-powerful Kundalini.
One can visualize Sleipnir as an eight-legged Centauress of a Spider mare of a Dragon Serpent. Sleipnir is visualized as a Centauress, being half woman and half horse for she carries one into other realities of perceptual awareness. She is also a Spider, for she weaves a web of light, being the Nervous System of all creation. The Runes symbolize one’s energetic connective nature to the threads of the all embracing web. Sleipnir is also a Dragon Serpent because she represents the life force that flows within one’s very being who sings the signature song of one’s primary self.
The Kundalini Shakti as Sleipnir is the carrier of consciousness, which one can symbolize as a many faceted jewel or that of the singular eye of Ódhinn. In ancient Tibet the flying horse of ecstatic trance is known as the Lung-ta which has the power to transverse the entire Universe in the blink of an eye. The Lung-ta is often depicted carrying a jewel on it’s back called the Chintamani stone which is said to come from another world in the region of the constellation of Orion, probably Sirius.
The Kundalini Shakti ascends upon her awakening, now set free from being tethered to the sexual region of the body into activation by the utilization of certain Shamanistic techniques. One experiences her coiling her self around the trunk of one’s Spinal Column, moving steadily upwards and in turn intersecting the Chakra points within the body and thereby activating the Runic glyphs associated with them as one is carried into a new state of awareness.
Sleipnir as the Kundalini Shakti arises from the base Chakra situated at the base of the Spine at the point between the anus and the genitals. The ninth Rune Hagall is associated with this Chakra and represents the Hail stone egg being the seed of primal cosmic life and the premise for the informational associative fractal patterning of phenomena. The ninth Rune is described in the Old Icelandic poem as:
“Hagall is a cold grain and a shower of sleet and a sickness of snakes.”
Hagall is often depicted as a snowflake or as a Hexagon within a circle and is called the Mother rune. From the cosmic egg of Hagall the life force symbolized by the first Rune called Fehu is released, which is one’s true internal wealth. The life force then ascends along the Axis of one’s Spine symbolized as the seventeenth Rune called Tiwaz, which looks like an arrow pointing upwards.
Hagall is associated with the central Nerve Channel whereas Fehu is to the left Nerve Channel and Tiwaz is to the right Nerve channel.
As one finds one’s consciousness riding Sleipnir in the spiraling ascent along one’s trunk of the Spine one will find the other Chakra points associated with the Runes being activated. The energy of the Kundalini Shakti of Sleipnir moves from the base Chakra up to that of the crown Chakra and then beyond one’s head.
If we look at the ascent of Sleipnir within the middle Nerve Channel for example, we will find that the tenth Rune of Naudhiz will be activated at the Navel Chakra which is one’s connective link with the creative source of life, which sustains one’s needs. One will find that the eighteenth Rune Berkano which is on the right Nerve Channel corresponding to the Navel Chakra represents the creative Great Mother to whom one is connected, symbolized by the Birch tree. When one then looks at the left Nerve Channel, one finds the second Rune Uruz, in association to the Navel Chakra, which symbolizes the Aurochs or Bison. The Rune Uruz is the mother of manifestation known in ancient Norse myth as the great Cow Audhumla, whom licked a great icy block of salt in order to form the primal andrognyne Búri.
The eleventh Rune of Isa, which means ice, being that of the icy block from which Búri was formed from, is associated with the Solar Plexus Chakra.
“By concentrating his mind upon the Solar Plexus, the ascetic acquires a knowledge of the structure of the material body.”
The two other Runes that correspond to the Solar Plexus Chakra are Ehwo and Thurisaz. Ehwo is the nineteenth Rune and means two horses and may indicate a place to focus upon in order to initiate the experience of instantaneous physical teleportation to where ever one desires. Thurisaz is the third Rune being associated with the great and overpowering strength of a directed and controlled berserker rage. The Rune Ehwo is to the right Nerve Channel, and Thurisaz is to the left Nerve Channel.
The Chest or Heart Chakra will then be associated with the twelfth Rune called Jera. The Rune Jera is about cyclic phenomena and repeating situations being that of the harvest of the mind, which sets up repeating cycles of events as synchronistic phenomena. These repeating situations reinforce and stabilize one’s imprinted self- image upon the Central Nervous System, which in turn determines the filtering of information and what kinds of experiences one tunes into. Jera is also associated with the experience of controlled time slips into other time periods.
“By concentrating his mind upon the Hridaya, (Heart) the ascetic acquires penetration and knowledge of the mental conditions, purposes and thoughts of others, as well as an accurate comprehension of his own.”
The other two associated Runes corresponding with the Heart Chakra are Ansuz of the left Nerve Channel and Mannaz, which is of the right Nerve Channel. The fourth Rune Ansuz is very much associated with the acquirement and the penetration into the knowledge of the mental conditions of others. Ansuz is the Rune of Ódhinn who has unlocked the psychic Heart to manifest miracles. The twentieth Rune Mannaz symbolizes the circle of Humanity and empathic inter-connections between people.
The throat Chakra will then be associated with the thirteenth Rune Eiwhaz.
“By concentrating his mind upon the nerve center in the pit of the throat, the ascetic is able to overcome hunger and thirst.”
The Rune Eiwhaz is associated with the Yew tree, which was seen to be symbolic of the tree of life and death otherwise known as the tree of worlds, being Yggdrassill. It was upon Yggdrassill that Ódhinn hung himself as a, self-sacrifice. In his song of the Hávámal he communicates: ” They dealt me no bread nor drinking horn.” Ódhinn was able to overcome his hunger and thirst by utilizing his Shamanistic abilities and knowledge. As one can see, the association between the throat Chakra being that of the Brain stem and the Yew tree Rune Eiwhaz, which symbolizes the experience of deep trance and of Ódhinn’s self sacrifice, is quite, pronounced.
The Brain stem is the oldest part of the Brain, which evolved more than five million years ago. It is often referred to as the reptilian brain because it resembles the entire brain of a reptile. The reptilian Brain determines the general level of alertness and warns the organism of important incoming information.
The Brain stem also handles the basic bodily functions necessary for survival, such as for example, breathing and Heart rate. Located in the center of the Brain stem and traveling its full length is a core of neural tissue known as the Reticular Formation.
There is a small area of dark cells within the Brain stem known as the Locus Coeruleus which is thought to produce a secretion initiating R.E.M sleeping patterns in which we dream. There are Nuclei within the Reticular Formation called the Raphe Nuclei that secrete a substance, which initiates light sleep. The Reticular Formation is ever watchful like a snake, keeping one awake and alert, even while asleep, ready to rouse one should the need arise.
The Reticular Formation is symbolized by the fifth Rune called Raidho, which means wagon, for it carries the Sun of consciousness and of one’s awareness. The fifth Rune corresponds with the throat Chakra as does the twenty-first Rune Laguz, which means a body of water. The meaning of this Rune seems somewhat reminiscent of an amphibious nature, whereby one is between the land of waking and the deep waters of sleeping, dreaming and deep trance.
“By concentrating his mind upon the nerve center below the pit of the throat, the ascetic is able to prevent his body being moved, without any resistant exertion to the muscles.”
The fourteenth Rune is called Perthro and appears to be associated with the third eye of the Pineal gland pertaining to the sixth Chakra but more specifically to the Cerebellum at the back of the head. The Sixth Rune known as Cen, which means torch, is associated with the Pineal gland and the experience of the bright white light phenomena or the fire in the head. The Pineal gland is activated by light that it receives from the eyes, specifically from the pupils rather than by retinal images.
“By concentrating his mind upon the light in the head the ascetic acquires the power of seeing divine beings.”
Another Rune going the name of Ing is associated with an internal stargate being that of the third eye whereby one can attain an out of body experience. The Cen Rune is associated with the left Nerve Channel, whereas Ing is associated with the right Nerve Channel.
The Pethro Rune of the Cerebellum is the control center for the Autonomic Nervous System being the two Nerve Channels that run along either side of the Spinal Column. The main areas of nerve fibers for the Autonomic Nervous System are situated around the Navel, Solar Plexus and the lower and upper portions of the Brain stem. The Pethro Rune is associated with one’s sensation of being somewhat of a Chess piece upon the Chessboard of life and that one’s existence depends on the fall of the dice, however, one then realizes at Pethro that it is one’s self who has invented the rules of the game. The experience one has at Pethro gives one an insight into how to change one’s automatic free-flow into another game of synchronicities.
At the crown of the head one finds the seventh Chakra symbolized as the fifteenth Rune called Elhaz which is associated symbolically with the horns of the Elk as well as with the Swan. The horns of the Elk or perhaps even that of the Stag can be seen as issuing forth from atop of one’s head as Sliepnir carries one’s conscious awareness into activating this Chakra.
When this Chakra is opened up, one can commune with the inter-dimensional entities known as Valkyries whom, it is said, travel about through the void between worlds by the means of magical cloaks made of Swan feathers.
The seventh Rune called Gebo represents one’s psycho-spiritual erotic union and sacred wedding with a Genie of a Valkyrie, which is associated with the left Nerve Channel. From the Valkyries one will receive the gifts of wisdom, knowledge and power. Dagaz is the twenty-third Rune and is aligned with the right Nerve Channel and is depicted as an infinity symbol whereby all things are made clear as day.
Both Gebo and Dagaz are associated with the seventh Crown Chakra.
When the seventh Chakra is activated by Sleipnir’s ascent one will have the experience of one’s head explosively opening up into a crown of light, whereby one will have the sensation of three vortices of energy cones spiraling out and above one’s head as horns.
The sixteenth Rune can be seen as being betwixt the horns that issue forth from atop one’s crown which is known as Sowilo being that of the Sun above one’s head.
” By concentrating his mind upon the Sun, a knowledge arises in the ascetic concerning all spheres between the Earth and the Sun.”
Wunjo is the eighth Rune and is called joy, for it is the Rune of ecstasy and bliss whereby one attains the wisdom of the ancestors symbolized by the twenty-fourth Rune called Othala. These two Runes correspond to the power zone above the head. Wunjo is to the left Nerve Channel and Othala is to the right Nerve Channel.
By the Runes the Shaman God and powerful sorcerer Ódhinn is able to warp and change his reality into whatever he desires by tuning his Nervous System into other realities by singing their names into the creative mother void of trance.