Raidho- Part 2
Translation:
Germanic: Raidho
Mod. Eng: Riding
Old Eng.: Rad
Phonetic : R
(Handbook, 27-28)
Physical: 1:5
(Futhark, 12-13)
Divination:
Positive:
Reason, Action, Justice, Journey, Ordered growth
Warning:
Crisis, Rigidity, Stasis, Injustice, Irrationality
(Handbook, 28)
Mythic connections:
In the myths this rune connects to the vehicle of travel. Not just a physical wagon such as the Chariot of Thor or the solar wagon, but the vehicle(s) we use to evolve spiritually. There is a law of motion and patterns in nature like the path of the sun and the repetition of seasons. This path in spiritual development is a spiral path upward. Through right order and rational processes, we can progress upwards.
The vehicles we use for this process are ritual procedures. Our religions teach us tools for spiritual development and connection. By using these tools in the proper order and at the proper times, we can move along this path. We arrange our energies most effectively. We harness cause and effect toward these ends.
Some of these tools are chanting and dance. The rhythmic movement of the body raises energy and harmonizes the self with the greater world. One of the most obvious references to this in modern paganism is Starhawk's use of the Spiral Dance. It is an old style of dance but she brought it back into an occult context.
(Futhark, 28)
Magickal Uses:
Strengthen ritual abilities
Access inner advice
Raise consciousness toward right
Bending with rythm
Obtaining Justice
(Futhark, 30)
Elements:
Earth: Physical matter, archetypal manifestation and framework, existence.
Since the vehicle we use in our pursuit of spiritual evolution is our bodies and our environment, the world is an element for this rune. We harness the life force, the energy of motion through dance and vibrations of chanting. We use physical matter in ritual.
Fire: All vibration, total expansion, archetypal energy, heat.
Vibration is also a reference to dance and chanting. As is the heat in the body that it can create. Chanting certain styles will literally raise the temperature of the body and cause an encompassing vibration to occur. This process can expand the consciousness and raise the level of energy in the body and its frequency.
(Futhark, 75)
Spiritual/Cosmic Meanings:
Raidho is Ansuz put into practice. Ansuz is the mouth of divinity, the voice of wisdom, inner advice and revelation. Raidho takes that insight, speech, galdr, and creates movement with it. The cycle of birth-life-death/rebirth has it's own rhythm. The "good counsel" we receive helps direct the course of our evolution along this spiral pattern.
(Handbook, 27)
Raidho is the strong vehicle/wagon, or a strong mind and mental abilities, that make this evolution possible. The acts that we commit ourselves to in daily practice and in ritual are the physical manifestations of our "spiritual substance" (Ehwaz).
"It is on these "wheels" that the magickal journey of initiation is made." (Runelore, 118)
The Eights:
Ansuz comes before Raidho and I made that connection in the previous section. Basically the wisdom of language and symbols becomes insight and a guide for the student. The student then puts this wisdom into a practice in Raidho. Spiritual revelation becomes daily devotion, ritual practice, and self-discipline.
After Raidho comes Kenaz. This is the sacred fire that is controlled by the will of the student. It can be funeral pyre. It can be the sacrificial fire in ritual, the fire beneath the cauldron. It can be the fire of the hearth that warms and protects the community. After revelation and the working of ritual comes the manifestation.
Kenaz is the third that manifests from the union of the two previous runes and their working. This rune also can connect us to our ancestors since the fire of the funeral pyre connects it to death.
Row 1: Mysteries/Tools to learn
Row 2: Trials and Tribulations / Conflicts and paths to success
Row 3: The realm where the student works (Runelore, 140)
Raidho is the rune of the first row that thematically contains the tools the student needs to learn.
Beneath Raidho is Eihwaz in the second row which connects thematically to the conflicts and paths to success. Eihwaz represents the concept of "As Above, So Below". It is the roots reflecting the branches of the tree. It can represent Yggdrasil itself.
In the third row beneath Raidho is Laguz. This rune is the realm where the student works and it means Lake. This is the primal water containing the potential for life. Personal growth can be found by weathering storms along the sea of becoming. If your vehicle is made in a solid or right fashion you can obtain safe passage. Water is also a representation of the subconscious, where magick and inspiration lie.
So the vertical connections in this set are pretty literal. It is the job of the student to carefully craft and work with their "vehicle". However we create our rituals and practices will determine our evolution. If we falter or cut corners, that shortcoming will become apparent when we are tested. The stability of this vehicle will be found out when the storms of the journey strike.
So the warning of Raidho is to craft carefully and with precision the vehicle we are using for our evolution. Do not rush through this process or take short cuts. A wagon with only three wheels won't carry much or get you too far.
Final thoughts:
I actually kind of laughed a bit when I started looking at this rune as a bind rune. I had just read an article about Insane Clown Posse and I saw the three letters ICP in this rune. Isa, Kenaz, and Wunjo. The Phonetics don't match but the roman letter shapes overlap with the rune shapes. Just a funny coincidence?
Anyways, Isa is the factor that fixes Raidho in the material world. Gravity is the force that holds us in the path of the sun and enforces solar cycles. This rune is referenced as the solar chariot or the path of the sun. Isa is gravity in this case. And around Isa, Sowelo spins. Sowelo being the sun itself.
Kenaz is found in this rune shape as well. I've already touched on that a little bit in The Eights.
And then Wunjo, or joy and fellowship, is a rune that binds many things or people together. As it is also in the first row, it is a rune that is a necessary tool for the student to master. Each individual person is a mind a body evolving on their own. But this rune can bind a community together for community evolution. If Raidho is ritual and practice, then Wunjo can bring together a congregation of individuals to fire up spiritual evolution in the context of a larger society and spanning generations.
3 Paths Thru Midgard:
This is in the section of the Path of the Magician. This stanza refers to a long and difficult ride with a steady rhythm the narrator loses himself inside of. As if the rocking or movement induced another state of mind. In the pursuit of finding himself he became the road, the rider, and the horse all at once.
The Rune Poem:
In this discussion there is a point of view problem. The Anglo-Saxon seems to indicate the long ride leads to the horse feeling hard as stone, as if the pain in the backside of the rider makes it feel like he is bouncing on rock. In the Norwegian, the author notes there is a focus on the joy of riding and in the Icelandic there is sympathy for the horse's feelings.
Germanic: Raidho
Mod. Eng: Riding
Old Eng.: Rad
Phonetic : R
(Handbook, 27-28)
Physical: 1:5
(Futhark, 12-13)
Divination:
Positive:
Reason, Action, Justice, Journey, Ordered growth
Warning:
Crisis, Rigidity, Stasis, Injustice, Irrationality
(Handbook, 28)
Mythic connections:
In the myths this rune connects to the vehicle of travel. Not just a physical wagon such as the Chariot of Thor or the solar wagon, but the vehicle(s) we use to evolve spiritually. There is a law of motion and patterns in nature like the path of the sun and the repetition of seasons. This path in spiritual development is a spiral path upward. Through right order and rational processes, we can progress upwards.
The vehicles we use for this process are ritual procedures. Our religions teach us tools for spiritual development and connection. By using these tools in the proper order and at the proper times, we can move along this path. We arrange our energies most effectively. We harness cause and effect toward these ends.
Some of these tools are chanting and dance. The rhythmic movement of the body raises energy and harmonizes the self with the greater world. One of the most obvious references to this in modern paganism is Starhawk's use of the Spiral Dance. It is an old style of dance but she brought it back into an occult context.
(Futhark, 28)
Magickal Uses:
Strengthen ritual abilities
Access inner advice
Raise consciousness toward right
Bending with rythm
Obtaining Justice
(Futhark, 30)
Elements:
Earth: Physical matter, archetypal manifestation and framework, existence.
Since the vehicle we use in our pursuit of spiritual evolution is our bodies and our environment, the world is an element for this rune. We harness the life force, the energy of motion through dance and vibrations of chanting. We use physical matter in ritual.
Fire: All vibration, total expansion, archetypal energy, heat.
Vibration is also a reference to dance and chanting. As is the heat in the body that it can create. Chanting certain styles will literally raise the temperature of the body and cause an encompassing vibration to occur. This process can expand the consciousness and raise the level of energy in the body and its frequency.
(Futhark, 75)
Spiritual/Cosmic Meanings:
Raidho is Ansuz put into practice. Ansuz is the mouth of divinity, the voice of wisdom, inner advice and revelation. Raidho takes that insight, speech, galdr, and creates movement with it. The cycle of birth-life-death/rebirth has it's own rhythm. The "good counsel" we receive helps direct the course of our evolution along this spiral pattern.
(Handbook, 27)
Raidho is the strong vehicle/wagon, or a strong mind and mental abilities, that make this evolution possible. The acts that we commit ourselves to in daily practice and in ritual are the physical manifestations of our "spiritual substance" (Ehwaz).
"It is on these "wheels" that the magickal journey of initiation is made." (Runelore, 118)
The Eights:
Ansuz comes before Raidho and I made that connection in the previous section. Basically the wisdom of language and symbols becomes insight and a guide for the student. The student then puts this wisdom into a practice in Raidho. Spiritual revelation becomes daily devotion, ritual practice, and self-discipline.
After Raidho comes Kenaz. This is the sacred fire that is controlled by the will of the student. It can be funeral pyre. It can be the sacrificial fire in ritual, the fire beneath the cauldron. It can be the fire of the hearth that warms and protects the community. After revelation and the working of ritual comes the manifestation.
Kenaz is the third that manifests from the union of the two previous runes and their working. This rune also can connect us to our ancestors since the fire of the funeral pyre connects it to death.
Row 1: Mysteries/Tools to learn
Row 2: Trials and Tribulations / Conflicts and paths to success
Row 3: The realm where the student works (Runelore, 140)
Raidho is the rune of the first row that thematically contains the tools the student needs to learn.
Beneath Raidho is Eihwaz in the second row which connects thematically to the conflicts and paths to success. Eihwaz represents the concept of "As Above, So Below". It is the roots reflecting the branches of the tree. It can represent Yggdrasil itself.
In the third row beneath Raidho is Laguz. This rune is the realm where the student works and it means Lake. This is the primal water containing the potential for life. Personal growth can be found by weathering storms along the sea of becoming. If your vehicle is made in a solid or right fashion you can obtain safe passage. Water is also a representation of the subconscious, where magick and inspiration lie.
So the vertical connections in this set are pretty literal. It is the job of the student to carefully craft and work with their "vehicle". However we create our rituals and practices will determine our evolution. If we falter or cut corners, that shortcoming will become apparent when we are tested. The stability of this vehicle will be found out when the storms of the journey strike.
So the warning of Raidho is to craft carefully and with precision the vehicle we are using for our evolution. Do not rush through this process or take short cuts. A wagon with only three wheels won't carry much or get you too far.
Final thoughts:
I actually kind of laughed a bit when I started looking at this rune as a bind rune. I had just read an article about Insane Clown Posse and I saw the three letters ICP in this rune. Isa, Kenaz, and Wunjo. The Phonetics don't match but the roman letter shapes overlap with the rune shapes. Just a funny coincidence?
Anyways, Isa is the factor that fixes Raidho in the material world. Gravity is the force that holds us in the path of the sun and enforces solar cycles. This rune is referenced as the solar chariot or the path of the sun. Isa is gravity in this case. And around Isa, Sowelo spins. Sowelo being the sun itself.
Kenaz is found in this rune shape as well. I've already touched on that a little bit in The Eights.
And then Wunjo, or joy and fellowship, is a rune that binds many things or people together. As it is also in the first row, it is a rune that is a necessary tool for the student to master. Each individual person is a mind a body evolving on their own. But this rune can bind a community together for community evolution. If Raidho is ritual and practice, then Wunjo can bring together a congregation of individuals to fire up spiritual evolution in the context of a larger society and spanning generations.
3 Paths Thru Midgard:
This is in the section of the Path of the Magician. This stanza refers to a long and difficult ride with a steady rhythm the narrator loses himself inside of. As if the rocking or movement induced another state of mind. In the pursuit of finding himself he became the road, the rider, and the horse all at once.
The Rune Poem:
In this discussion there is a point of view problem. The Anglo-Saxon seems to indicate the long ride leads to the horse feeling hard as stone, as if the pain in the backside of the rider makes it feel like he is bouncing on rock. In the Norwegian, the author notes there is a focus on the joy of riding and in the Icelandic there is sympathy for the horse's feelings.
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