Kenaz- Part 2

Translation:  Germanic:      Kenaz (torch),  Kaunaz (sore)
                     Mod. Eng.:     Keen
                     Old Eng.:        Cen
                     Phonetic:        K
                                                                                                     (Handbook, 29)
Physical:    1:6

                                                                                                      (Futhark, 12-13)
Divination:  + Technical ability, inspiration, creativity, offspring, transformation

                    - Disease, break up, inability, lacking creativity
                                                                                                       (Handbook, 13)

Magickal Uses:
                    Strengthening abilities
                    Creative Imagination
                    Regeneration, Healing
                    Love, Lust
                                                                                                        (Futhark, 31)
Elements:
                   Fire: total expansion. heat, all vibration, archetypal energy
                                                                                                       (Futhark, 75)

Mythological Connections:
                  There are different aspects to this rune.  The element of fire and the color red that often represents fire points to sexual love, lust, passion, and the emotional root of creativity.  This aspect of the rune points to a connection to Freya as the goddess of passion and life.

                  This rune is also connected to Loki.  Another aspect of fire is it's harnessing for a sacred use such as the funeral pyre or the sacrificial fire through which the gods receive offerings and sacrifices.    The fire cooks the flesh to make it acceptable, transforming it into a sacred meal.
                  Cremation was a common practice in the ancient societies.  The funeral pyre would burn the flesh from the body. The bones would be removed from the ashes and buried in a sacred mound.  This fire prevents the souls return to spent form.
                  This use of fire connects kinship across the living and the dead. The ancestors are still part of one's clan.
                                                                                                          (Futhark, 30-31)

Spiritual Meanings:

                  Kenaz is translated as Torch.  This is not wildfire but controlled fire.  It has been harnessed to benefit humans in many ways.  Artists and craftsmen use heat and fire in the working of their craft.  From swords to glass to pottery.
                  Torches light the halls of families and halls of fellowship. Hearth fires warm the home and are used to cook food.   Funeral pyres send the dead from this world into the next.  The "controlled powers of the psyche plus the controlled energy of nature creates art".
                                                                                                           (Futhark, 30-31)

                  There is a special note about the rune being one of dissolving power.  This step is necessary before recombining or reshaping "in accordance with the willed plan". Ehwaz is Kenaz stabilized with two Isa runes in coagulation.  "Recombine these forces in a transformed and self-aware essence".  Two separate forces combine to form one unified third force.

The Eights:

        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 in row one before Kenaz which is followed by Gebo.  Raidho is a tool of magical workings, cycles of movement such as dance that can be used in ritual.   Magickal workings involve the use of fire, as the art of ritual is a craft and the skills of art are a part of it.  Ritual also involve fire as the modes of how the gods receive our gifts and sacrifices, through burnt offerings.  Gebo is the rune of equal exchange, the force that maintains relationships in society and also between the gods and humans.

All three of these runes describe the elements of ritual and the stages of ritual. From using movement to raise energy and alter the mind state, to creating the sacred fire, to offering gifts to the gods in thanks for our blessings.

In row two the path or trial or success is Perthro, the secrets and mysteries of orlog and wyrd.

The environment where the student works is Ingwaz, the darkness of gestation, the seed.




                                                                                                         (Runelore, 119)

Final Thoughts:

Kenaz is a rune that has been popping up from time to time for me.  It ties nicely to needfire for me.  It's a combination of knowing you have a need for movement and finding the kinetic kick to get you moving.  After my recent illness inertia was hard to break.  My current work is on breaking through barriers to my own spiritual development. A sort of threshhold working is needed.  Kenaz can act as a doorway from one world to the next as in its funeral pyre function and sacrificial flame function.

Loki is often characterized as wildfire, but He is also sometimes called the embodiment of the sacred flame. This is a wild element that has been harnessed for magick and ritual workings.  I see Sigyn as representative of the priestess, the shaper of the spell or incantation over the sacred fire.

3 Paths Through Midgard:

This stanza refers to Raidho and the journey being a part of growth and learning.  Kenaz is invoked as the sore that festers, heals, scabs, and breaks open to new flesh. It is in the aspect of decay and renewal that this rune is described.  The torch is used in reference to looking for yourself inside of the darkness of yourself.  The narrator describes building their own funeral pyre, a sacrifice of self to self.  There is also imagery of beating the slag from oneself, as the smith works at the forge.  This stanza finishes with the aspect of thought being the root of all form.  Fire is harnessed in all the lines as a tool used to purify the self and make oneself holy and better.


The Rune Poem:

The form of this rune looks like an h with a sloped line in the middle cross bar. It could overlay the rune Hagalaz.  Hagalaz is also a rune that refers to purification and rebirth in a different way.   There is an explicit reference to sleep and rest inside the house.  It seems this rune is used as a domestic tranquility in this sense.  The description also refers to the root word "keen" which can mean a few different things. It can refer to severe as in a "keen pain".  It can refer to the sharpness of a knife. It is also a word for the sound of mourning at a funeral, keening.