Berkano - Part 1 and 2
Berkano was actually the last rune I pulled. I published the entries out of order. Given my cyclical path with the runes it makes sense to end on a rue that is also associated with birth and rites of passage.
It seems to point to the work I will be doing in developing a deeper ritual practice. I'm specifically working on women's rituals, a focus on the divine feminine and an attempt to recover this specific slice of women's history. There's not much to go on but I will do what I can. There are a lot of great scholars and researchers out there who are already doing the kinds of research I can review and put into practice.
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Translation:
Germanic: Berkano
Old Eng: Beorc
Mod Eng: Birch
Phonetic: B (Handbook, 53)
Physical: (3:2)
(Futhark, 12-13)
Divination:
+ birth, becoming, life changes, shelter, liberation
- blurred consciousness, deceit, sterility, stagnation
(Handbook, 54)
Magickal Uses:
rebirth of spirit
strengthen secrecy
concealment and protection
hold/contain powers together
oneness of all things
bring ideas to fruition (birth of ideas)
(Futhark, 57)
Mythological Connections:
This rune sometimes is said to refer to an ancient earth mother goddess people now refer to as the Birch Goddess. She was the one to rule over the process of transformation and manifestation. These include the cycles of agriculture which connects her to the sovereign land goddess. She is also connected to rites of passage in humans, such as the triplicate: birth-life-death/rebirth.
She is self-contained and does not need energy from others to grow but everything needs her to grow. This rune is connected to Ingwaz which is the seed. Berkano is the power of the seed to break open and manifest.
This rune connects to Perthro in the element of chance that is part of our evolution. We have the building blocks of Ingwaz that we are born with but life is full of risk and anything can happen along the way as we progress on our path. She is connected to concealed enclosures and protected spaces such as caves, lodges, initiation "earth houses", the shell of the seed, or the womb where the fetus gestates.
(Runelore, 128-129)
Berkano is also connected to the Terrible Mother who rules over death. This connects her to Hel and the realm of the dead since death is one of the four rites of passage that Thorsson notes: birth, adolescence, marriage, death. Those were the four most prominent in ancient times. Now that we are living longer the fifth phase would be elderhood. The time we reach old age, develop wisdom, and become an elder to our communities. It is unique to the current generational cycle.
The Birch Goddess has been connected to Nerthus as well. She was the agrarian mother goddess of the Vanir and continental pagans.
(Futhark, 56-57)
The Elements:
The element that most fits this rune is Earth. This is the element of manifestation, of physical existence and contains all potential. (Runelore, 150)
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)
In the row of tools Uruz is the rune of health and strength. It is also a force of manifestation and a reference to Audhumla, the cosmic cow that formed Buri. It is considered a rune of masculine semen, the force that forms or determines the shape of things.
In the row of trials is Nauthiz. This is again a shaping rune. It represents the resistance found in the cosmos to the will, which creates the fire necessary to fuel the will to overcome that resistance. This is the hardening or tempering of the steel in the phrase "will of steel". This strong will leads to the strength needed to step forth into manifestation.
Berkano is in the row of the environment. This is the rune of manifestation, the realm of absolute potential. It is protective of this process of rising from the pure essence of forming power, into the stage of developing a strong will to overcome resistence, to reach the point of "becoming". This is the path of the evolution of the student repeating in cycles. We are born having only what we came into this world with, we struggle and challenge ourselves becoming stronger with each obstacle until we reach a point of completion and must pass from one phase of existence into another where we start again.
Final Thoughts:
The way that I break down Berkano is into two Kenaz runes facing Isa. This indicates a melting force. This points to the primal event that created the universe. Berkano is the rune of manifestation.
Another way to look at Berkano is something that has appeared before in other writings long before I started writing. Berkano can be seen as the seed breaking open, like two half shells, releasing what has been germinating inside of the seed. Isa is the force that breaks the seed open.
The Rune Poem:
This stanza directly describes the birch tree itself. It was earliest to have leaves and didn't cast seeds like many other trees. It did in fact have seeds, but they were not nutty seeds like the oak or large and obvious like the pine cone. The Birch Tree Goddess was believed to be the original earth goddess of this area. No real evidence of this remains, however.
3 Paths Through Midgard:
This stanza directly references sex and fertility using the language of the land. "Sap rises at her beck and lust blooms". It seems to be a very direct description of the fertility of the land and a figurative description of sex and birth. From this follows the same sort of imagery of death in the land and the end of human life. "Roaring, cast our lot into her void". I think this is also a reference to copulation. We have no say in reproduction as to what offspring will turn out to be but there is a promise of something to come in the future. "Snug grain of should is dark womb slumbers".
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