The Nine Worlds of Yggdrasil
To understand the runes more fully, a full working knowlege of Norse mythology is essential. At the heart of the mythology is Yggdrasil, the world tree. The world tree is the pillar of what holds our cosmos together. There are nine worlds which hang on the roots and branches of this tree.
Think of the stav, the staff of our spines, how all our bodies (physical, astral, auric, etherial, emotional, mental etc.) hang on our spines. Think how we are like the microcosm of the cosmic model.
Odin hung on the world tree in a sacrifice of pain, a vision quest of suffering, for nine days. One day for each world he hung and at the end he grasped 18 runes. Two runes for each world. Think how these symbols, sounds, meanings, became for him the intersections of the grid work that holds the cosmos together. Yggdrasil has been called "the terrible one's horse." Odin is now able to ride the tree, the hobby horse, from one world to the other collecting knowlege and power objects to further strengthen his being as the Allfather.
We can find these points of intersection within ourselves, what holds us together. The nine worlds become metaphores for our own psyche's being...and then more than that. Through the unification of our own gridwork, our own cosmological being, we gain the strength to move ourselves through the rest of the cosmology.
So knowing the nine worlds is first knowing ourselves, all of our parts and beings. Rejecting nothing of our total being we integrate. And in integration and unity we gain strength to move through the cosmos, healing, helping, and gaining the knowlege we need for smooth transitions from life to death and back again.
Jesus hung on the cross and endured. Through his pain he gained the ability to move through all the worlds of the cosmos, Sheol or Hel's domain, he visited first. Helping, healing, and saving where he could. Heaven, Earth, and all the worlds are blessed by his presence.
So what does it mean for us? Knowing and learning and going...sacrificing and gaining are all parts of the rune work we can do.
Think of the stav, the staff of our spines, how all our bodies (physical, astral, auric, etherial, emotional, mental etc.) hang on our spines. Think how we are like the microcosm of the cosmic model.
Odin hung on the world tree in a sacrifice of pain, a vision quest of suffering, for nine days. One day for each world he hung and at the end he grasped 18 runes. Two runes for each world. Think how these symbols, sounds, meanings, became for him the intersections of the grid work that holds the cosmos together. Yggdrasil has been called "the terrible one's horse." Odin is now able to ride the tree, the hobby horse, from one world to the other collecting knowlege and power objects to further strengthen his being as the Allfather.
We can find these points of intersection within ourselves, what holds us together. The nine worlds become metaphores for our own psyche's being...and then more than that. Through the unification of our own gridwork, our own cosmological being, we gain the strength to move ourselves through the rest of the cosmology.
So knowing the nine worlds is first knowing ourselves, all of our parts and beings. Rejecting nothing of our total being we integrate. And in integration and unity we gain strength to move through the cosmos, healing, helping, and gaining the knowlege we need for smooth transitions from life to death and back again.
Jesus hung on the cross and endured. Through his pain he gained the ability to move through all the worlds of the cosmos, Sheol or Hel's domain, he visited first. Helping, healing, and saving where he could. Heaven, Earth, and all the worlds are blessed by his presence.
So what does it mean for us? Knowing and learning and going...sacrificing and gaining are all parts of the rune work we can do.
posted by Kari Tauring Blog at 9:36 AM
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