Rad byth on recyde rinca gewhylcum

Sefte, and swithhwaet tham the sittath on ufan

Meare maegenheard ofer milpathas.

Riding to the hall is for every man a pleasure,

But very strenuous for those who sit on a strong horse

Over many miles.

Rad represents the act of riding and this act of riding can be seen as any undertaking which might require traveling, be it spiritual or otherwise. In the days when the Germanic tribes were migratory this was a very dangerous and strenuous undertaking. Along their migratory paths they were subjected to different tribes as well as natural barriers and /or disasters. These were very trying and hard times due to the fact that they would've taken all their animals and belongings with them. The same also applies to those who lived in communities. When an individual set out to a neighboring farm it might have been a days ride away and there could have been many dangers to face on the way. The rune poem above gives a vivid description of how riding can be a pleasure as well as presenting hardships to those who undertake its task. When traveling in the old northern Europe it took will, intention and wisdom. The will to travel and to take control of ones fate, the intention to make it through all of the obstacles safe and sound, and the wisdom to make wise decisions in times of adversity. Wisdom and intention are both alternative meanings to the Rad rune. In this respect Rad represents the road that one must travel in life. On each of our individual roads there are many trials that help to teach us, some are good while others can be horrific. But non-the-less, every trial will teach us in a positive light if we are willing to accept and learn from them. Rad represents the road that each of us must walk throughout our existence in this level of consciousness. Rad also teaches us to be aware of the road that we are traveling on and to recognize future hardships by being in tune with ourselves. This meaning that if we are consciously aware of each decision that we make, we can possibly see future actions as a result of past ones. This is taking control of ones wyrd and it is a powerful and useful way to live a well-balanced life. Granted there are some lessons that we each must learn that are beyond our control but Rad helps us to travel the road aware and in safety. In modern German the meaning of Rad is wheel and in Modern English the meaning is road. If we look closer at this rune with these meanings attached to it we will start to understand the awesome power that is contained within it. Let's take the English meaning first which is road. Each of us walks down the road that was created by our individual pasts, all that we have done affects us at one time or another as we transverse this road. Each is a lesson to learn and all are a result of the wyrd that we have accumulated during our lifetimes. So Rad acts as the platform in which all of life's events play themselves out, hence riding can be a pleasure but it can also be strenuous. Now if we look at the German meaning it should bring the picture into a composite whole. When we think of a wheel we think of action and movement and both of these words describe the power contained within Rad. When we make decision in our lives they usually are played out after a period of time and this period of time can be seen as a wheel. Each choice that was made revolves around in the cycle of wyrd and it eventually returns to us with an adverse or pleasant effect. This wheel is represented by the spinning wheel of the Wyrd sisters. It has to make its revolution around their spinning wheel and the fabric has to be woven into our wyrd. This in turn, turns up along our path long after the decisions have been made and we have forgotten about them. So from this we can deduce that Rad is the wheel of wyrd and the road of our lives.

There is another aspect of this rune that is worth mentioning. Rad has a closely related word in both Anglo-Saxon and German that both mean counsel. The Anglo-Saxon word is Raed and the German is Rat. Besides meaning counsel they both also mean to advise. The English equivalent to raed and rat is Rede, which means roughly the same. These shine more light on the function of Rad as a rune used in court cases or as in the days of our ancestors it was called the Thing. In keeping with the above lines Rad must have been used in court case to help shine on past events and to see if the individual was truly guilty of committing the crime in question. This shows its importance as a rune of the Thing and the wheel of wyrd.

Cen byth cwicera gehwam cuth on fyre,

Blac and beorhylic, byrneth oftust

Thaer hi aethelingas inne restath. Torch is well known to those living

By its shining and bright fire light,

Burning most often where there are nobles resting inside.

Cen is a very powerful rune in that it represents the inner heat within all living things as well as the enlightened mind. If we look at this rune poem in detail we will start to unravel the inner mysteries of Cen. On a very basic level, pine torch is the meaning of this rune, but we have to look towards another root word of Cen to slowly put the runic picture together and find its true function. We start by looking at the word Cene. This word means to be brave, learned, cleaver and keen. If we look at Cen using these definitions it shines a bit more light on it. Words such as cleaver and learned seem to be pointing towards some sort of knowledge that was learned. When we walk down our allotted paths there are lessons to be learned as well as to discover, and it is Cen that represents that inward beacon.

In keeping with the above meanings of Cen as well as the initiation teachings of other runes, this rune falls neatly into place alongside its companions of the Futhorc. By this I am meaning to say that all the others runes in the first aett have something to do with learning lessons be they through everyday situations and/or initiations. Cen represents the enlightened or aware mind within somebody that has learned the inner secrets of what it means to be a spiritual being. This applies to all facets of human nature. We can have initiation everyday of our lives if we are "open" to and recognize the forces, which shape our lives. Take for example, we might be out one day and meet a total stranger and just start talking, that conversation can totally enrich our lives in ways that we never though possible. It can also help us to further our personal lives in that when we think differently it causes us to be a different person. One could see this as a little initiation. Some might be small, while others might be grand, but no matter how small or how big, everything has something to teach us. This is one of the functions of the power of Cen, this power being aware and learned.

It is interesting to note that in Modern German there is an ancestor of the word Cen and it is Kennen. Kennen means to know, but there is also and Old English word which means roughly the same, that word being Cennan. The Anglo-Saxon word has several different means attached to it and they are to conceive, bring forth and to beget. So we can deduce that another function of this rune is to know and to bring forth understanding. When we are aware of the forces which are in action around and within our lives we start to become aware of them, and when we are in tune with them we can foresee the future events which shape everything around us. In doing this we can avoid the troubles that stem from those choices that we might make. Just by being aware is a very powerful and positive way we can live our lives, granted some events happen in our lives that are beyond our control but most stem form those choices that were made in the past. If we can make our lives better by being aware we have more control we have over our own and our families wyrd. Just by bringing forth understanding we beget wisdom and that is the underlying teaching of Cen.

Since Cen symbolizes the inner heat of living things, I also take it to mean the inner heat of a shaman's ecstasy. In the Old Norse traditions there was a form of magic called seith, and this magic involved astral travel and shape shifting. In Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla chapter 7 he tells us that Othin practiced such magic. By practicing seith Othin could change his shape at will, know the fates of men and had control over natural elements among countless other things. It is interesting to note that the Goddess Freyja is the one who taught this form of magic to Othin. In the ancient days the only practitioners of this magic were women. Women were the shamanesses to the old Germanic tribes and they would travel the countryside and offer farmers and villages advice on the years weather patterns and how the crops might be. They would also practice charms for healing and help in delivering children. One might ask how heat could be connected to the above lines? This is very easily explained once we look at the meaning of seith. Seith means to boil or to heat up. When we look at other traditions throughout the world we will begin to see the function that inner heat plays in shamanism.

Take for example the Buddhists of Tibet, they practice the art of meditation. One of their meditative exercises is to sleep outside in the cold snow and to heat their bodies up and when doing this the snow in the area around them melts. This is due to the inner heat they generate. Another example of this inner heat can be found in the Rg-Veda and it is called Tapas and its meaning is extreme heat. In the Rg-Veda, the magician or seer heats up his/her body to extreme heat and it is only by creating this inner heat that miracles and healing can be done. The same goes for most archaic religious ecstasies. It is the mastery over fire both physical and non physical. Only when this heat is created can the spirit leave the body to travel in the ether to the other worlds. Could this practice which is known as Seith be connected to this system of belief that is shared around the world? I believe that it is. My reasoning behind this belief is as follows, firstly in Snorri's account of Othin's practice of seith, he lays there as if dead and can transform himself into the shape of an animal and travel the worlds. Secondly, in several Old Norse Sagas there is mention of people lying there as if dead, taking the shapes of animals and fighting. Sometimes the magicians involved would be killed in this altered state of consciousness and fall dead in this plane of reality. These are prime examples of shamanism and they point out that our ancestors practiced this system of belief that is shared throughout the world by all civilizations. It might be interesting to note that the Old Norse meaning of Cen is sore. A sore can be used as a metaphor for a shamanic illness; it is this illness which projects the candidate into the role of future shaman. This is a classic initiation that marks individuals as future healers and seers.

As we can see, there are many facets to the character of Cen. All of Cens many meaning stem from a common root, and that root being understanding. It teaches us to understand the world around us and also inside of us. Cen teaches us to take those many different facets of learning and combine them into a fundamental whole in order that we may live healthy and wise lives. No matter how small the lesson is, its message can carry understanding far into our futures. Cen also reminds us that all things have meaning and it is up to us to make the first steps in understanding them and to employ that wisdom in our everyday lives.

Giefu gumena byth gleng and herenys,

Wrathu and wyrthscype, and wraecna gehwam

Ar and aetwist the byth othra leas. Giving is for men honor and praise,

Help and respect, and a beneficial touch

For those who are without it's presence.

Geifu is truly a beautiful rune, and contained within it is an equally beautiful meaning. As we can tell by the above definitions of Geifu it means giving but there are other words connected to this rune as well. These words being favor grace liberality and sacrifice. But its meaning does not only mean giving but all the functions that are attached to the action of giving. In order to understand the true meaning of giving we have to look towards the past.

Tacitus mentions in Germania 15 that it was custom for people to exchange gifts with one another and that the act of giving gifts signified great honor. He also states that chiefs, individuals and whole communities gave gifts. Its main function was in creating a reputation. A reputation was the most important thing a person could have. The reason for this being is that they believed that each person's reputation lived on long after one had died and this reputation in turn attached itself to all the dead person's kin. EMM mentions the power that a reputation has on a family: Lines 32 - 33    just the same your value on earth by your kin, And afterwards your children, is measured over the earth. Line 36 cleaver men are buried in a mound, keeping justice with right. The above lines from the EMM remind us of how important our reputation is as well as how important it is how others view us as individuals. This in turn spreads over to your children as well as your family. Doing right and making the right decisions are at the basis of old Germanic social traditions. How others perceive you, so they perceive your family and vice versa. This is a classic example of wyrd in action, one thing leading to another until it runs out of control. Such things happen in the everyday lives of families these days. This misunderstanding leads to family feuds with an end result that can be devastating to the family leading to all kinds of mental problems as well as social dysfunction's as the following lines further reinforce: Lines 37-45 poor is he who deserts his friends.

Never shall he bring forth his nest,                     need shall bind him all the time.

The innocent shall be joyous in heart.     He shall endure blind eyes,

with holding from him brightness.                       Nor may he observe the stars,

heavenly bright sun nor the moon;                      that causes suffering in his spirit,

he is therefore pained by this torture,                 never perhaps reversing the result.

That torture controls and restrains him,  he may surrender to change,

Healing his heads-gems,            if he is conscious of and unfetters his spirit.

Leaving the man in need of a physician.