#berkano

As I've spent time working with the runes, berkana had changed the way I see beginnings. In my meditation with berkana, my biggest takeaway was that true beginnings often aren't seen. They're hidden or obscured, perhaps in literal darkness or by circumstance.

Whatever beginning is manifesting in you or your life this week is going to help move you from a place of darkness to light. You're going to start to really feel that magic and energy that accompanies that which is new. Whatever has been gestating in whatever darkness you've been in is going to finally burst forth into the light and bring you with it.

Prayer Poem to Odin and the Blessings of Berkano

Allfather Odin, wise in the wind, Wanderer cloaked in storm and song, I call to you in this sacred breath, With roots that reach where souls belong.

Hanged on the Tree, you saw the runes, You bled for the knowing, deep and wide, Now I offer my voice in stillness and strength— Let the green of Berkano rise inside.

Berkano, birch-mother, cradle of life, She who shields the spark and sprout, Bless this heart with quiet growth, And ward my path from fear and doubt.

Odin, stir the sap of hidden dreams, Guide the womb of thought to bloom, Let each leaf be a sacred rune, Let each breath dispel the gloom.

Let healing flow in Berkano’s light, As branches bend in graceful trust, And in your eye of ancient fire, I place my faith, my bones, my dust.

With one hand open to the sky, And one hand rooted in the land, I walk the way between the worlds— With Berkano's bloom and Odin’s hand.

ᛒ Blessed be the growth that comes from loss. ᛒ Blessed be the womb that births the moss. ᛒ Blessed be the god who walks with none— Yet whispers to all beneath the sun.

A piece of art I have had my eye on acquiring for months and months, I finally received my Jörmungandr-embosomed Mjölnir in the post today! 🐍

This is the blacksmith work of Anssi Routavirta / Frost Ferrum Forge, from deep within the Arctic heart of Finland.

I chose Berkano to adorn the piece as it means much to me in the lead up to my favourite fire and fertility festival of the year… Beltane.

This festival is very dear to my heart for many a reason now, not least for being the day I made my vows to Loki. And we all know what both Jörmungandr and Mjölnir mean to our Lundr Læva, Bringer of Gifts, son of Laufey…

SIGRDRIFUMOL, Stanza 8:

Birth-runes learn, if help thou wilt lend,

The babe from the mother to bring;

On thy palms shalt write them, and round thy joints,

Rune a Day Project - Day 11 - November 11, 2021 - Bernako

Day 11 of my rune a day project. Today I drew Berkano, meaning "birch". It represents birth, new beginnings, new ideas, growth, family, regeneration, earth, creativity, recovery, healing & atonement, enjoyment of sexual relationships, sanctuary, secrecy and silence in service of protection and listening, liberation, true home.

Reverse means stagnation, obstacles to something new, troubles with conception or pregnancy, sterility, interference in growth, the abusive parent or guardian, problems with female reproductive system, anxiety.

A couple of years back, I woke up with this rune literally in my vision, and its name ringing in my ears. I still don't have an idea of why that was, but for that reason, this rune has been one I've learned a lot about, and one that I feel very close to. Since I grew my hair long, I wear this rune in my hair a lot.

Whether it has a deeper significance other than it's a "favorite" of mine is debatable, obviously. It could be like having a favorite color or a "lucky" number - it's just something that I like, and it doesn't have to have any more significance to it than that. Or it means more, and I don't quite understand that yet.

This “little” thing has been sat in my Google Docs ohhhh, since 2018 - just waiting for me to get to the chapter where the paternity is confirmed. Now everything is out in the open... anyone curious about just what happened between Draco and Hermione that night?

Artwork by the wonder that is @tridogmom​ who also Alpha’d the shizz out of this thing!

Read it here! [FFN] or [AO3]

— Berkanan —