"B"



The breasts of the Mother Goddess


3rd aett, 2nd rune


The divine energy of the birch as 
Earth Mother


Nurturing, rebirth, growth, transition, spirit, 
concealment, protection, ancestry



Birch



Lady's mantle



All gemstones


March 14 - March 30


5:30 a.m. - 6:30 a.m.


The Germanic name: Bercna (Berkano)
 The Norse name: Bjarkan
 The Anglo-Saxon name: Beroc
 The Icelandic name: Bjarkan
 The Norwegian name: Bjarkan



Berkana relates to the great Earth Goddess, the 
mother of all things, embodying the energies of 
manifestation in the form of birth and rebirth. 
Traditionally, planting a birch tree in the front 
yard of your house was said to protect it from harm. 
Also, birch wood was frequently used in making magic 
wands, so that when the wand strikes something, it 
releases and brings to life energies contained within. 
Berkana also represents a rebirth of spirit, analogous 
to the renewal of life in the spring after the winter 
thaw. In contrast to the male energies of Tiwaz, 
Berkana represents the down-to-earth, nurturing, 
sensitive, feminine energies.
 Berkana's numerological value, eighteen, is a 
double nine. Nine is considered the perfect number 
magically, because it is the three threes, or a 
"triad of triads." Symbolically, nine is the number 
of completion and new beginnings, on a higher organic 
level. Doubling nine into eighteen provides the B-rune 
with even more of this initiating power. Accordingly, 
in many cultures, at the age of eighteen a person is 
legally considered an adult.


Frigga-She was the second wife of odin, and mother 
to Baldur, Hodur, Hermod, and usually Tyr. Ancient 
poems cite that Odin and Frigga had seven sons who 
founded the seven Saxon kingdoms in England. Tall 
and stately, the earth and sky goddess Frigga dressed 
in long white robes that could turn dark just as the 
sky does in bad weather. The patroness of housewives, 
she was permitted to share Odin's throne, and she 
personified the Earth. Through her eleven handmaidens, 
she ensured the well-being of humankind, helping lovers, 
presiding over marital love and fidelity, and administering 
justice. Like Odin, she had an innate vision of the future, 
a key to the runes.
 Holde-She was a complex goddess who served as a 
counterpart to Frigga. As the sky goddess, Holde 
was seen riding on the wind-the snow was the 
feathers from her bed. Wise women were said to 
"ride with Holde." As the water goddess, at noon 
she took the form of a beautiful White Lady, and 
bathed in a lake from which children were born. 
It was necessary to dive down a well to reach her 
home. As an earth goddess, Holde presided over the 
spinning and cultivation of flax. In this guise, 
she was a maternal deity, goddess of the hearth 
and home, and also a female leader of the Wild Hunt. 
Wherever Holde's procession passed, the harvest 
would double that year.


All animals



Earth



18



Virgo


The Empress



Traditionally, birch trees are consecrated to the 
god Thor, and symbolizes the return of spring. Also, 
the brush part of the "besom broom," a particular 
kind of broom for witches that is used for sweeping 
away unwanted energies, is often made of birch. In 
May Day celebrations, the maypole, symbolic of Yggdrasil, 
is made from the trunk of the birch tree.
 While Freyja symbolized the energy of the maiden, 
Frigga represented the energy of the mother, the 
second phase of the female polarity. Mythologically, 
this energy came in the form of the sacred cow, Audhumla, 
from whose udder (the breast) sprang forth the sustenance 
of life.
 Holde, the triple goddess of birth, life, and death, 
embodied all the elements. One of the most complex feminine 
figures of the Northern Tradition, her image unfortunately 
has degenerated into that of an ugly hag. It is now being 
revitalized.


Works with the feminine energies
 Understands the forces of transition
 Conceals and protects energy
 Revitalizes the spirit
 Revitalizes personal empowerment
 Gathers and directs the powers of earth, air, and water
 Increases intuitive ability
 Perfects magical skills


Berkana, berkana, berkana,
 Bu ba bi be bo
 B e e e e e r r r r r
 Burk bark birk berk bork
 Ob eb ib ab ub
 B e e e e e r r r r r



Berkana's intrinsic quality revolved around the 
life, death, and rebirth triad, which brought with 
it transition. As Mother Goddess, Berkana brought 
life and was the mother of all manifestation, 
representing the energies of birth and rebirth on a 
cosmic, as well as a human, level. At the same time, 
Berkana embodied the opposite polarity-death-the dark 
aspect of the Mother Goddess. In a shamanic sense, 
death symbolizes the death of the old self, and the 
rebirth symbolizes the transition into the new. So, 
Berkana ruled over the four transitory stages: birth, 
adolescence, marriage, and death. As a result, the 
B-rune is also the rune of becoming, of fulfilling your 
potential, and thus evolving on a spiritual level. It 
may signify new beginnings or the end of a cycle. The 
B-rune is for laying a foundations, and then cultivating 
them with nurturing care of the earth, sky, and water 
goddess. It can be used to really take "holde" of things 
in your life.
 Berkana also conceals and protects, embodying secret 
or concealing places, such as caves and lodges. In 
readings, this means that you can use the energy of 
the rune to protect or conceal yourself from another, 
but on the flip side, someone may be protecting or 
concealing something from you. 
 The Rune of Fertility and Birth suggests that your 
ventures will prosper, or that your old self can be 
reborn.When reversed, it is only mildy negative and 
points to domestic problems and anxiety.
 Same as in all other folklores in Europe, birch here 
symbolizes fertility. It brings prosperity and 
advancement, progress. On occasions of different 
holidays in the spring birch twigs are used to decorate 
houses and home interiors hoping that all residents of 
such be healthy and well throughout the next year; little 
children are "whipped" i.e. touched with twigs symbolically, 
in order that they grow quickly the way birch trees do.
Sympathetic magik connecting birch with growth, health, 
and fertility is widely known through the length and breadth 
of Europe, and thus we come across almost identical rituals 
in the broad area from England throughout the Continent, 
all the way to the Balkan Peninsula, and Russia.
 If Teiwaz is accepted as the rune designating firstly and 
foremostly men's mysteries, Berkana fully and entirely 
belongs to women: mother, one that brings cure and healing, 
midwife, women who donate new life after death - in the 
manner birch treetops are the first to turn green after the 
long and cold winter. And the way Teiwaz's power derives 
from its being connected with death, Goddesses designated 
by Berkana draw their powers out of the secret female 
potentials and forces, menstruation in the first place, 
and giving birth to children as the supreme temptation 
and probation.
 Birch is plentitude and health deriving from food, 
purgation, and empathy.
 When used in divination it signifies: fertility, health, 
new beginning, growth, understanding/realization, removal 
of obstacles and barriers.



For use in magik: curing (especially of infections), 
achievement of understanding/realization, enabling 
new starts.
Birch symbolizes fertility and growth, and thus 
Berkana, too, is a symbol of prosperity and fertility, 
no matter where it happens to be.
 When Berkana is drawn in an upright position 
it signifies a ritual in family or broader 
community, most often a wedding or engagement. 
When the question is asked by a young woman, 
answer relates to her pregnancy and is positive, 
but it can also denote relations between mother 
and child in general.
 If the person asking the question is a man, 
then again it means pregnancy - if that man 
is married. In case of elderly persons it 
means enlargement of the family by birth 
of a grandchild.
 Be as it may, Berkana always announces 
a good reason for celebration.
 When drawn in the reversed position Berkana
it signifies that the person asking the 
question is occupied by problems in the 
family, especially difficulties with children. 
It can also relate to problems a married couple 
has concerning conception of a child, or 
problems arising when embryo baby is carried.


Fehu Uruz Thurisaz Ansuz Raidho Kenaz
Gebo Wunjo Hagalaz Naudhiz Isa Jera
Eihwaz Perthro Algiz Sowilo Tiwaz Berkana
Ehwaz Mannaz Laguz Ingwaz Othala Dagaz


Rune Interpretations

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