| The eighteenth rune and second of the Third Aett of the Elder Futhark is called "Berkana" or "Birkana". It's sound is "B". Representing the birch tree, the rune's shape represents the breasts of the Earth Mother goddess called anciently Nerthus, Berchta, or Frau Percht. The birch is a tree with white bark traditionally associated with purification. As the first tree to recolonize the barren land when the ice retreated at the end of the last Ice Age, it also symbolizes regeneration, springtime, and the returning warmth after coldness. Berkana stands for new beginnings, especially in the female sphere, where it is a birth rune. Berkana is powerful in all women's matters. In folk tradition, birch twigs are used for the "brush" part of the besom, or broom, used for sweeping away any bad luck. In some parts of Europe, whole birch trees are used as maypoles. Berkana's number - 18 - is double the sacred nine, being symbolic of completion and new beginnings on a higher, organic, level. It marks the point at which the primal laws of existence have been defined, and the stage is set for the play of life to begin in earnest. |