JERA
J
Aett: 2nd Aett, Hagall’s Aett
Position within the Aett: 4
Position within the Futhark: 12
Meaning: Year, harvest
Concept: Wyrd
English Letter Value: J
Sound: Y
Pronunciation: Yee-rah
Other Names: Anglo-Saxon: Ger
Armanen: Ar
Germanic: Jera
Gothic: Jer
Icelandic: Ar
Norwegian: Jara, Ar
Younger: Ar
Associations:
Polarity: Feminine
Element: Yeast
World: Jotunheim
Galdr: Yeeeraaaah
Rune Poem(s)
Norwegian Rune Rhyme
[Good Harvest] is the profit of men;
I say that Fredhi was generous.
Icelandic Rune Poem
[Good Harvest] is the profit of all men,
and a good summer,
and a ripened field.
year “all ruler”
Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem
[Harvest] is the hope of men,
when god lets,
holy king of heaven,
the earth gives her bright fruits
to the noble ones and the needy.
Level One Meaning(s)
Jera is the rune of cyclic time (along with the rune dagaz, more on that later). Its name mean year, or harvest. The j-rune is the second of three runes that deal with the solar progression of time. As we have see, raidho is the first, marking the solar journey across the sky. The second, jera, marks the travel of the sun through the sky throughout the year (from 23 1/2o south of the equator to 23 1/2o north of the equator). The third is dagaz, which marks the cycles of the day and the night (polar opposites that work as a whole). We find out more about this in the Voluspa, verses 5 & 6:
The sun, the sister of the moon, from the south
Her right hand cast over heaven's rim;
No knowledge she had where her home should be,
The moon knew not what might was his,
The stars knew not where their stations were.
Then sought the gods their assembly-seats,
The holy ones, and council held;
Names then gave they to noon and twilight,
Morning they named, and the waning moon,
Night and evening, the years to number.
[BELLOWS TRANSLATION]
Here we see that the power of jera was among the first things that the gods created. We learn even more in the Vafthrudnismal when Odin is asking Vafthrudnir questions about the beginning times (verses 22 - 25):
Othin spake:
22. "Next answer me well, if thy wisdom avails,
And thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now:
Whence came the moon, o'er the world of men
That fares, and the flaming sun?"
Vafthruthnir spake:
23. "Mundilferi is he who begat the moon,
And fathered the flaming sun;
The round of heaven each day they run,
To tell the time for men."
Othin spake:
24. "Third answer me well, if wise thou art called,
If thou knowest it, Vafthruthnir, now:
Whence came the day, o'er mankind that fares,
Or night with the narrowing moon?"
Vafthruthnir spake:
25. "The father of day is Delling called,
And the night was begotten by Nor;
Full moon and old by the gods were fashioned,
To tell the time for men."
[BELLOWS TRANSLATION]
As we can see from these verses, the sun and moon were not only used to reckon up the days and nights, but were also used to reckon up the years; and thus are closely associated with both jera (year) and dagaz (day).
Each half of the rune’s shape (j) represent one half of the year. The Northern peoples didn’t divide the year into four quarters as we do today (as in spring, summer, autumn and winter). Instead they had only two seasons, that of summer and winter. For them, spring was merely the advent of summer and autumn was merely the advent of winter. Thus jera represent the time from mid-winter to mis-summer AND the time from mid-summer to mid-winter. In other words, the time from when the sun is at its weakest until the sun is at its strongest and back again. Spinning endlessly around each other throughout all time.
The j-rune is also the rune of completions. What is started in the spring comes to fruition in the autumn, and then lays fallow in winter. Thus completing a cycle of growth and death. Jera is also a rune of cycles, but not of short cycles like a day or the phases of the moon. It is the rune of cycles that take a long time to complete; like a season, a year or even a cosmic year. We find in the saying “what goes around, comes around” a subconscious understanding of the cyclic nature of jera and a knowledge of the way that wyrd, and thus jera, works.
However, although jera has a cyclic nature, that cyclic nature does not move in a “circular” motion. Let’s look at the Wiccan concept of time. To them the seasons move smoothly from season to season, winter to spring, spring to summer, and so on back to winter and then starts the cycle over again. Although this is a part of jera, the j-rune includes another dimension to it. It also describes a forward motion to these cycles. Due to this forward motion, these cycles can be seen as spiralic in nature. In other words, the seasons would pass from winter to winter but it would not the same winter as the last one. It would be a brand new winter and thus a brand new cycle; but it would still be connected to the last cycle through the power of jera. If the passage of the seasons throughout the years could be seen edge on, they would look something like an enormous Slinky; one ring (year) spiraling into another.
Associated Deity(ies)
Sif: Sif is the second wife of Thor’s and is a goddess of the harvest.
Odin and Ullr: Odin, the chief of the Aesir, would, during the winter time, go wandering the worlds to gain more knowledge and wisdom. During this time Ullr, the son of Sif and step son of Thor’s, would take over the duties of governing Asgard. When summer would return he would step down from the High Seat and return to his home outside of Asgard.
Thor: The Yule-tide festivals were, in many regions, held in honor of Thor.
Freyr: Like Thor, Freyr was also associated with the Yule-tide celebrations.
Baldur and Hodur: Like the exchange of Odin for Ullr, Baldur and Hodur represented the changing of the seasons. In this case, when Baldur was killed at the hand of Hodur, Hodur was very upset that he had killed Baldur. He ended up changing places with Baldur in Helheim so that Baldur could live again. Winter represented the time that Baldur was “dead” and summer when Hodur was “dead”.
©2005