Wildspeak Article - Runes: 19 - MANNAZ
Jan. 1st, 2005 12:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
moonvoiceMannaz (Man - AS) - (Also known as Madr, marder, mardr, mader, mardr, man, mannas, mannus (as god), mann)
Value - M
Numeric Order - 19
Traditionally Represents - Deep Balance. Man and God. Bridging.
Represents - Harmony. Sharing. Cooperation. Left-Brain / Right-Brain. Intuition and Intellect Balanced. Development. Heimdall. Bridges. Mankind. Vine. Spirals.
Joyous man you're dear to your kinsmen;
Do not be grieved at your doom to fail your fellow
Since all gods and man at all times must fail
This vile carrion to the earth committed
Grows the joyous man that is dear to his kinsmen.
- Vilturj Rune Poem.
Mannaz is the personal rune of the god Heimdall, who was also known as Hvitass, Rig and Mannus (hence name of rune). Heimdall was the god who had three children that in turn were the original ancestors of the three different branches of the Germanic people. It is Heimdall who stands between the deities and the humans as the bridge between them. Heimdall is the representation of the 'truth' of the divine in man. Heimdall is the god of bridges, making them, walking them, and understanding their necessity. As such Mannaz itself is a god of connecting two opposing points, and then walking that bridge in balance and harmony, to better understand the deeper nature of ourselves and others.
This is a rune of human development, the deep human development that often leads to great wisdom, access to powers and the inner divine. It is understanding who, what, why, when and how you are, through building bridges within and without the physical body. It is the balancing of intuition with the intellect, the understanding that all wisdom needs to be tempered with joy, humour and respect. The inner understanding of the relationship between divine and man, and how we bridge the gap between is revealed to us in depth when working with Mannaz. If Ehwaz is learning the cooperation and communion between Sleipnir and Odin, Mannaz is understanding its nature and using it to improve ourselves and our surroundings.
Mannaz is the rune of perfection. Not the kind of perfection where a person wants to be foolishly flawless, for no creature alive is flawless in that they make mistakes. It is also not the kind of perfection led by ambition, or by one seeking personal gain only. It is not the rune of a musician who wishes to be the best simply to profit. It is the rune of perfection for the musician who seeks to perfect his songs simply to understand their nature, and the nature of the music, and the nature behind why he plays that music. Mannaz is the motivation to understand and balance, to improve until wisdom and maturity is gained. It is the motivation that encourages one to understand the divine within, how and why it manifests. It is also the motivation that gets the deities interacting with the humans.
Ehwaz is the attainment of trance and the ecstatic trance, Mannaz is learning how to live life in harmony with these other awarenesses. The shaman, the witch, the accomplished druid, Buddhist or Pastor is thought to live non-ordinary lives. They learn how to do this by bridging gaps within themselves that others may never bridge. Mannaz is the force that encourages this bridging. Mannaz tells you to stomp on the bridge, check how strong it is, and add reinforcements if necessary.
Mannaz also represents the human race as a whole, how well communities and countries bridge their gaps, how an 'advanced' western civilisation can connect with the third world civilisations, how the rich connect with the poor, and vice versa, how different religions bridge their gaps, or how they burn those bridges. Mannaz is the force behind seeking to understand other cultures by immersing yourself in that culture, or getting to know someone of a different ethnic background more completely to better understand yourself. This rune will help teach open-mindedness and lateral thinking.
Understandably this rune will also help family relationships. We do not pick the people we grow up with and who gave birth to us or share our blood, but Mannaz can help us to understand our differences and if they cannot be overcome, suggests ways to protect the bridge without tearing it down. I worked with Mannaz to understand my father, and my mother, and realise that though we can have profound differences, we share traits, even traits I dislike.
Mannaz also aids us in finding our own latent talents and abilities, the things which we can do which help us connect to the divine. For me, it is exploring artwork or working with animal spirits and runes, for others it is being a doctor and helping people to heal, making websites to allow for greater connection and understanding, or picking up the rubbish on the street and making the world a cleaner and healthier place for all. Once found, these abilities keep us very human, whilst allowing us to connect with a divinity which we often forget exists.
In a reading the presence of Mannaz can represent the appearance of divine aid, or human aid, and the increase of cooperation by all parties, or significant parties. This will often be influenced by the runes around. If combined with Fehu, business and trade connections will improve, if combined with Teiwaurz relationships with justice and the law will improve, if combined with Berkana, mothering and nurturing relationships will improve (this is just an example of the connections, there are many more.) Mannaz is by and large a positive rune that reminds us that we are all special, we are all divine, and we all in our individual ways can serve ourselves and others in a state of wisdom, and of perfection.
Merk - Mannaz reversed is an unpleasant rune. It represents a time when external and internal bridges are burnt, and no help is forthcoming. A time where intuition and intelligence work against man and mankind, and a time where you learn who your enemies are, and they work to bring about the downfall of an individual, a community or a nation.
Mannaz reversed tends to represent the cunning and slyness of people put to cruel and hurtful use. People are manipulated without realising, or are manipulating others. All actions are coldly calculated and contain no warmth or tolerance. It is the energy of hate crimes and of white supremacy.
Mannaz reversed or Merked can also represent depression as people forget their connections to the divine or stop working with and nurturing the abilities that help them to grow. It is an inner and outer blindness, and a constant awareness of one's mortality and the delusion that one is 'bad', 'evil', 'no good'. It can also be represented by suicidal preoccupation.
In Ritual - Mannaz is excellent for contacting and improving one's own innate abilities. Therefore it is a good rune to call upon during times where one has an art exam, or one has to do a musical recital or sing in front of a crowd, it reminds one that the talent is divine and helps the fears to dissolve. It is also a rune to call upon when bridges are being burnt or people are being surrounded by personal, communal or national intolerance. It is a good charm for those who work with others who have differing opinions (such as people who debate), and is excellent at protecting and keeping awareness of the divine spark within.
Value - M
Numeric Order - 19
Traditionally Represents - Deep Balance. Man and God. Bridging.
Represents - Harmony. Sharing. Cooperation. Left-Brain / Right-Brain. Intuition and Intellect Balanced. Development. Heimdall. Bridges. Mankind. Vine. Spirals.
Joyous man you're dear to your kinsmen;
Do not be grieved at your doom to fail your fellow
Since all gods and man at all times must fail
This vile carrion to the earth committed
Grows the joyous man that is dear to his kinsmen.
- Vilturj Rune Poem.
Mannaz is the personal rune of the god Heimdall, who was also known as Hvitass, Rig and Mannus (hence name of rune). Heimdall was the god who had three children that in turn were the original ancestors of the three different branches of the Germanic people. It is Heimdall who stands between the deities and the humans as the bridge between them. Heimdall is the representation of the 'truth' of the divine in man. Heimdall is the god of bridges, making them, walking them, and understanding their necessity. As such Mannaz itself is a god of connecting two opposing points, and then walking that bridge in balance and harmony, to better understand the deeper nature of ourselves and others.
This is a rune of human development, the deep human development that often leads to great wisdom, access to powers and the inner divine. It is understanding who, what, why, when and how you are, through building bridges within and without the physical body. It is the balancing of intuition with the intellect, the understanding that all wisdom needs to be tempered with joy, humour and respect. The inner understanding of the relationship between divine and man, and how we bridge the gap between is revealed to us in depth when working with Mannaz. If Ehwaz is learning the cooperation and communion between Sleipnir and Odin, Mannaz is understanding its nature and using it to improve ourselves and our surroundings.
Mannaz is the rune of perfection. Not the kind of perfection where a person wants to be foolishly flawless, for no creature alive is flawless in that they make mistakes. It is also not the kind of perfection led by ambition, or by one seeking personal gain only. It is not the rune of a musician who wishes to be the best simply to profit. It is the rune of perfection for the musician who seeks to perfect his songs simply to understand their nature, and the nature of the music, and the nature behind why he plays that music. Mannaz is the motivation to understand and balance, to improve until wisdom and maturity is gained. It is the motivation that encourages one to understand the divine within, how and why it manifests. It is also the motivation that gets the deities interacting with the humans.
Ehwaz is the attainment of trance and the ecstatic trance, Mannaz is learning how to live life in harmony with these other awarenesses. The shaman, the witch, the accomplished druid, Buddhist or Pastor is thought to live non-ordinary lives. They learn how to do this by bridging gaps within themselves that others may never bridge. Mannaz is the force that encourages this bridging. Mannaz tells you to stomp on the bridge, check how strong it is, and add reinforcements if necessary.
Mannaz also represents the human race as a whole, how well communities and countries bridge their gaps, how an 'advanced' western civilisation can connect with the third world civilisations, how the rich connect with the poor, and vice versa, how different religions bridge their gaps, or how they burn those bridges. Mannaz is the force behind seeking to understand other cultures by immersing yourself in that culture, or getting to know someone of a different ethnic background more completely to better understand yourself. This rune will help teach open-mindedness and lateral thinking.
Understandably this rune will also help family relationships. We do not pick the people we grow up with and who gave birth to us or share our blood, but Mannaz can help us to understand our differences and if they cannot be overcome, suggests ways to protect the bridge without tearing it down. I worked with Mannaz to understand my father, and my mother, and realise that though we can have profound differences, we share traits, even traits I dislike.
Mannaz also aids us in finding our own latent talents and abilities, the things which we can do which help us connect to the divine. For me, it is exploring artwork or working with animal spirits and runes, for others it is being a doctor and helping people to heal, making websites to allow for greater connection and understanding, or picking up the rubbish on the street and making the world a cleaner and healthier place for all. Once found, these abilities keep us very human, whilst allowing us to connect with a divinity which we often forget exists.
In a reading the presence of Mannaz can represent the appearance of divine aid, or human aid, and the increase of cooperation by all parties, or significant parties. This will often be influenced by the runes around. If combined with Fehu, business and trade connections will improve, if combined with Teiwaurz relationships with justice and the law will improve, if combined with Berkana, mothering and nurturing relationships will improve (this is just an example of the connections, there are many more.) Mannaz is by and large a positive rune that reminds us that we are all special, we are all divine, and we all in our individual ways can serve ourselves and others in a state of wisdom, and of perfection.
Merk - Mannaz reversed is an unpleasant rune. It represents a time when external and internal bridges are burnt, and no help is forthcoming. A time where intuition and intelligence work against man and mankind, and a time where you learn who your enemies are, and they work to bring about the downfall of an individual, a community or a nation.
Mannaz reversed tends to represent the cunning and slyness of people put to cruel and hurtful use. People are manipulated without realising, or are manipulating others. All actions are coldly calculated and contain no warmth or tolerance. It is the energy of hate crimes and of white supremacy.
Mannaz reversed or Merked can also represent depression as people forget their connections to the divine or stop working with and nurturing the abilities that help them to grow. It is an inner and outer blindness, and a constant awareness of one's mortality and the delusion that one is 'bad', 'evil', 'no good'. It can also be represented by suicidal preoccupation.
In Ritual - Mannaz is excellent for contacting and improving one's own innate abilities. Therefore it is a good rune to call upon during times where one has an art exam, or one has to do a musical recital or sing in front of a crowd, it reminds one that the talent is divine and helps the fears to dissolve. It is also a rune to call upon when bridges are being burnt or people are being surrounded by personal, communal or national intolerance. It is a good charm for those who work with others who have differing opinions (such as people who debate), and is excellent at protecting and keeping awareness of the divine spark within.
