[Vilturj] 22 - Oathola

[moonvoice]

Oathola (Wa - THOW (like 'owe') - la) - Also known as Othala, Othal, Ethel, Odal, Odel, Od

Value - O (as in 'Oh')

Numeric Order - 22

Traditionally Represents - Ancestral Property. Heritage.

Represents - Ancestral Property. Consecration. Preservation. Inheritance. Possessions. Property. Home. Community Dynamics. Heritage. Homeland. Patriotism. Experience. Spiritual and Physical Journeys. Abundance. Increase. Safety. Hawthorn. Ruby. Petrified Wood. Fence Posts. Ancestral Might. Assured Wealth. Teacher. Wanderer. Hrum. Ajckonzi. Boundary.

'The land bound by fences
is good to the family the feeds it
according to custom and ancestry;
it rewards with prosperity.'

- Vilturj Rune Poem

There is a big emphasis within many Norse practices on the importance of heritage and ancestry. It is believed that all we are, is the collected mass of our ancestors, and that each lifetime we add a new flavour to what is essentially, a life-story that never ends. Our children continue it onwards, and their children continue it onwards. It is through us that our ancestors live on, and it is through us that the heartbeats of their homeland live on. It is for this reason (among others) that we must act with humility, respect and deference, to bring honour to our ancestors and ourselves. If we can look back on our lives and be proud of our homeland, the way we have conducted ourselves, and our children, then we have honoured our ancestors and ourselves, and we have lived a full and prosperous life.

Oathola is an important rune, it emphasises all aspects of ancestry and ancestral property. It represents the homeland, the truly sacred place that our physical and spiritual bodies can retire to when we need to recharge and need a safe-haven from which to plan new, greater adventures. Oathola can be imagined as an enclosure with a gate that opens to allow guests to enter, and to bar those who wish us harm or unknowingly do us harm just be being around us.

Oathola indicates to the querent that sacred places at this time, particularly those connected with our ancestors, will become more important and crucial. Sacred places can be a home, a room, or it can be a continent or a country. It might be the pull of a distant homeland on a migrant in a country like Australia or America. It might be the pull of a suburb or estate. Or it might even be encouraging the querent to seek out new sacred places in which to honour and worship to ancestors - to find a new place to home the important memories that bleed into the physical and material realm around us.

More usually, Oathola indicates a place or homeland which is both a 'home' and a place where the querent can really grow. It is the house that gives us freedom. Many people don't tend to associate home-life with freedom, but Oathola indicates that our home and homeland are in a perfect position to give us exactly what we need to grow spiritually into well-being, wealth and prosperity - particularly if we remember to honour our ancestors and cherish our family members.

Oathola can indicate the presence of a teacher either from within or without of the querent. It can also indicate a need to wander in order to seek sacred places, homelands, or places in which to celebrate heritage. People who draw Oathola, particularly with Ehwaz or Raedjaz, may be gripped with wanderlust and a need to travel that cannot be quenched easily. These people may obsessively be looking for a 'place to call home' and a place to be proud of. However be careful, there might also be a dissatisfaction with an available homeland, in which case - depending on surrounding runes - caution must be advised.

This rune indicates the importance of boundary on all levels. It can be material boundary, the presence of adequate fencing around a house, or security screens on windows. It can be physical boundary, the ability of our immune system to fend off illness, and how well we literally look after our skin. It can be emotional boundary, whether we make ourselves available to unhelpful emotional attacks, or whether we are able to experience our emotions safety, without breaching the boundaries of others in the process. In addition, it can be spiritual boundary, the presence of energy shields and protection, or the need to place energy boundaries around ourselves to keep away that which doesn't help us. Oathola asks us to review the boundaries around us, and suggests that we are in an excellent place to renew these boundaries through our actions.

Oathola indicates a time when mysteries and ancestral knowledge will be available to the querent to learn, either from within or without. The safe place in which to learn this knowledge is available, and the presence of Oathola in a reading also suggests the ancestor's themselves are favourable to an acquisition of such philosophical knowledge. It will be a time of learning in relative safety, gently pushing forward the boundaries of our experience and knowledge to increase our ability to nourish our bodies and our spirits. This rune also provides an answer to communities that are seeking order, prosperity, nourishment and health without overly damaging the communities around them.

As well as seeking order and nourishment, Oathola indicates that it's time for the querent to expand upon natural talents. It might be in creative or more structured endeavours, but it is time to learn more about what talents we may have inherited. These may be psychic, or related to art and writing, or in building houses and plumbing. We respect these talents by putting time aside to strengthen and challenge them.

Finally, there is a connection between Oathola and the ancestry related to past lives and past-life encounters. The querent might be experiencing fears or hopes related to past-lives, and talents that are also connected to these, and might - through a careful exploration of this - find a way to control and eliminate the fears and strengthen the talents while remaining safe and protected within the boundary of Oathola.

Merk - Oathola reversed can indicate a complete lack of respect and order for home, homeland, heritage, ancestors and safe place. It can indicate an external person who is coming in and attacking these places and decreasing their spiritual value, or it can indicate an attitude of the querent which is destroying the safety and structure around them.

Oathola Merked can represent a loss of safe place literally, and might be indicated in people who have suffered from forms of abuse, or who have terribly damaged self-esteems. These people may have a poverty of the spirit, or material poverty, and lack a feeling of safety in any endeavour that they undertake. This can affect all aspects of a rune-reading, and can at worst, predict extreme situations like homelessness (watch for couplings with Merked Haurgl), financial poverty (coupled with Merked Fehu) and spiritual/physical slavery. At times this rune can also herald events like assault, theft/fraud, abuse and invasive destruction of boundary through other means like natural disaster or even death (Merked or even upright Iorija).

Oathola Merked can imply a home or community environment which is prone to extreme, unhelpful conservatism and provincialism. It might indicate a family member who is stifled by other family members and/or friends. Or a querent who is being suffocated by their community.

In Ritual - This rune is excellent for raising public awareness on all levels about environmental threats, threats to historical sites and architecture, and community awareness on global and local issues. It can be used to help all of those who wish to foster awareness. It might be a family members who wants to help a family become more aware of the issues that threaten it, or by an environmentalist who wishes to draw more public awareness and attention to threats to the environment or heritage sites.

This rune is excellent for those who wish to create a safe 'place' both physically and spiritually, and is good when coupled with protective runes like Algiz, or runes concerned with justice; like Teiwaurz. It is great for protecting homes, healing centres and places of ritual. It is also good for helping to ensure a safer, or more helpful outcome in general ritual work and spellwork. In helping to establish safe places, this rune can also be excellent for establishing and maintaining all forms of boundary, particularly when combined with Algiz.