The Rune Series: JERA (Year)
The Cycle flows eternal
The Runes of this series belong to the Elder Futhark, one of the oldest alphabets in recorded history. Each Rune has endless interpretations and deep meanings; while their origin and/or intent is lost to history, most interpretations come from the ‘Rune Poems’, possibly written around the 8th century. This series will explore the Runes through a personal journey and interpretation of them, alongside knowledge collected from written works, such as ‘The Book of Runes’ (R.Blum, 1982), and the intricately crafted website ‘Runesecrets.com’ by Tyrael.
Greetings Dear Reader,
Welcome back to the Rune Series where we look at the ancient Runes through a psychological, practical, spiritual and philosophical lens.
I think all artists have a few works they’re not proud of. Maybe even feel slightly ashamed of. Jera ended up being, digitally at least, something like that for me. I feel the above artwork didn’t quite manage to capture its essence, at least not as well as the rest of this series. Still, it was a step on the path.
JERA
Rune Series 12/24
Second Aett: Jera
Meaning: ‘Year’
Associated English letter: Y
This is the Rune of the great cycles of time. Practically, it is the Rune of harvest and so it follows ISA as spring follows winter. However I’d argue this is not the Rune of Spring or rebirth, as that position is taken by BERKANO. Instead, Jera is our reminder that everything, including the universe itself, flows in circles.
Notice that Jera’s position in the Runic cycle is right in the middle as the twelfth Rune. Given its somewhat circular meaning, it could encompass both what came before and what comes after.
The Great Cycles
The Yugas
Hindu ancient sources tell that our world evolves in great cycles; enormous periods of time that defy any comprehension. In each cycle there are four smaller cycles of time, called Yugas. These are known as Krita, Treta, Dvapara and Kali. This final one is, of course, the name of the Hindu deity of destruction and death and it’s also, apparently, the one we live in now. The Kali Yuga, the worst one.
If calculations are to be believed, then as of the current year of 2024, this cycle of absolute misery is meant to last for another 426,875 years. Can you even comprehend that number?
According to this ancient piece of knowledge then, well, we’re in a pickle, aren’t we? Just our luck that we landed at the lowest point in the age of the universe. It, quite literally, could not get any worse. I suppose it’s only upwards from here.
But the concept of the Yugas can also be applied to our own micro-lives. As above, so below — and so, our own life is in itself a cycle. From the very fact that each day is followed by night (a period of darkness), so each birth is followed by death. Birth, growth, death and rebirth. In-flow and out-flow. This is the idea of infinity and, likely, the inescapable fate of linear time itself.
Ragnarök
Since these are Norse Runes, it’s probably better to return to the northern myth. Ragnarök (the ‘Twilight of the Gods’) is the foretold ultimate disaster, the death of the Gods and the collapse of our world. A series of natural disasters will burn, then plunge the world of Midgard underwater.
However, that’s not the end.
As cycles are eternal, the world will be reborn into the next one, with a few surviving Gods as well as a human couple to re-populate it. While our sources of the myth stop there, it can be assumed that, eventually, another Ragnarök will occur once more, and so on.
It’s interesting to note that a decline of virtues and morality are expected from both Ragnarök and the Kali Yuga. It seems that, the closer we get to the end, the more subject we become to moral decay. This may be represented by the great wolf ‘Fenrir’ devouring Odin during the final battle. The wolf could represent the bestial nature of mankind devouring all wisdom and all possible vision for the future (represented by the figure of Odin). And so, ultimately the Gods fail and the cosmos is returned to a state of chaos. In the terms I’ve used in this series so far, it can be said that the cycle brings all things back to the primordial Unconscious, despite the efforts and wars of the Aesir.
On a smaller scale, you do exactly all this everyday as your awareness fights its daily battles then falls into the unconsciousness of sleep at night and returns again the next day. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that we’re wired to sleep during darkness and be awake during daylight.
How to use Jera
What does all this mean, practically?
It’s useful to talk a little bit about the illusory nature of linear time. Some say that the mind actually projects its own sequential processing of reality upon it, thus literally creating time. If you really think about it, time is the calculation and practical definition of cyclical, shifting phenomena. There is no time outside of our understanding of it, but by now it has become so subconscious that it has come to rule us. Of course, given the practical nature of our lives in a cultural and social system, the concept of time is not only useful — it’s fundamental.
However there are situations when it can become so constrictive that its onslaught causes the mind to react with anxiety and fear. How many people you know who, no matter what or how much they do, always seem to run out of time?
This Rune can be your reminder that time is both running out and running in. There is no end to this. Every ending announces a new beginning. The cycle flows eternal in each day followed by night, in each life followed by death and in the emergence and destruction of each universe.
And so, you can’t run out of time because you’ve always been running right into it.
Blessings,
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