The Rune Series: NAUTHIZ (Need)
What your deepest Desires have to say about yourself?
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.
The journey across the second Aett continues through the stormy, difficult passage of HAGALAZ, to arrive here at NAUTHIZ, a dark Rune of resistance and necessity. I find it especially interesting to talk to you about this Rune, as emotional need related to trauma has been quite a big part of my life. I think the unconscious really permeated the process of creating the artwork above in my attempt to give visual form to what need felt like.
“Examine your Needs, especially the burning, scorching ones that reside in your heart. Look at them, write them down, then release them. How do you release them?”
NAUTHIZ
Rune Series 10/24
Second Aett: Nauthiz
Meaning: ‘Need’, ‘Necessity’
Associated English letter: N
This is the Rune of resistance, necessity, need and, I’d wager, the duality of desire. It is said that the shape of this Rune recalls two sticks rubbed together in the process of creating a spark for a fire.
“In the history of our species, fire in a controlled state has been a necessary tool, perhaps among the first significant discoveries of the evolving human mind.” (Tyrael, Runesecrets.com)
While KAUNAN points to the meaning of fire as a life-giving tool, NAUTHIZ reminds us of the duality of this elemental force. Fire is not to be trifled with, as its power is both creative and destructive. Throughout human history, mankind has explored this relationship in both aspects: one extreme heats our homes and powers our fancy cars and the other razes our cities to the ground. It seems that there is almost a compulsory need in our spirit for this painful exploration. Muspelheim (the realm of Fire in Norse mythology) is always close.
Similarly, our inner needs often burn with the same fire, painfully scorching our hearts and demanding satisfaction. Despite the pain they bring (or because of it!), needs can be one of the most useful tools for self-knowledge.
Needy Need
In my journey, I have contemplated Need for a very long time. The definition of ‘Need’, or its flavour so to speak, appears to be its compulsory nature. Resisting needs is detrimental and painful; and the mind continuously insists that its needs must be satisfied. We could raise the argument that there are some inherent, natural needs of the human body that simply must be met and failure to meet them results in painful discomfort in the best case, or death in the worst. But then there are those Needs which are Wants disguised as Needs — and how can one tell the difference?
The answer isn’t as simple as pointing to the Ego again. While I do often recommend Ego examination as a method of self-inquiry, things get dicey when emotional needs are involved. Their power is so great that it creates pain, yes, but also movement.
Consider the nature of unresolved trauma, of painful childhood emotional turmoil. An unexamined life allows these traumas to transform (or transmute) into powerful Desires. And these, in turn, direct the flow of our lives because of their energetical pull towards satisfaction. In this context, every decision we make in life has the primary aim of satisfying inherent, and in this case unconscious, desires.
Reflect, for a moment, on your own decisions and choices: why do you want what you want? Why are you going in the direction that you’re going in? What is the nature of this force that is leading you in one direction over another?
Painful Resistance
I used to resist desires.
The spiritually inclined, especially, have a hard time with this, because the overwhelming amount of information that we consume daily usually involves the idea that the Ego has desires, and one must transcend them to transcend the Ego, etc. While all this sounds very nice on paper, to practically embody this requires a strength of spirit that I rarely possess or find. Nowadays, my relationship with desire has changed because the context has shifted. I like to consider Desires as ‘Echoes of the Future’ — yes, quite poetic isn’t it?
This realisation is easier to come by when one shifts the idea that desires are inherently ‘yours’. The mind has an overwhelming tendency to take possession of all its content and label it as ‘mine’. With this comes the projection of value and with value comes attachment, which in turn creates suffering when the object of value disappears.
Without taking compulsive possession of desires, they are allowed to float freely and stick around if they wish, disappear if they don’t, or be satisfied at their own convenience. Within this contextual structure, the will of the Gods is made manifest.
‘My’ Need
Let’s apply the same context to Need. There’s no need to (heh, get it?) transcend or get rid of Need — merely shift its context. Needs aren’t inherently ‘yours’, especially the universally common ones such as: Safety, Love, Validation, Respect, Intimacy, Food, Shelter, etc. We all share them. They are intrinsic part of our human experience and this has always been the case across time. With the relinquishment of authorship, one can begin to have a different relationship with these powerful forces.
Examine your Needs; especially the burning, scorching ones that reside in your heart. Look at them, write them down, then release them. How do you release them? By acknowledging, with humility, that you don’t have any claim to them. They arise in the collective consciousness of all mankind (we could also say that they flow through Midgard, but are not a part of it). Thus, surrender them over to the Gods.
And watch what happens.
Conclusion
NAUTHIZ reminds us that life patterns/loops usually contain some lessons for our souls to learn from. There may be things that continuously and repeatedly keep appearing in your life. Resisting them creates suffering and the process is akin to rubbing two sticks together - friction gives birth to fire.
Sometimes, the bravest thing one can do is surrender to the unknown. Walk through the world of Muspelheim and let its fires reveal yourself to yourself.
Blessings,
Want to stay updated with more explorations of the Unconscious? Keep up with my journey on Instagram.
