Waterfalls, Runes, and Asatru in Nature

Hail, all!

Once you take up Asatru, it permeates all your experience. A walk in nature becomes a study in spirituality.

Recently, Sheila and I walked along the shore of Emerald Bay, high in the Sierras, watching the osprey soar overhead as they circled their nests. Their call echoed through the tall trees. The weather was warm and the trail not short - but the waterfall at the head of the bay was truly something to be experienced. The roar made your whole body vibrate. Mist filled the air and dampened your clothes. It was a place of power, not merely the mechanical energy of falling water dashing against stone, but other energies - more subtle, but no less powerful in their realm.

Laguz is the rune of water. Usually this is understood as a body of water, a lake or pond or even the waters that flow to and from life. Laguz is the salty sea of amniotic fluid that brings us to Midgard, and the dark waters that carries the ship of the dead to the Otheworld. But on this occasion, on the shores of Emerald Bay, laguz was the waterfall, roaring with the power of mighty Gods, wakening those parts of us that may have fallen asleep. Look at the stave of the rune itself; you can see it as the falling water.

Experience nature. Experience the Gods. Do not "think about" them or project your own images and definitions onto them. Let them speak for themselves. Get off the road, get out of your car, get away from the clamor of your fellow man! Feel the world. This is the way of Asatru.

Steve McNallen

Asatru Folk Assembly
http://runestone.org