Awen, Runes and Projects

It always amazes me that one word can mean so much. The word Awen in its base meaning means inspiration. The Welsh used the word to represent bardic poetry. The Ancient Order of Druids in America’s Celtic Gnostic Church has a Rule of Awen for all their priests. Basically this rule is that you must seek out your soul's purpose in life and fulfill it.

Some see the word as a representation of the sea, land, and sky. That is a classic example another representation of sea, land, and sky is the Triskele. Again another meaning is balance.

One representation of the Triskele

The word is so complex that every source I look too says it means something else. This is a common trait of many celtic symbols. They are open to interpretation.

In all the symbol for Awen is one of a few symbols used to represent Druids in the modern age. It is even the main symbol of arguably one of the biggest groups of Druids the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids.

Awen on my staff

I bring up this symbol because it fits well with what I want to talk about in this post. As many of my readers know I have been out of work for a month because I had appendicitis. This has given me time to think and i've really amped up my study of druidry. This time has also given me time to work on projects that have been sitting on my to-do list for ages. You could say i’ve been inspired. Between starting this blog and the physical projects I am working on I definitely have kept myself busy.

All of my projects have featured representations of the Elder Futhark or Runes. For years I have been interested in the Runes. Recently I bought my first set of Runes eight months ago and my first book on the subject was found about a month ago.

The first of my projects was a little rough going, I am new to pyrography or wood burning so the images I burned were not exact.

My goal for project one, my bracelet was twofold. I wanted a physical representation of the Runes and also a meditation aid. Between talks with my friend James and binge watching the You-tuber Sacred Seed I was inspired to create a bracelet that when un-tethered would be a strand of beads with an Amethyst at the end.

Each bead has 1 rune from the Elder Futhark, so 24 runes in all with the intent being to meditate by intoning the sound of each runic name starting with Fehu and ending with Othalo. I ended the strand with an Amethyst for its help in meditation and Divination which is one of the main uses for the runes. My strand is knotted after each bead so that as I pass the bracelet through my hand when I meditate the beads will not wear down the cord it is on. Also it prevents me losing all of the beads if the cord does break. I want to make a better bracelet at a later date when I get lighter beads to use but for now I have my homemade craft thats a representation of me.

My second project was a much simpler one and actually more of a practice piece for my final project. I am in the process of creating a Wheel of the Year wall hanging. The Wheel of the Year for anyone that does not know is the cycle of our planet basically the seasons. Its also a representation of the Eight holidays most pagans celebrate. The names change depending on which path you follow but you have the Spring and Fall Equinox's and also the Summer and Winter Solstice. The other four "lesser" holidays names change often too. I will go more in depth on the Wheel of the Year in the next post.

An incomplete wheel of the year

My last project is my masterpiece at the moment. My Druids Staff, the staff is used for three things. The first use is to store energy as you work magic in rituals. The second use is to direct energy as you cast circles and sigils. The third use is more mundane but one of its best features, it makes a great walking stick. I am about half done with the design of the staff, I could have made it simple but I wanted to make it mine.

The first step in creating a staff is of course get the wood so we found a large stick its half of a downed sapling, my friend used the other half. Waste not my friends. Next we got down to business and peeled the bark from the sticks. This step was super easy as the bark fell off as we peeled.

It took about three days to dry maybe a little less. This time frame was surprising because some types of wood take up to six months to be completely dry.

After drying I sanded the staff down multiple times. Around the same time I started practicing some designs on some other mediums like the Wheel of the Year board and another small stick taken from the same sapling.

The step I am currently on is putting designs and symbols on the staff. I have used the symbol for Awen and a Triskele to adorn the staff also four Bindrunes along with the Elder Futhark runes in a band near the top.

Be open to Communication 

Pathfinding Bindrune

Journey Protection

Spirit Self Rune

After we burned the Bindrunes Tim and I got the idea to burn a vine and leaves into the staff. This was a grueling process but so worth it. Last but not least I rounded off the top and the bottom of the staff to prevent splitting. Rounding the ends was horrible and so hard but absolutely worth it. We have two more steps that will be done in the next week or so. The first step is to seal the staff, we plan on using boiled linseed oil. This should help protect the wood from the weather and other elements. The last step will be to add a hand rest for when I hike which I plan on using leather strips and binding them together. Also I plan on attaching feathers along with beads and possibly representations of the elements as I go. 

                                            

Let your inspiration flow my friends,

Cody