FEHU

 Personalized Information 

Letter; F Rune Number; 01   1st Ætt Pronounced; fay-hoo GaldR Sound; ffffffffffffffffffff- a constant hissing, like as to crackling of flames. foo, fah, fee, fay, fah Polarity; feminine Element; Fire Colour; red-gold, brown, intense green Flower; lily-of-the-valley Tree/Bush; elder tree, myrtle bush Mineral; amber, carnelian, moss agate, green tourmaline Energies; increase, projection, transference Personification; Nerthus, Freyja, Audhumbla

 Mystical Meanings 

Cattle die, kindred die,
every man true is mortal;
but never the good name will fade,
of one who has done well.
Cattle die, kinsmen die,
thyself also soon will die;
but know I of one never to wither,
the glory of the great deed.

  The basic meaning is/was wealth in the sense of money or currency. Cattle were a measuring of one's wealth. Fee, a payment, comes from this term, as a distribution of wealth. So also does fellowship and friendship equal wealth of another kind. Gold, being one of Freyja's attributes is also associated with Fehu. Sharing or "loaning" cattle to others who then returned the cattle with "interest" in the form of a larger herd or other property was a way of increasing wealth. Those who herded the cattle and kept them safe were thought to have magical powers to call and to protect the cattle. This is money or wealth that comes from one's energy and the use of resources. Since cattle breed, and from cattle come more cattle, it could also represent the concept that 'money makes money.' Cattle were considered suitable for sacrifice, and as offerings at festivals. Audhumla, the primal cow is also represented by Fehu, as it can be a creatively dynamic shaping force. In divination it can represent any of these forces.

Copyright January 1994 by *Susan Granquist All rights reserved.

 Further Understandings 

Adhumla, the white cow with gilded horns
opening the fertile year,
release your vital energies to me.

  Possessing the continual mindfulness of responsibility towards one's own honour, this stave signifies the need for continual cirulation within the personal sphere of megin. Exercise the psychic force to project it out from one. It is better to spread the wealth in whatever form it may take, than to selfishly hoard it away, unused. To achive success one must continually strive for the unatainable. This rune shall always signify monetary fees, negotiable properties, community wealth, movable possessions and material gain, but it also signifies the underlying energies of good luck, simple gratitude, sexual desires and riches, self rule, and conservative nourishment of the will. Fehu is the Fire of Life, by sharing this creativity and fertility which each of us possess, we feed all of creation and thus open an outwardly transendental experience which takes us to new heights. We must ever watch for the negative aspects of this Fire whilst attaining our new perspective such as those of avarice, hatred, envy, greedy tendencies, frustrations, cowardness, strife and the like. A simple rule of thumb for one to follow here is.. As Above So Below. Shall one do something knowing it is wrong, with nothing to gain? Or shall one strive all the harder to set things aright, and thereby expand one's transpersonal realms!

 Ways Of Continuation 

The Runic Tafl Table Of Contents Various Castings

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