Freedom on One’s Own Land
The homestead is cherished
to everyone who
is content when all is well
and that customs are observed
in his home,
sometimes in prosperity
The final preparatory step completing the Third Turn of the Cycle is a withdrawal from worldly affairs to search for life’s meaning.
For this reassessment of values to take place, there must be a a secure place in which no outside influences can distract from the primary goal.
The rune Othila (Odal — Inheritance, Othala — Property, Possessions) symbolizes a personal anchor, the space one retreats into to rest before a decisive leap. The receptive stance of this rune emphasizes its embracing, immersive quality.
The mythological counterpart of this rune is the World Tree Yggdrasil as the cosmic axis opposing Chaos, and Odin as the chief keeper of that Cosmos. The hardships that befall the World Tree, the animals gnawing at its crown and roots, indicate that the individual’s world, like the Cosmos as a whole, needs care and protection, which underscores the need for self-knowledge in the sense of taking stock of one’s abilities and limits, virtues and faults, and, accordingly, the need for complete honesty with oneself, because only by clearly knowing one’s boundaries can those boundaries be effectively protected, and, if needed, transcended.
The separating aspect of the twenty-third rune emphasizes the separation of Home from the World, Cosmos from Chaos, Self from Others. Therefore the idea of Limit, Boundary, Enclosure is extremely important in Othila’s symbolic field. Since Form is of paramount importance in establishing individual distinctiveness, the notion of this characteristic also belongs to Othila’s sphere. It is precisely the crystallization of form, the bringing of the self to its logical limit, that prepares for overcoming that self and the passage beyond the completed cycle. The next necessary condition for establishing ownership is the notion of its continuity, of inheritance; thus Othila includes the idea of the power of ancestors, a chain of events and forces in which each link continues the previous one.
Therefore it is clear that not only possession as a completed fact, but also acquisition as the path to it belong to Othila’s concepts.
Another manifestation of this rune’s powers is the striving toward the Center (that is, a “centripetal” force), which creates the central axis of the universe — whether in the aspect of the Macrocosm or the Microcosm.
The visual correspondence of Othila with Ingwaz indicates that form is the consequence of the development and limitation of generative energy, one aspect of which is the procreation and formation of personal space.
Magical use of Othila included primarily the protection of property, which is why this rune was placed on roof ridges, shutters and fences. Protection of the family and help from ancestors also fall within Othila’s sphere of action. In addition, this rune was used to stimulate memory and gather experience.
Sigrdrifa likely placed this rune among the “Runes of Speech,” indicating its connection with dreams and ideals, innate abilities and talents. The Head of Mímir observed that Othila was used to adorn talismans underscoring its connective aspect.
At the same time, clumsy use of this rune carries the risk of withdrawal into oneself, loss of external ties, ossification and halted development. In this aspect Othila corresponds to the witch Gullveig, who was the cause of the moral decay of the Aesir and their war with the Vanir.
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