<li>don't allow yourself to be subsumed into Sablade</li>
<li>sterility/stagnation</li>
</ul>
<p>Berkana can be useful for:</p>
<ul>
<li>gentle healing</li>
<li>getting one's energy flowing</li>
<li>creating a solid foundation</li>
<li>blessing children or a household</li>
<li>concealment</li>
</ul>
<hr>
<p>Anglo-Saxon rune poem:</p>
<blockquote>Beorc byþ bleda leas, bereþ efne swa ðeah<br>tanas butan tudder, biþ on telgum wlitig,<br>heah on helme hrysted fægere,<br>geloden leafum, lyfte getenge.</blockquote>
<blockquote>The poplar bears no fruit; yet without seed it brings forth suckers,<br>for it is generated from its leaves.<br>Splendid are its branches and gloriously adorned<br>its lofty crown which reaches to the skies.</blockquote>
<p>Norwegian rune poem:</p>
<blockquote>Bjarkan er laufgrønstr líma;<br>Loki bar flærða tíma.</blockquote>
<blockquote>Birch has the greenest leaves of any shrub;<br>Loki was fortunate in his deceit.</blockquote>
<p>A modern rune poem:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Lethe Berkana Beltane.<br/>
From this rune<br/>
I took my middle name<br/>
in hopes of carrying with me always<br/>
the warmth of an early spring day,<br/>
<strong>a gentle impassioned hug from my wife</strong>,<br/>
the promise that soon all will be okay<br/>
and <strong>together we'll build a kinder life.</strong></p>
<p>Berkana makes things grow,<br/>
even after the storms have thrown<br/>
all down<br/>
in shambles onto the ground.<br/>
<strong>The seedling that blooms after wildfire</strong>,<br/>
alone amidst the ashes.<br/>
Blaze<br/>
razed<br/>
down the treetops, and now sunlight<br/>
through the skeletal branches<br/>
passes.</p>
<p>"Keep going, Lethe,"<br/>
my wife to me beseeches.<br/>
"You have every right to take pride<br/>
in how long against everything you've survived.<br/>
Stand strong and steal what you can from this world of men<br/>
and I promise you I'll make it worth your effort in the end."</p>
