DeadEndShrineOnline/runes/18_berkana.html

<title>Berkana</title>
<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Runic_letter_berkanan.svg"><img src="../img/runes/berkana.svg" alt="Berkana rune" title="Berkana rune"></a></p>
<h1>Berkana</h1>

<p>Traditional meaning: birch</p>

<p>Meanings when upright:</p>

<ul>
	<li>a warm reassuring hug from a lover</li>
	<li>new beginnings and opportunities</li>
	<li>conscious manifestation</li>
	<li>pride in one's creations/actions</li>
	<li>relief from pain</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/>
	a gentle impassioned hug from my wife,<br/>
	the promise that soon all will be okay<br/>
	and together we'll build a kinder life.</p>

	<p>Berkana makes things grow,<br/>
	even after the storms have thrown<br/>
	all down<br/>
	in shambles onto the ground.<br/>
	The seedling that blooms after wildfire,<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>
</blockquote>