Tiwaz

“What is higher than the self is the Self become Higher.”

Tiwaz – “Tea-waz” – Literally: “The god, Tyr” – Esoteric: Justice, Sacrifice

Rune of the balance and justice ruled from a higher rationality. The rune of sacrifice of the individual (self) for well-being of the whole (society).

Tiwaz is mentioned in all three rune poems. In the Icelandic and Norwegian poems, the rune is associated with the god Týr.

stanza	translation	comments
Old Norwegian ᛏ Týr er æinendr ása; opt værðr smiðr blása.	Tyr is a one-handed god; often has the smith to blow.	smiðr blása -> To blow on the coal making them hot for metal working
Old Icelandic ᛏ Týr er einhendr áss ok ulfs leifar ok hofa hilmir Mars tiggi.	Tyr = god with one hand and leavings of the wolf and prince of temples.	"Mars tiggi" is a "more or less accurate [Latin gloss]".
Old English ᛏ Tir biþ tacna sum, healdeð trywa wel wiþ æþelingas; a biþ on færylde ofer nihta genipu, næfre swiceþ.	(?) is a (guiding) star; well does it keep faith with princes; it is ever on its course over the mists of night and never fails.	"Fame, honour" is a gloss written alongside the rune. Several interpretations have been offered, typically involving association with the north star, as the words tacna and færyld have astronomical connotations (used for "sign of the zodiac" and "path of a planet", respectively).

Runic Number: 17

Meaning: Tiw, the protector of warriors and mariners, the god of battles and legislation. Courage and compassion.

Translation: The god Tiw.

Gemstone: Coral

Color: Bright Red

Polarity: Male

Element: Air

Gods: Tiw

Astrology correspondence: Libra

Tree: Oak

Plant: Aconite

Psi: spiritual warrior, honour, righteousness

Energy: sovereign order, sacrifice, right decision making

Mundane: the rule of law, fairness, peace keeping

Divinations: faith, loyalty, justice, rationality, self-sacrifice, analysis, victory, honesty, even-handedness; or mental paralysis, over analysis, over-sacrifice, injustice, imbalance, defeat, tyranny.

Governs:
Obtaining just victory and success in battle, litigation or legal matters
Building spiritual will and development of sound judgement
Develops the power of positive self-sacrifice
Develops the “force of faith” in magic and religion

My Notes:

Tiwaz is a warrior rune named after the god Tyr who is the Northern god of law and justice. Tyr is related to the north star in the Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem, around which the fixed stars in the night sky appear to rotate. Ancient seamen used Polaris as their main navigational aid in their long journeys, and the symbol as an arrow pointing upward is perhaps made in reference to this. This symbolizes the positive ordering of the cosmos and humankind through law and justice and our moral compass. Chaos comes to order through the attributes of awakened consciousness and the guiding principles concerned with carrying out such an awakening.

Tyr is a one-handed god with a long history, and his hand was sacrificed to trick the wolf, Fenris, into being chained. Tiwaz is just victory according to the law of accumulated right past action. To rule justly, one is asked to make many self-sacrifices, and Tiwaz can develop the power of positive self-sacrifice and temper over-sacrifice. The belief that courage and a right cause carries the day is governed by Tiwaz. It is the common justice of the people rather than the use of law by tyrants (a word that uses Tyr as a root)

Tiwaz will bring about a correct balancing of the scales so that you are assured a fair hearing and fair decision. Do not be thrown off balance by the chaos of your environment. Like the North star, you must remain true and calm, assert your case with confidence and let the energies of your orlog assisted by the force of Tiwaz bring about a right solution.

Should you need reassurances that there is value in building up positive patterns in advance of emergency, this is the time you will see its greatest manifestation. You have earned the right to a fair and just decision. Tiwaz will be used to bring fair distribution of the earned energies from your ancestral stream.

Tiwaz can be used to bring about a missionary zeal for a righteous cause. The most powerful insight we can draw from Tiwaz is that we must target our energies in the single most correct place, just as the arrow or spear symbolized by the rune must. Call upon Tiwaz for justice.