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The Barbelith Elder Futhark library - Kenaz

23:47 / 14.02.02

Kenaz
(proto-germanic: kenaz; Gothic: kusma; Old English: cen; Old Norse: kaun)

Rune index

15:52 / 18.02.02

The Old Norse Rune Poem
Kaun
Ulcer is fatal to children;
death makes a corpse pale.

The Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem
Cen
The torch is known to every living man by its pale, bright flame;
it always burns where princes sit within.

The Icelandic Rune Poem
Ulcer
Disease fatal to children
and painful spot
and abode of mortification.

Another tricky rune perhaps. The Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem holds the meaning that most people angle towards with this rune. It's thought to mean "torch", inspiration, creativity, the fire within the head, vision and maybe prophecy. Talking in tongues. Could relate it to the flame of the Holy Spirit descending upon the apostles. "I have seen the light". The muse strikes bringing creative energy and an outpouring of productivity.

16:39 / 18.02.02

Fever, maybe?

10:02 / 19.02.02

This is one of the ones that seems to have a pretty fuzzy meaning. I've had it come up referring to openings and closings but there are other runes that can refer to those concepts also. The 'torch' concept is a good one to go with: energy harnessed and placed in one pair of hands. To understand the negative connotations of the rune it helps to compare it graphically to both Thurisaz (the upright of the thorn removed) and Uruz (again, a similar shape lacking an upright.) From this we get (uruz) wildness broken to will rather than tamed, and (thurisaz) a destructive energy removed from its original context (a little like the way a vaccine contains crippled disease organisms...) These connotations of energy tamed also relate to Fehu: but whereas there's a sense in fehu of working in harmony with energy, here the energy must be handled carefully and has the potential to burn one's fingers.

Context is all. This is a rune that demands careful attention to right action.

18:35 / 22.02.02

I've seen this referenced to both funeral pyres and fevers, in addition to the more standard meaning of "torch". One thing is consistent, it is a rune of fire.

Kennaz is related to the German kennen, or "to know, to be familiar with." Or in English, to ken something is sometimes used as "to know".

I understand this then as the illuminating aspect of fire, fire as light more than fire as heat. Insight, vision, sight, clarity, truth, understanding.

But as fire, it also represents transformation, as in the funeral pyre, or the transformative nature of fire upon its fuel. Should it fall upon you, you will be transformed by what you have learned, as understanding forever changes the way we look at things. So, it can represent the ability to see, the seeing, and the change caused by what is seen.

22:45 / 24.02.02

For me this is a first chakra rune.

Also, the fire of the ancestors being passed down through the generations. We are holding Kenaz for our descendents. We are the ancestors they will look to for guidance.

I second the feeling of fire as light. Especially for 'third eye' vision.

14:14 / 12.03.02

The meditation and ingestion brings an image of a Kenaz as a pair of compasses.
Mapping out the story of life, providing the cartographic illumination of what lies in the world.

Wah d'ya ken, huh?

translation from Scottish English:
What do you know?

With knowledge comes realisation and emotion, not always happy, but always positive. Learning to take this inforamtion and make good use of it.

Mapping/communicating across the land with signal fires. Lighting up the nights sky.

I acknowledge the depression that knowledge brings to me with regards my current efforts, and the perception of a momnent with one of my sons, gives me the ability to take this knowledge and use it positively. A turning point of awareness. Focus and inspiration

It starts afresh, once the fire has burnt away the old and stifling. New growth can occur and outstrip the previous.

My DNA is my lantern on my journey through my lives.

19:57 / 19.03.02

Prometheus/ Lucifer/ the thief of light from the Gods to man

Always found this one fascinating to say the least.The rune = K/C/Q (kabbala,cabala, quabala...) The 6 th rune, 6 being the number of man. 666? The torch appears three times in our modern alphabet.

In the beginning God(A)
...and said "Let there be(B) light"(c)

c= see

"And God seperated the light from the dark...and this was the first day"(D)

The funniest one I heard was that water itself is light (don't ask...) fitting in with sea.

I'll stop now.

13:07 / 05.04.05

Kensaz, the torch. K is for kindle. The torch may be the spark that becomes a blaze. "Kindle" may also be applied to creatures giving birth; K is also for kinder, children. Babies and sparks. Small things with great potential, new beginnings, new ideas, new life. But they must be nurtured, cared for, fed.

< is an opening. Think of HTML commands. It gives instruction. What do you do now? It tells you.

Feed the fire.