Warrior
Teiwaz
This is the Rune of the Spiritual Warrior. Always the battle for the Spiritual Warrior is with the self. Funding a ill through action yet unattached to outcomes, able to be radically alone, remaining mindful that all you can really do is stay out of your own way and let the will of Heaven flow through you – these are among the hallmarks of the Spiritual Warrior.
Embodied in this Rune is the energy of discrimination, the swordlike quality that enables you to cut away the old, the dead, the extraneous. And yet, with Teiwaz comes certain knowledge that the universe always has the first move. Patience is the virtue of this Rune, and it recalls the words of Saint Augustine that the reward of patience is patience.
Here you are asked to look within, to delve down to the foundations of your life itself. Only in so doing can you hope to deal with the deepest needs of your nature and to tap into your most profound resources. The moulding of character is at issue when Teiwaz appears n your spread.
Associated with this Rune are the sun, masculine energy, the active principle. The urge toward conquest is prominent here, especially self-conquest, which is a lifelong pursuit and calls for awareness, single-mindedness and the willingness to undergo your passage with compassion and in total trust.
In issues of relationship, devotion to a cause, and idea or path of conduct, the Warrior Rune counsels perseverance, although at times the kind of perseverance required is patience.
Teiwaz is a Rune of courage and dedication. In ancient times it was this glyph that warriors painted on their shields before battle. Now the same symbol strengthens your resolve in the struggle with the self with self.
Reversed
The danger is that through hasty or ill-timed action, energy leaks out or is spilled away. If an association is short lived, do not grieve, but know that it has fulfilled it’s span. Matters of trust and confidence are at issue here, and with them the authenticity of you way of going through the world.
Reversed, Teiwaz calls for examining your motives. Is it self-conquest with which you are concerned, or are you trying to dominate another? Are you lusting after outcomes, or are you focused on the task for it’s own sake?
You will find the answers within yourself, not in outside advice, When you consult the Runes, you are consulting the self. This is the action proper to a Spiritual warrior.
From 'The New Book of Runes' by Ralph Blum
