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“Ice only appears to stop a river’s flow.”
Isa - “Iss-ah” - Literally: “Ice” - Esoteric: Stasis, Stillness
Rune of concentration of things in a static or frozen state. Rune of stillness and the Ego-Self.
Psi: mental faculties, focus, ego
Energy: stillness, contraction, stasis
Mundane: cold, self-preservation, harsh reality
Divinations: Concentrated self, ego-consciousness, self-control, unity of being; or egomania, dullness, blindness, dissipation, immobility, self-centeredness, lack of change, psychopathy.
Governs:
Development of concentration, will and focus
Constriction, halting of unwanted dynamic forces as an act of self-defense
Basic ego integration within a balanced multiversal system
Power of control and constraint over other wights (entities).
Control of emotional outbursts of those around you
Focus of the will into single-minded action
Personal survival through concentrated effort
My Notes:
Ice is beautiful and treacherous. It lulls the traveler to sleep with its peace and serenity. Nice locks life under its surface and keeps it motionless. However, there is little else as powerful as the slow moving glacier, which can tear apart even the bedrock as it inches forward. Although ice generally shows itself as it is, with little glamour, there is little so treacherous as a weak spot in the ice that will swallow the unwary with surprising swiftness, and soon enough leave hardly a trace. The hidden part of an iceberg, which represents 90% of its bulk, can remain hidden and gut a ship with little mercy. This is how the ancients saw ice: inimical, even hostile to life. Therefore this third rune of the second aett is yet another rune that represents an aspect of the harshness of reality.
In its ultimate meaning ice is antimatter, for without motion matter would simply disintegrate. In the most elementary dynamic, Isa is a building block of the physical world, slowing down fire energy and solidifying it.
Isa is a rune of control. The ego-self is the force that harmonizes and brings under control all the psycho-spiritual constructs that make up your Beingness, as well as any other transpersonal cosmic energies that run through your psyche. As your ego-self grows in strength through spiritual thinking and training, this construct matures into the individualized YOU (or the ‘I’) and eventually evolves into the perfected human, a unique and new supra-consciousness on the planet.
There is a dark side to this enhancement of ego as you can see by the dark side of Isa. When not kept under control, the ego-self can take a path into ego-trips of self-aggrandizement, superficial desire and the glitter of false trappings instead of spiritual substance. Isa is aligned with unyielding enigma, so those who claim to know with too much certainty: beware!
Isa will control and quiet emotional distress, but be wary! It will not eliminate any persistent root cause of unpleasant circumstance. The temporary relief from pressure will fade again after the ice ‘thaws’. Invokation of isa can also be used to wet-blanket emotional outbursts in those around you, extending stillness into your aura. Well trained, this can be used against negative entities encountered in psychic experience, dreams, or astral travel.
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You can leave your comments on what you just read using the box below. I always try to reply within 24 hours. Your insights become a permanent part of this article!



October 14th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
If possible could you please provide further insight to this Rune?
Recently, I received this Rune. I have been struggling with spirituality and self-healing through honest self-awareness.
It was a little scary reading something that was so accurrate!!!
Thank you,
S.A.M.
October 14th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
Thanks for commenting, S.A.M. I’ll see what I can add, as soon as I have time. If you have any specific questions, those would be helpful in compiling a response, and your specific contribution would undoubtedly help future visitors.
Isa represents the ‘ice’ blocks which stop movement from occurring. Isa can be positive and hold promise that those blocks are about to break up. With Isa, change comes from very deep within, just like a glacier, and its slow force is irresistible.
Isa, on the second row or aiett, especially the first three runes, Hagalaz, Nauthiz and Isa (but also the fourth, if you think about it a little, Jera) strongly symbolize our individual helplessness to the more inimical, ultimately uncontrollable aspects of the universe. As healing runes, they all send us toward contemplations of surrender and acceptance of what truly is beyond our ability to influence.
I have found that we can spend a tremendous amount of energy, often unconsciously, on trying to change things that we have no power to change. We regret our fixed past, and worry about our unknown future. We don’t always yield to stark realities. In this way, energy is diverted from healing and awareness, where it might be useful, and is wasted.
This is one of the lessons of Orlog — the cosmic laws outside the influence of humankind — and how it differs from the magic/psychology of Wyrd, our more individual freedom within the greater weave of all things.
If you’ve more questions, do not hesitate at all to come back and ask them!
-Tyriel
April 22nd, 2009 at 5:26 am
[...] ourselves. Algiz lifts us away from the limiting egocentricity which comes part and parcel with ISA’s rune [...]