“Mind over matter – matter over mind”
Uruz - “Oo – Ruse” – Literally: “Aurochs” – Esoteric: Endurance, Formation, Manifestation
Key Concepts: life force, physical health, courage, organic structure, manifestation, formation, healing, vigor, endurance
Psi: determination, persistence, freedom, courage, will, territoriality, independence
Energy: Vital formative force, archetypal patterning, raw primal power, survival, healing, endurance, manifestation, organic structuring
Mundane: physical health, stamina
Divinations: Strength, constancy, vitality, tenacity, pattern, luck, health, pragmatic knowledge, understanding; or weakness, obsession, misdirected force, inconstancy, sickness, ignorance, uncontrolled rage, insensitivity, brutality
Governs:
Shaping and forcing fortunate circumstances creatively through will and inspiration
Self-healing and maintenance of good mental and physical health
Assertion of home ground, personal space, independence and freedom
Strength and tenacity, courage, persistence against all odds
Ability to control aggression and take responsibility
Rites of passage, especially into adulthood
My notes:
While FEHU is the symbol of a domesticated cattle, and Uruz is a symbol of the wild bovine, a reminder that cattle were once wild creatures. If Fehu represents young lovers, Uruz represents young warriors.
Though Uruz energy is also heavily invested in the hamingja, it is not suited for easy, conscious control as Fehu is. It is the rune of powerful unconscious shaping energies that need to be guided wisely as they manifest. It is an early reminder within the series that the untamed powers of creativity are not without danger – a reality quite clear in our modern technological civilization. It is the user’s skill and practiced techniques that will control the energy unleashed by this rune. It is the rune of independence, asserting oneself and one’s territory.
Life’s persistence and its endless resourcefulness in the task of survival are all implicit within the rune meaning of Uruz, thus it is a rune of manifestation, regeneration and endurance. The organic patterning energy of Uruz laces up the skin, sustains the ego and can be used to protect the psyche from trauma. Self-healing is the energy which pulls a diseased or ill form back toward its ‘primal blueprint’: the original, invisible shape intended by nature’s design.
Uruz is the rune of the inner-King and inner-Queen. We can assert our right to exist and be free in the very same primal authority that the aurochs did theirs. It is the will to live passionate and free.
Uruz is linked to the god Thor and so continues on toward THURISAZ.
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24 Responses to Uruz – Rune Meaning
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[...] I want and need in my life, and decided that Aurox (also know as Ur or Uruz) is the most fitting. This is their description of it. So after much deliberation, I went to good old Enchanted Glyph and [...]
[...] from http://runesecrets.com/rune-meanings/uruz (Also known as: Ur, Uruz) Governs: Shaping and forcing fortunate circumstances creatively through [...]
Mannaz has to do with the self and the journey towards the Self as one with the Divine. Inevitably it must, therefore be linked with spitritual intelligence. On this earth, I think of it as always being conscious of our individual self (needs, desires, actions, outcomes) in relation to the communities in which we live, work, and otherwise interact. In order to achieve this kind of consciousness we must employ all of the various kinds of intelligence to both further our own growth and for the ‘good of the community”
Tyrel and I think that we each have three runes of especial significance to this lifetime, but we are still having discussions about that. One day we will get it clear enough in our minds to write up and post!
Sorry! I was replying – I thought to the comment from Guardian on Mannaz – I’ve reposted my comment there. Tyrell can you delete the misposted one from Uruz??
I have a question but I do not want to be misunderstood.
I would like to understand, apart from the fact that this is the original sequence, why domesticated cattle comes before wild bovine and wealth before raw primal power.
I have heard that one should have a clue of the target before beginning their journey but I feel there is a deeper truth below.
Good question Vanr!
Tyriel – what happened to the additional in-depth article on Fehu? I can’t seem to find it on the site. It might be helpful – can’t altogether rememebr what I said in it though ….
Ok I found it eventually! http://runesecrets.com/rune-meanings/fehu-extended
Absolutely there is deeper meaning – there always is with the runes. I don’t think any of us are doing more than brush the surface of the deep knowledge and wisdom they can potentially reveal to us. But, the comments and questions on this site are a great way to share what we have!
I don’t think the primal cow Audhumla should really be reduced to ‘domesticated cattle’. The female side of primal energy, she is focussed on nurturing the multiverse ( the Aurouch male energy is raw and less focussed, but just as essential to living).
At the same time, the two forces could be said to be so bound together as to be both mutbale and inseperable – which comes first when one cannot be without the other? This is how I also feel about the last two runes Dagaz and Othala.
As well, in a sociological sense, Fehu represents the conditions of life we are born into (wealth or lack of it and related domestic/environmental circumstances). In this sense it must come first for each life cycle. It is also directly connected to Othala as the resting place/ tribal-ken connection joining the generations.
Just a few thoughts to keep our contemplations going …
Every brush brings a new piece of knowledge but is like scratching a Topaz.
Indeed. If a baby was left alone, it could not survive, but it needs some years of protection and guidance in order to acquire all the resources it needs for its journey. Otherwise it could be doomed to misdirection.
Could you please clarify the Dagaz and Othala relation?
Vanr: I’ll try :-) – when I get a few moments (weekend maybe) I’ll post acooment under either Othala or Dagaz – unless Tyriel or someone else cares to do it sooner …
Vanr,
I know there is an order, because the Universe wills it, but the actual order might not be the order we interpret. Perhaps to the ancients the act of putting the domestic before the wild or primal was simply an act of putting what we can control in front of what we cant. Both having the same importance on different levels, one being easier to perceive and grasp.
The goals at journey’s end are often not the dreams the journey was begun with.
Hi! I would really love to know how could Uruz be read in a romantic context. I asked about someone’s feelings towards me, and the answer was Uruz. Is it simply passion? I’d like to have your opinion. Thanks!
It is a very physical rune, and the auroch was apparently a pretty territorial animal. Though it could also be a prompt to you, telling you to have the courage to ask about that someone’s feelings directly, or even to take the matter into your own hands completely. Something to consider!
Something to consider, indeed… Thank you so much for your comment!
[...] Uruz – healing (Pennick) Ansuz – wealth/success via intellectual means (Pennick) Othala – reward through perseverance (Pennick) Dagaz – increase in wealth (Pennick) Gebo – to give Fehu’s sexual energy as a gift (Denali) Raidho – to control and direct Fehu’s sexual energy (Denali) [...]
i was told by one of my family members that the URUZ rune could be used as a safepassage from one relm to the other. Is this true?
I think of this rune as a carrier of pure energy. In that way one could tell that you need to de-materialize before you travel to another realm. Other people meet a layer of water when changing realms and that is connected to Laguz but I suppose both options can be valid.
Hi!
I just read through the Uruz article and accompanying comments, and thought I would throw in my two cents, for what they’re worth.
Regarding the order of Fehu and Uruz, I have thought of them thus: in order to Create–whether it be life, a work of art, or a new idea–one must have the resources in place to bring something new into the Universe. “Wealth” can mean many things, but most germaine to my point is that wealth means security for those who possess it. When someone has wealth, the struggle for survival eases, and attention then focuses on the creative, generative aspects of life. When there is enough food for the tribe to eat, babies are made, questions are asked of the universe, and innovations in society can occur. Likewise, the elements must all be in place before the Universe can create something new, like a stagnant pond full of DNA generating a living organism. In that case, DNA would be the “riches.”
Then comes the will to live, known as Uruz. Once something is created it must take on a life of its own and find its own power, otherwise it will not thrive, nor last long in a competitive world. So Fehu is the accumulation of correct circumstances for creation, and Uruz is the will to live and possess autonomy.
Personally, I have had some lovely meditations using Uruz/Audhumla/root chakra correspondences, and have come to feel that Uruz is about (among other things) bedrock strength and endurance. Uruz can help convince us of our right to exist where and when we do, if that makes any sense. It can help to remind us to nurture ourselves and take care of our own health, to defend ourselves against attacks on our sovereignty, and to “run like the reindeer across frozen snow,” if that’s what we need to do to save ourselves from the wolves at our heels.
Any thoughts? I love this site, by the way.
Rachel
Rachel,
Thank you so much for posting your thoughts on and experiences with Uruz. They have added so much depth to my understanding of this rune and how to use the runes, generally. I am relatively new to the study of runes, so I appreciate hearing thoughts from more experienced users like you. This site is really very nice. Thank you Tyriel as well!
Can u please explain the meaning of the Runes when inverted. I which to learn more of myself through interpeting the Runes. (I am very new to all of this and find it fascinating yet a little scary.)
Thank you
Marion, I highly recommend you join us at http://runesecrets.net … make yourself a profile, and jump right into the many ways in which you can take part in the learning community. This year there will be a free rune course I am organizing, so sign up to the Newsletter as well for more info on that.
My first book “The Book of Rune Secrets” on Amazon might help, but more specifically to your inverted runes question, I will be writing a second book called ‘The Murk-Staves’ this year that thoroughly explores inverted/reversed/murk runes and how to gain insight from them. It will be unique, because rune authors don’t tend to brave such an endeavor.
Stay fascinated — and don’t be scared. These are a great tool for you to look within yourself.
I think perhaps sometimes people need to look at the very basic meaning of the rune and do a little research into it on a mundane level. The aurochs by all accounts was strong beast, which stood its ground and would attack and could kill if harassed-see the Anglo Saxon rune poem. It asserted it’s right to exist and it’s intentions in no uncertain terms. It stood up to six feet at the shoulder,impressive physically to those who saw it. I think it important to get back to the source of the symbol and the mindset and world view of the people who developed the runes- the ancient Norse.
The aurochs also provides us with an important example of the dangers of domestication. We think of Uruz as being associated with wild energy, wild power, and the Aurochs was certainly that. However, despite its exceptional strength and fierceness, it was in fact used as parent stock for the development of modern cattle (the aurochs going extinct around 1600 CE). Fascinatingly, this extinction event was caused in part by its domestication, following which human population increased and people encroached on its territory. Further, diseases brought in with confined (?) domestic cattle resulted in decline of the parent stock to a point at which it was only hunted for sport by the wealthy. The last known animal died in captivity around 1607.
In divination and other magical work, I feel it’s worth keeping these facts in mind. While Uruz is normally associated with ideas like power, it also contains a warning: power must be managed, or it isn’t “safe” to be around. However, if our only focus is safety, we may fail to embrace the very power we seek. Sometimes we need the “wild” part as much as the “power” part.
In magical practice, I use Uruz to project both power and “wildness”. This I find helpful for people who have been so carefully taught to be polite and conform that they can no longer access their own internal wild power, lest they stray outside the lines of social acceptability.
Alas, the aurochs is no more, represented only by pictures, a few skeletons and a small number of preserved drinking horns derived from aurochs bulls. Uruz reminds us that our fate is fluid, just as was that of this wondrous beast, and that unless we embrace our wild power, we may share its fate.
I realize this is a little off the ordinary interpretations, and I would love to hear what others may have to say about it.
Arthur
Hi Arthur and All here
After reading your article I think I somehow got the answer as to why Uruz is not used in Bindrunes because of its unpredictable nature .I used to often wonderwhy this very fertile rune as some say is very rarely used in bind runes.
I’ve always felt that Ur or Uruz not only refers to the wild animal within so to speak, but to Urd, the norns, Earth Mother. The great goddess who in remote times was revered by hunter-gatherer societies worldwide. Contemporary shamans from nations all over the world stress Her importance, because She is the source of all life. Bear in mind that other Indoeuropean tribes that the Anglosaxon families revered the Goddess in het manifestation of a wild animal, like a boar, or a bear. So why not an aurochs. It is the power of Nature, which is wild and untamed, both sustaining and threatening life, as all life dies and is reborn again and again in an endless cycle.