Description

Stillness, Cold, Clarity, Frozen, Snow-blind, Winter, Stuck, Static, Hidden, Removal of Energy, Impartial, Slippery, shifting on thin ice

“As we let go of the expansive warmth of fire to the closeness of icy embrace, energy fades to stillness. Winters onset sees the falling energy aligned with the dropping of leaves, revealing structure and the clarity of what supports its own creations.

What once flowed slowed to frozen reflections, a desire for fire to thaw, but a necessity to sit with cold hard mirror of what remains within the ice when everything else is gone.” Words of Duncan White, my Rune Master

When I began this rune it was the end of summer going into Autumn, but it wasn’t till the first frosts of November did I complete it properly. This is another of the challenging runes which I have always struggled with, and the stuck part of Isaz was a battle to overcome. Often when in this rune I feel stuck and miss out on the clarity.

This time round I wanted to explore clarity in Isaz more than in the past and the concept of taking energy out of a situation in order to find clarity and then solutions to situations we find ourselves in life. When everything is shifting and unstable like walking on thin ice, Isaz can remind us to be still, to assess clearly before forging ahead.

The best place on the moor I know where, stillness, and calm clarity is reflected back at me is Haytor quarry pond. This is an artificial pond created when folk stopped quarrying granite for the moor. In it’s current form with the high walls from quarry works all around, it is a wonderfully quiet and sheltered space away from the relentless winds of the high moors, to sit and be at peace.

A small perfectly still pond lies at it’s centre surrounded by an abundance of flora and fauna. Goat Willow grow round the edges of the pond, connecting us to the water which is filled with lillies, dragonfly nymphs and tiddlers. In winter the pond regularly freezes over and the ice works as both a window into the still depths of the pond and a reflection of yourself and sky above. It is the perfect place to hold the essence of Isaz, of Ice – Stillness and clarity.

In the image I have placed an frost giant on a rock island in the middle of the pond. It is leaning over to look into the pond, one hand dipped in connecting it to the ice which both reflects what we are in the world and is a window into our inner self… in the pond the skull covered face becomes a human face, connecting the outer projection of ourselves and our hidden self. Through the connection to the ice the being becomes ice, embracing the still coldness and in turn finding clarity.

“Isaz can be separating as much as it can be connecting. When we separate the fire out of our actions, thoughts, feelings and beliefs the ensuing coldness invites us to connect with our ice core, the place where our clarity resides. Embracing this coldness and slowness can be a journey that reveals parts of us frozen in time or numb, parts that have become stuck or dissociated from the fire we bring to the world.” Duncan White

The ice in the surface of the pond is cracked, emphasising the fragility and rigidity of ice, the way it makes us stop and feel our way carefully, deciding our next step with clear, objective thought.

Isaz is less about endurance and survival as with Hagalaz and Naudiz, but more about our response to the immovable or unchangeable. If you can’t change it, become it. Embrace the clarity of ice, so you can see where you are stuck, or frozen so you can free yourself from the icepack and feed your inner fire and purpose without hindrance.

“Things may not move, shift or change with Isaz, conserve your energy, for its clarity that lays the foundations for when the time is right to apply fire to thaw and create. Isaz calls for more than the impartial observer and clarity, but also the will to participate with focused purposeful energy, like the huntress Skadi.” Duncan White