Description

Algiz – Sacred space, the divine, protection, the heart of things, the higher self

“Elk – sedge keeps its home most often in the swamps,

it grows in the water, and grimly wounds,

it burns the blood of any man who grasps it.”

(Anglo Saxon Rune Poem – author unknown)

This Anglo Saxon take on Algiz makes so much sense to me, as it talks about how the sedge plant protects with its sharp spiky foliage, just as the Elk’s antlers protect against attack, just as the Algiz rune invoked can protect us and take us to our own sacred safe space.

Both species echo the form of the Algiz rune, whether it be the Elk antlers from the Norse traditions or Sedge blades from the Fens, they have the perfect tool for protection. Due to this protective adaptation other species thrive and the whole ecosystem benefits. A bio diverse environment of teaming life is created and maintained through this connection to divine design.

To me Algiz is not only protection creating a safe space but also the protected space itself. It speaks of the heart of the land, a place where spirit resides, it protects and is protected, a sacred space to connect with the divine where you can step into your power and be the most you can be.

I took some more time than usual to pick a place on the moor which I felt held the energy of this rune. But finally settled on a place I have always felt was the heart of the moor, a place when you enter seems to enfold you and hold you. Every time I have visited this particular little fae woods I have felt a quiet decompression take place inside me.

I chose Whistmans Wood for my Algiz image, as my sacred space where the divine spirit of the land resides. It is a little slip of a woodland found in a coomb, surrounded by the vast rolling open moorlands. When you enter the wood sounds become muffled, the winds drop and the scent of growing green things and buzzing insects fills the air, under the canopy of gnarled old oaks you feel the peace of the place. The wood is full of moss covered boulders, sharp moorland grasses, a myriad of fern species hanging off decaying branches or popping up through roots and stones disguising and hiding dangers. But for all these pokey bits with hidden holes, hard edges and spiky sedges the space feels safe, divine, sacred, a living temple.

In the wood I have included the White stag and the White horse, both animals are sacred animals here on the British Isles.The white stag is the guardian of the forests and is often referred to as ‘White Heart’. The white mare is the symbol of the spirit of the land, she is the first of all kind and blesses the sovereign goddess Epona, revered and honoured by the tribes. Both these animals are protectors of the divine, which is the white dragon winding through the whole woodland with its head nestled on a tree branch, always guarding the heart of the land beneath it.

This is my experience of Algiz and now I can call on it whenever I am in need of my safe, sacred space where I can be me.