Raidho -- travel -- Finally, some movement! For a while, now, The Weekly Rune has instructed us to be still, assess, and formulate. This week's advent of Raidho says we can take all of that intel and do something with it.
I always love finding Raidho in a cast, because it draws on my favorite things: words, travel, and the interconnection of All Things. In short, Raidho indicates how we tell our story.
In a very literal context, this stave means a journey between two points. It emphasizes the mode of transportation involved, movement across space and time, and everything that occurs between origin and destination. In other words, it's all about plot and conflict (as in what a character must overcome).
I think the best way to understand Raidho comes from examining it within the context of the first aett. The journey of the Runes in the first aett is about inspiration becoming form for the first time; thus, it emphasizes the realization of self-empowerment through connection with All Things. The stave before Raidho is Ansuz, often interpreted as "mouth," or "breath." Breath, itself, is empowering as life force, though with the breath our power to manifest begins With Ansuz we begin ascribing words to concepts. We begin the murky examination of the thing versus the name we give it. Likewise, we become aware that as we build the language of our formed experience, someone is listening.
Following Raidho is Kenaz, torch, presenting the complex experience of sudden awareness, the spark that ignites, the Aha! moment. It is the moment that meaning has been derived from our experience.
With that fuller understanding in mind, let's revisit Raidho.
Inspiration + Storytelling = Meaning
Ansuz + Raidho = Kenaz
This is a bit oversimplified, but it conveys well. Raidho clarifies the importance of holding focus over duration, over life's journey, associating a starting point and result with every choice, decision, thought, and deed committed along the way.
The questions that arise as this midpoint of our journey are: Are we upholding our original intention? Is our original intention still appropriate to our desires? Given the last month+ of refocusing and calculating, I'd say the latter is more the question than the former. Having done the math, does it still add up to what you wanted it to when you set your goals, are or you forcing an outcome out of habit?
We're told all the time how life isn't about the outcome, but the journey.
I'm pretty sure Raidho says it's about a delicate balance of both.