Saturday, May 29, 2010

May 29, 2010 - Feoh


Feoh

Feoh is the letter F

Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem (from ragweedforge.com)

Wealth is a comfort to all men;
yet must every man bestow it freely,if he wish to gain honour in the sight of the Lord

Feoh, the rune of wealth marks the last day of Saturn in the month of May. It shows that wealth, money and movable valuables may be of influence today, and also how you and others relate to those valuables. Upright, it is generally a more benevolent sign, showing skill in handling wealth, and perhaps also increase or benefit.

Part of the poem itself expresses an interesting concept of how wealth was viewed and treated by older Scandinavian cultures. The line “Yet must every man bestow it freely, if he wish to gain honour in the sigh of the Lord” reminds me of a concept that was much discussed by wealthy people in the US in the turn of the 20th century. This concept, to use the French terminology (which is how I learned it) was called “noblesse oblige” or the obligations of the nobility. As there are no “nobles” in the US, it was the idea of the rich and wealthy, that they have obligations to better society by using their money and resources in a benevolent way. From this is why there are so many buildings named for wealthy donators, like Carnegie Hall or in Los Angeles, Disney Concert Hall and others. They exist because these people and organizations felt that they need to give money to improve their society and community around them, and in doing so, they gain in honour. While this is a concept more tied with Gebo, it also has strong relevance to Feoh, as the rune of Wealth, which is often the unit of exchange.

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