December 19 - 25, 2010 - Jera

Jera

Jera is the letter J

Anglo-Saxon rune poem (from ragweedforge.com)

Summer is a joy to men, when God, the holy King of Heaven,
suffers the earth to bring forth shining fruitsfor rich and poor alike

Jera, Year or Summer, is the rune of time, patience, the reaping and sowing of ones labors. It is a perfect sign for this week with the Winter Solstice on December 21 along with a lunar eclipse combining with the changing season. Forces are going out, new forces are coming in. In Wiccan lore, this is the time when the Child of Light returns, the reborn Sun, after the longest night. With his birth the days will start to become longer. Even though we are still operating in the dark time and in Northern Europe folk lore, it was still the dark season when the dead are still close whether for good or evil. But the seasons turn, the wheel turns, and we move forward with our lives.

The lunar eclipse is a fun phenomenon, although in most European lore, whether from Northern Europe or Mediterranean traditions, the eclipses were ill omens, although in astrology, the eclipse around the Northern Node of the Moon, otherwise known as the head of the Dragon, was considered fortunate. However, this lunar eclipse is with the southern node, or the dragon’s tail, and is considered a malefic point. Although, when it comes to the malefic virtues of astrology, they are often evil with good (ie bad results to those things people desire in life) and good with evil (they also diminish the bad things as well, making them not so bad). At the Strategic Sorcery blog, Jason Miller shares that in Tibetan view, eclipses are a time when the actions who take become more powerful, a 1000 times for lunar eclipses, and 10000 times for solar. So, keep in mind what you do while the eclipse happens, even if you cannot see it (such as me, as my skies are filled with rain clouds).