The Berkano rune

Sound «Б», image: birch, growth.

Meaning of the Berkano rune

The birch: growth, birth, the feminine, home and family. Berkano is what grows quietly and gathers strength - a child, an idea, a relationship. Look after the shoot and it will rise. Nothing here wants forcing. It wants shelter and time, and it is already further along than it looks from outside.

Berkano reversed

Growth has stalled: friction at home, a plan that will not take root, worry about the people closest to you. Something is keeping it from ripening. Berkano reversed usually points at the conditions around the shoot, so look at what is crowding it before you give up on the thing itself.

Berkano in a spread

If it comes up upright, read it by the meaning above. If it falls upside down, read the reversed meaning: the rune's force goes backwards or turns harmful. A single rune gives you the leaning, and for an answer with a thread through it you draw three: what is behind, what is now, what comes ahead.

Berkano as a talisman

Berkano is kept for home and family, the rune of the birch, of growth and of birth. As a talisman it draws a soft steady strength, health for those close to you and the quiet growth of everything that has taken root. As a charm it guards the hearth, pregnancy and small children. Given to expectant mothers, hung by the cradle.

FAQ

Is the Berkano rune a good sign or a bad one?

Runes do not split into good ones and bad ones. Berkano speaks of birch, growth, and in a spread it hints at where the force is leaning. It is no final sentence, and a lot depends on which runes fall beside it.

What does the Berkano rune mean reversed?

When Berkano falls upside down its force turns around and either goes backwards or does harm. The reversed meaning is spelled out above.

Which aett does Berkano belong to?

The aett of Tyr, one of the three groups of the Elder Futhark, eight runes each. The aett tells you which octave the rune sits in and which runes it neighbours.

The rune said its piece in short. The arcana tell it more slowly.

✦ The Major Arcana