The Sowilo rune

Sound «С», image: sun.

Meaning of the Sowilo rune

The sun: victory, strength, light, health. Sowilo is clean success and the will that pushes through cloud. One of the brightest runes in the row, and the answer it gives is yes, this will work out. Steep ground stays steep, and you have both the strength to cross it and enough light to see where you are putting your feet.

The shadow side

Sowilo is symmetrical, so turning it leaves the same sign and there is no reversed position. Every force still has its dark edge. This rune does not reverse, the sun shines the same from every side. In a difficult surrounding its shadow is light turned too strong: burning out, going blind on your own good fortune, spending yourself down to nothing on a victory that was already yours.

Sowilo in a spread

If it comes up upright, read it by the meaning above. You cannot turn it, the sign is symmetrical, so here the neighbours matter: which runes fall beside it and where they lean. 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.

Sowilo as a talisman

Sunlit Sowilo is charged for victory and light. As a talisman it draws success, health and the will that breaks through any cloud. As a charm it scatters darkness, low spirits and helplessness, bringing warmth back where it went out. Worn for luck in a big undertaking, and handled with measure, since the sun burns too.

FAQ

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

Runes do not split into good ones and bad ones. Sowilo speaks of sun, 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.

Does the Sowilo rune have a reversed meaning?

No. Sowilo is symmetrical, so turning it leaves the same sign. Every force still has its dark edge though, and the shadow side of Sowilo is explained above.

Which aett does Sowilo belong to?

The aett of Heimdall, 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