Berkano means Birch tree to signify growth and is the first tree to recover after a fire. Water will flow, crops will grow and pocketbooks will be full of dough. Everything will take root and eventually bear fruit. Flames of sexual pleasure will burn with passion. This is a fertile time for an open mind and spiritual fulfillment of the soul. The adventurous seed of new beginnings are pregnant and swelling but patience is required to see the eventually results. There will be a necessary time of gestation. The Birch is symbolic of the first moon cycle, signifying new beginnings as well as carries ancient wisdom in its rings and appears forever beautiful and young. The rune is associated to the Empress of the Tarot cards for home, hearth, fertility, nurturing and motherhood. Berkano is the bringer of promises, the new light cloaking dawn and neophyte growth of spring. The past “is what it is” and reminds you to shed emotional baggage because there won’t be room on this trip to bring them along. The rune emphasizes learning from experience. Seeds sowed take time to mature and at the beginning of anything there’s always nascent difficulties that have to be overcome. Do not expect immediately gratification from what you do because the harvest is yet to come.

This is associated to I Ching’s 3 屯 Chun for Difficulty at the Beginning–Nascent Gathering–Water Over Thunder where growth is measured by nutrients and nurturing because both must exist for proper development. Remember, it is not who sows the seeds, but the parent is the one who tends the garden. The Birch is resilient and bends but does not break. On the other hand, femininity is embodied in I Ching’s 2 坤K'un for the Receptive–Acquiescence of Open Flow–Earth Over Earth, which is made up of all female yin lines representing the mystical gateway of woman with the message if used gently the energy will never exhaust. This is a time to perceive and receive in this receptive moment.

The rune is symbolic of new ideas, enterprise & success as well as the cycles of healing for death & rebirth with the idea of womb to tomb. In fact, Nerthus, Norse’s Mother Earth, was not only the overseer of birth but also death, for the soul traveled to her cauldron for rebirth. Birches are one of the first trees to leaf after the winter for new life and second chances. Women were the keeper of secrets, fertility, life and death, and wisdom. The shape of the rune itself represents the protruding breast and stomach of pregnancy. Berkano symbolizes the transformation taking place in the process of creating a being or is the seed of an idea or endeavor that needs gestation time.

However distinctive the Tiwaz male dominated roles of the Vikings played, women were predominantly the seiðr, shaman and soothsayers, with the hallmark of the distaff (seiðstafr) symbolic of her religious role, so not all women were expected to exclusively stir the cauldron for her man. However this rune does exemplify the myriad of distinguished roles women played in their clans as daughter, wife (mistress), mother, and grandmother. Wisdom gained from each succeeding role and relationships evolved. It is the amulet for the beginning of the hardships as a woman to the end of life frailties that need to be overcome to include loneliness. The Dísablót festival held to honor the female ghost spirits, Disir, as well as revere female family members living or dead traditionally offered sacrifices for fertility of the fields and good harvest, peace in the home, protector of children, and care and protection.

Keywords: Birch, Fertility, Femininity, Spirituality, Home & Hearth, Motherhood, Birth & Rebirth, Recovering, Nurturing, Ideas, New Ventures, Healing, Health, Beauty, Enjoyment, Sexual Love, Arousal, Desire

Associated Tarot Cards: Empress, Death, Judgement, Ace of Cups & 7 of Pentacles

Astrological Signs: Cancer & Scorpio

Planets: Venus & Moon

Norse God: Nerthus, Mother Earth, rides her chariot among the people to partake in human affairs as weapons were laid down in her presence. Freya is conceivably her daughter.

Other Spellings: Bairkan, Bercna, Berkana, Berkano & Beroc

Pronunciation: Ber-kaw-noh