Ehwaz means two horses as horses were a sacred animal vital to the Bronze Age cultures. This rune is the counterpart to The Lovers card in the Tarot deck. Ehwaz indicates in step movement that brings along the idea of trust and loyalty of friendship and even marriage. One horse represent a sole warrior while two infers the teamwork for a duality and union of polarities between male and female, and body and soul. This goes down the line of the yin and yang principle that all things that exist are inseparable and contradictory opposites, and this harmonization of balance gives birth to all things. This is a rune of working together for a common goal, but first you must trust yourself that then will lead to harmony, cooperation and teamwork while lack of faith and mistrust in self will create misgivings, doubt and indecision. The first step is the acceptance and achievement of your own personal growth and development to understand thyself or the old idiom to Know Thyself. Awareness is required to realize, accept and understand the value of the changes that are happening inside you for you to connect with your higher self. All growth entails movement and makes you a shapeshifter of changing form into something closer to your omni-omega self; in essence, movement is the vehicle for the soul of personal development between two worlds, earth and sky. This rune symbolizes the ability to know how to correctly attack a problem that jumps into your path. The physical body and spiritual soul is the lynchpins of this rune.
It’s time to optimistically move on with determination. Look around you to gain insight where most effectively you can exert the power of this bestowed movement and pick up the pace towards your goals. This rune can signify gain or loss of ground from the decisions you make. Can you trust what you see and hear; can you trust your mind that interprets them? If you can, you’re graduating to wisdom, which starts answering the question of who are you. If you acquire or have a deep emotional understanding of self, it brings the understanding of others. There are no good or bad emotions. However, the good or bad boils down to how you express your emotions. The key is to know self and know your audience. What you say and do at work is a whole different arena versus how you say and do things at home and in personal relationships. We all have many different roles to play boss or subordinate at work, parent, sibling, friend and lover relations require different hats to be worn which entails different approaches to communication. Choose your word wisely for every situation, person or group. One has to learn control of his or her emotions and channel this energy.
Respect, for personal dignity, is of utmost importance for those involved in a partnership during the exchange of ideas and information, which demonstrates loyalty and reinforces a strong mutual bond. This is a rune of communication, coherency, compatibility, cooperation and collaboration. Any word starting with the prefix co- has a meaning of togetherness and mutuality and prefixes with con- means together or with. This aspect of discerning and presenting good communication increases your ability to climb up the ranks of social circles while fulfilling your obligate to follow certain socially correct methods of communication. The collective idea of the oscillating motion from the “Me” to “We” takes you further than you anticipate up the rungs of all types of social ladders.
The Norse concept of two sides to one person was fetch (fylgja), a spirit guide that accompanies a person in connection to their fate. This guardian rides along in tandem on your journey through life. When seen in dreams or visions, it is the augur of the arrival of important people or events. This is contrary to choosing a totem animal as a guide; fetch reflects the nature of the person it represents as an alter ego (the other I) and could indicate the existence of a double life.
On the other hand, the relationship of the rider and horse can be considered the sacred marriage of harmony of two halves of a whole; each dependent on the other to move forward and progress in life bringing a productive partnership. The harmony is gained through understanding, respect, compromise, flexibility and realism. This is not about the destination but understanding and enjoying the journey. Realistic goals lead you to realistic accomplishments. You have to extend the right energy for your goals to receive the right energy to accomplish them. Movement activated by this rune can be any vehicle of transport or means of travel. Ehwaz activates the energy of destiny. The strength of momentum will cascade you into the right place with the right decisions and words. Negative attitudes and thoughts block you from your personal progress when you only see the microcosm of what you want rather than what cooperatively can be.
The cosmos is encouraging you to get your ducks in a row for new projects before the window of opportunity closes. Purpose requires motion. Life is not a battlefield waiting for the skirmish when it comes to relationships. Negative attitude, lack of faith, and disloyalty obstruct while positive attitude, movement, trust and love assist.
Keywords: Momentum, Duality, Motion, Energy, Force, Direction, Transportation, Vehicle, Journey, Strength, Awareness, Physical & Spiritual Progress, Loyalty, Harmony, Trust, Love, Teamwork, Partnership, Marriage, Sex, Communication, Collaboration, Messages & Controlled Change
Associated Tarot Cards: Lovers, Chariot & Two of Cups
Astrological Signs: Gemini & Libra
Planets: Mercury & Venus
Norse Gods: Twins Frey & Freyja are from the Vanir group of gods of wisdom, fertility, nature, magic and prescience. Masculine Frey is the noblest of the gods controlling rain, sunshine, male virility and prosperity while bestowing peace and pleasure on humans, and his sister, Freyja, oversees the matters of love, sex and beauty. Also representing Ehwaz is Odin’s helping, traveler spirit of an eight-legged horse, Sleipnir, born from the shapeshiting Loki. This creature could walk on water, travel between worlds and implies an inner-self journey with a sense of unity.
Other Spellings: Aihws, Ehol, Ehwar, Eol, Eow, Eykur & Eys
Pronunciation: Ay-wahz