Modern Contemplation of the Runes: Ansuz

Posted by: Thexalon 7 years, 9 months ago

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Mouth is the chieftain of all speech
mainstay of wisdom, comfort to wise ones,
for every noble earl hope and happiness.

Continuing our series examining modern pagan practice via the Elder Futhark, we move on to the fourth rune, Ansuz. As always, the rune-poem above provides a starting place.

The themes of this rune focus on speech and words, and more specifically the use of words to teach and inspire. This rune also has a specific association with Odin, who among many other roles inspires artful speech including poetry and song. This suggests a modern interpretation centered around the role of performing arts, not so much as entertainment but as divine inspiration and wisdom reforged into something that can be communicated. We can also look at rhetorical technique and its value in making sure ideas stick in the minds of those who encounter them.

Poetry Is Not Just Poetry

The modern image of how poetry fits into our lives often looks a lot like this:

And what we see here is poetry as performance, a single special person divulging their special wisdom on a contemplative crowd. And this is indeed one place poetry has always fit in, from back in the days when the Iliad was chanted from memory to the strum of the lyre. This model of poetry fits wonderfully into a way of thinking where poets are coming not just from human creativity but from a more nebulous inspiration that the arts can only hope to vaguely imply.

But that isn't the only place poetry and artful phrasing can matter. The techniques of poetry find their way into all sorts of other contexts, like:

• Music: "Money, get back / I'm all right Jack keep your hands off of my stack" - Pink Floyd.
• Liturgy: "To all our allies, kindreds of stone and stream, crystal and fertile soil, pools and mighty seas, kins of the earth, we offer you welcome." - Stone Creed Grove's Lughnassadh script
• Theater: "The play's the thing / in which I'll catch the conscience of the king." - William Shakespeare
• Political speech: "And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire / Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York" - Martin Luther King
• Toasts: "'Tis hard to tell which is best / Music, food, drink or rest" - anonymous
• Fiction: "Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so." - Douglas Adams
• Scientific writing: “Man selects only for his own good: Nature only for that of the being which she tends.” - Charles Darwin

In all cases, the purpose is to make the idea more memorable and the writing more formal by choosing to express it with rhythm, rhyme, and metaphor. And this presents a real lesson here: If you wish to give your life meaning, it is not just the ideas you are expressing but the words you are using to express them that will make an impact.

Inspiration, Technique And Discipline

Artistically minded folks often get the question "Where do you get your inspiration?" The problem with this question is that it suggests that getting inspiration is the hard part of making great works of art, when it is in fact incredibly easy to come by. One can find inspiration in life experiences as common as falling in love, lusting after somebody, injuries, illnesses, enjoying the weather, hating the weather, working, listening to birds, or listening to people. Or, if that is not enough, one can look at the news, or other works of art, or even academic research, and get more than enough ideas to start another work of art percolating.

What is actually challenging about the arts is not the inspiration at all, but knowing the technique of how to turn idea into art, and the discipline to both learn and apply the technique. And with writing, there are basically three parts to technique:

1. Learn words. One thing you will notice is that working writers have a much larger vocabulary than an average person, and in particular will have a deep understanding of more words than the average person. This isn't just about dictionary definitions, it is also about context, connotation, phonetics, rhythm and accent. This enables the best writers to pick the perfect word to express their idea rather than the nearly-perfect word. When writers research a topic, part of what they are doing is absorbing the jargon, so that their soldiers speak like soldiers and their farmers speak like farmers.
2. Put words together to form ideas. This involves the correct application of grammar (both proper grammar, and intentionally improper grammar), poetic constructs of formal rhythm (dactyls, anapests, iambs, etc), rhyme, slant rhyme, alliteration, assonance, and overall line of speech. The best writers will construct their sentences so that if you were to speak them they would have a clear cadence of sound.
3. Form and composition. The best writers turn their sentences towards a larger purpose. This has the sentences adding up to coherent paragraphs or stanzas, sections, argument structure, and so forth. This aspect changes quite a bit if instead of writing you are speaking the words - in writing, it is possible for a reader to go back and reference earlier sections, whereas in speeches you want to organize thoughts with more thorough repitition of key points.

All of these ideas can be learned in books and courses. If you wish to improve your writing, it is well worth your time, even if you do not expect to make writing a professional focus.

This Can Help You Speak Too

Writing and speaking do go together, of course, but embracing the power of language can do a great deal for your conversational skills as well. Some specific things to notice:

• Speak when you have something to say. Otherwise, don't.
• Avoid filler words and sounds. Writing is not filled with "umm", "uhh", "like", and so forth. Try not speaking that way: If you can't figure out what to say next, then don't speak and let someone else have a turn.
• Take your pauses at the end of sentences and points, rather than in the middle. In other words, do not sound like William Shatner.
• Have a collection of phrases to draw on that fit nicely together. Some of these might be commonly used, some might be your own invention.
• Organize your speaking. The basic forms for a speech are:
  • Keep it short enough that everyone can remember the whole thing.
  • The basic 3-part structure, where you say what you're about to say first, then say it, then summarize what you just said.
  • The linear structure, where you create a few small hooks at the beginning and turn it into a larger emotional point.
  • Storytelling, where you start at the beginning and go to the end.
• Use fun words that people don't normally hear. That is a great way to grab attention.

Embracing those few basic ideas will help the way you talk, even about everyday life, come across as more interesting and intelligent.

Why This Matters To Pagan Religion

Speaking and writing well may seem like a fairly frivolous exercise. After all, why would you really care, so long as the ideas are good?

But there is real value to this work. As you elevate your technique of communicating, you can express the ideas and inspirations you have more clearly, and thus others can better understand them. And your increasing enlightenment is infectious: It can turn what could be just mindless chatter into a deep exchange of ideas, where philosophy and spirituality and curiosity can be explored and satisfied. It turns the ordinary into the extraordinary. If we as pagans wish to be representing a great intellectual as well as visceral tradition, we should embrace the force of fantastic fluency as represented by the power of Ansuz.

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