Berkano and Thurisaz – the power and the shadow

As the baby sleeps 12 golden heads stoop over her, whispering sugar-sweet blessings into her tiny ears. She will be perfect, a template princess. Into this scene the thirteenth fairy erupts, disturbing the carefully crafted veneer of royal life. To the princess she offers one thing – escape. A chance to leave the world where she is powerless. To discover herself and journey, for 100 years, into the realms beyond.

There is a very, very real difference between education that teaches us to fit in, and initiation that teaches us how to navigate the world as ourselves.

What if all the ‘good’ fairies were educators – offering the princess Aurora all those palatable, fitting-in gifts that would keep her ‘safe’ in a society that expected her to be the perfect princess? And the bad fairy? Offered the gift of 100 years in the dream-world. Who knows what Aurora got up to there? Who she woke up as? Thurisaz – assertive, powerful, wild and rebellious protection.

Today I pulled the Berkano rune for our Magic in Mind topic. It offers gentle protection and the ability to shape-shift, camouflage and adapt.

I see its shadow form: the fear of a parent who wants their child to be accepted in the world and sets about making them palatable and acceptable. ‘Stop being so sensitive, stop day-dreaming, you need a thicker skin’. At school we are taught to sit still, to strive for the correct answer, to push ourselves to perform even when we don’t want to and, above all, to compare ourselves to other people. There is an ideal shape, external to you – you will be safe when you achieve it.

Your magical self knows different. Knows that the ideal shape is actually the one you are in right now. It knows itself to be much vaster than the five Western senses. Knows itself to be a bridge between reality and dream. Knows that hope, faith, love and joy are forces just as real as gravity – and just as potent. No one set out across an uncharted sea in order to stay safe, no one took a risk, tried something new or travelled the path unknown.

What if protection was not about keeping you safe? What if it was about making space for you to grow? That is the true power of Berkano.

Some questions for you to consider:

• When has Thurisaz offered initiation through rebellion, fierceness and emotion?
• When has Thurisaz offered the shadow side of education – judging, forcing, punishing?
• When has Berkano offered initiation through gentleness, play and making space for you to just be?
• When has Berkano offered the shadow side of education – manipulating, coercing, bribing.
• Who in your life made space for you to grow? Fought for your right to expand?