Nauthiz -- Need -- Anytime this Rune comes up in a cast, I think it's appropriate to examine where we are standing in our own way. We interpret it commonly as need, though Nauthiz provokes thought of what holds us back, what little irritation do we complain and fret over, yet we cling to for some unconscious reason. What we say we don't want is often the one thing we refuse to change. In that light, this Rune becomes more about constraint, what holds us back.
Nauthiz is related to the youngest of the Norns, Skuld, who is the keeper of what "should" be, which many interpret as the future. However, wordsmiths among us recognize "should" as a modal auxiliary, indicating that outcomes manifest based on conditions met. In other words, we can set the dominoes up any way we like, and based on our knowledge, skill, and perhaps wisdom, they should fall the way we've planned. Yet there are always variables we can't foresee. The dominoes will fall the way they fall, and we have only to react in the best way that we can.
Keep this relationship between need and fate in mind this week. So often what we think we need is connected to what we think should happen, what we should get. The appearance of Nauthiz isn't suggesting that we will or won't meet our need, but that we be positively certain we can handle what comes. By that I mean, this Rune carries the ability to assist us in finding peace, regardless.
When we meet resistance in fulfilling our needs, do we respond compulsively just to make the tension stop? Do we buckle down and address the core issue? Do we risk the reality of learning that our needs are really wants? How we deal with this kind of stress is the heart of Nauthiz, as in learning to move through that stress, the need is either released or met.
Hold Self carefully this week. Test the confines in the places of strongest resistance and be honest about who's really holding the reins.
Originally published at Intentional Insights.