Runes and Grief 16: Uruz

Uruz. Aurochs, primal strength, nourishment.

As with Naudhiz, Uruz represents an outer and an inner force. The strength of the primal elements - Audhumla the original bovine who licked the rime and uncovered gods, as well as nourished the first creatures, and our own primal inner strength we would use to pull ourselves free of the ice as soon as we were shaken loose enough.

Grief and we hold these strengths. Grief goes back to our beginnings, and probably before, as other creatures on the earth display the emotion as well. Its roots are longer than civilization. As are the roots of the human race. We have been locked in a battle with Grief since the moment we gained sentience. We are still standing, as a species, though Grief can knock us low for a time.

Sometimes people try to treat Grief as if it is an old fashioned thing, out of date, out of style, unnecessary. They fear it as if it were alien. I think it's the powerfulness that they really fear. Something that can, from within, bring you to your knees is scary. It is a Thurs (jotun, or giant) that is viewed as something to defeat.

However, as with many of the gods, we are a mixture of things, and grief is an essential part of our makeup. Rather than be at war with ourselves, trying to suppress this powerful thing, we should be aware of its role as a balancer. If you have lost something, someone, that vacuum has to be filled honestly. Some try to just rush on to the next person or thing, but that is not a balanced approach. That is not healing.

Healing is walking with your loss, sitting with it, feeling grief as deeply as you felt love for the person or value of the thing when they or it was there with you. Healing can be agonizing. Stitching your heart back together can be excruciating. Learning to live in the new ways necessary is hard, tiring, a struggle. Along the way we become stronger, battle tested, proven, durable.

With that strength we can help others.