Gulveig, as i was asked.

And your runic astrology.

I was asked about wounds, and the runes call this week, so here is the story I shared:

Gullveig’s Trial

She remembered the first war in the world, when spears bit her flesh and flames consumed her. They burned her body three times, and three times she rose again, scarred but unbroken. Fire had blackened her hair, smoke had scoured her eyes, yet still she stood. Survival itself became her oath, to endure when all would see her destroyed.

They called her Gullveig, Golden Drink, Precious Nectar. A völva of the Vanir, a wand-carrier who bent the skein of fate with her craft. Her blood carried the power that no weapon could forge, and her spells clung to the marrow of those who sought her. Women of cunning welcomed her; men of power feared her.

Word of her reached Odin in Asgard, the High One, who had bartered an eye for wisdom and stolen the mead of poetry with bloodied hands. His hunger for knowledge was endless, but in Gullveig he sensed a power he could not claim. He summoned her, demanding the secrets of her craft. She taught him what could be taught, the weaving of charms, the cadence of incantation. But power is not gift nor lesson. Power is blood.

When she told him so, Odin’s pride twisted to rage. He thrust Gungnir into her, believing her lifeblood would yield its strength. She fell, her dress torn, her blood soaking the floor. He gathered it, hoarding it in a flask as though it could be measured and owned. She rose, fury blazing, her eyes like coals in the dark. He struck her again. And again. Each wound fed his arrogance; each rebirth fed her wrath.

The fire within her burned black and bright. Flames licked from her wounds, her hair turned from gold to soot. She spat curses at the All-Father, her words carrying the weight of blood-oaths broken and bonds betrayed. In that moment she shed her name, for Gullveig had been sacrificed to Odin’s pride. From her rage was born Heiðr, the Bright One, witch and teacher, yet forever marked by betrayal.

She turned her back on Asgard, her steps setting sparks in the grass. She carried her fury into the forests, swearing no oath to the High One. Her scars bore witness to the cost of teaching the arrogant. Her survival was her honour. Her rage, her flame within. And through her defiance, the seeds of war between Æsir and Vanir were sown, a war that would scar gods and shape the fate of worlds.

And now your runic astrology:

Sunday 24th August

At dawn, Sunna (Sun) in Raido/Kenaz (Virgo) forms a trine to Urd (Uranus) in Othala/Dagaz (Gemini). This is the spark of innovation, a rune-song of sudden insight and liberation. The steadiness of Raido’s path is struck by Dagaz’s lightning flash: order and change weave into a new pattern.

Rune-Action: Begin your day with a mindful practice that disrupts routine – walk a different path, write with your non-dominant hand, or speak an intention aloud in a single breath. These small breaks open the wyrd-threads to inspiration.

Monday 25th August

Manni (Moon) enters Gebo/Wunjo (Libra), shifting the heart toward harmony and exchange. Later, Freya (Venus) enters Thurizaz/Ansuz (Leo), igniting desire with a proud, radiant flame. Relationships, art, and longing take on heroic hues.

Rune-Action: Offer a gift today, even if symbolic. Gebo’s law is that balance is restored through exchange. A kind word, a crafted token, or a moment of true listening will unlock joy.

Tuesday 26th August

Odin (Mercury) walks into shadow, conjoining Angrboda (Lilith), stirring wild truths. At the same time, Freya (Venus) meets stern Loki (Saturn) in opposition, and squares Urd (Uranus). Desire wrestles with restraint, and sudden breaks test bonds.

Rune-Action: Do not flinch from the shadow. Write what you cannot say aloud, then burn or bury it as offering. This clears the channels for words that heal rather than wound.

Wednesday 27th August

The wyrd intensifies. Freya (Venus) stands opposed to Njord (Neptune) and Myrmir (Pluto). Dreams and illusions mix with power struggles and hidden hungers. Relationships may feel enchanted one moment, destructive the next.

Rune-Action: Ground yourself. Place bare feet on earth or stone. Whisper Sowilo’s light into your chest. This simple act calls clarity into stormy tides.

Thursday 28th August

Thor (Jupiter) embraces Angrboda (Lilith). The expansion of justice and faith entwines with raw, untamed feminine power. What has been exiled demands space at the table.

Rune-Action: Ask yourself what part of you has been silenced. Speak for it today. Even a whisper can call thunder when it is true.

Friday 29th August

Urd (Uranus) and Njord (Neptune) conjoin in Othala/Dagaz (Gemini). This rare meeting joins rebellion and dream, invention and mysticism. Dagaz marks the dawn, the shift from night to day; the world tilts, and visions of the future arrive.

Rune-Action: Record your dreams or waking insights. They may read as riddles now, but they hold seeds of new wyrd-paths.

Saturday 30th August

Manni (Moon) moves into Hagalaz/Nauthiz (Scorpio), carrying the week into depths of transformation. Emotional truth cannot be avoided. What has cracked or broken under this week’s tests now reveals its necessity.

Rune-Action: Perform a release ritual. Write a burden on a slip of paper and dissolve it in water or flame. Hagalaz clears, Nauthiz shows the need, and you step forward lighter.

The Week’s Thread:

This is a week of upheaval woven with insight. Freya’s journey through trials reveals what love is forged in fire. Sunna’s trine with Urd opens the gate, and Uranus–Njord’s union on Friday seals the vision. By week’s end, Hagalaz carves away what no longer serves.

And your rune oracle reading:

Gullveig, Witch of Fire and Gold (God Card)

Gullveig steps forward first. Burned and reborn, she carries the knowledge that pain reshapes, that hunger for gold and power reveals the soul’s fault lines. Her fire does not destroy aimlessly, it shows what survives the forge. This week her presence is a challenge: stand the heat and claim the wisdom that only trial grants.

Message: Fire proves what endures. Step into it.

Nauthiz, The Need (Rune Card)

Nauthiz arrives like a tightened cord across the chest. It bites, it restricts, and it forces you to name your true hunger. With Gullveig’s flame above it, the lesson is exact: don’t waste energy chasing shadows. What presses hardest is where the wyrd is pointing. That pressure isn’t your enemy; it’s the mark of what matters.

Message: Pressure is a compass. Follow where it bites.

Laguz, The Flow (Rune Card)

Laguz brings water to fire. It doesn’t quench; it carves. Flow is not surrender but endurance in motion. Trust the deep tide beneath appearances. Let instinct guide. Where Gullveig burned and Nauthiz pressed, Laguz washes clean, carrying you toward renewal if you dare to move with it.

Message: Flow shapes stone. Yield and endure.

The Thread of the Week

Gullveig sets the blaze, Nauthiz tightens the knot, Laguz carries the release. Fire, friction, and water. The pattern is simple and relentless: ordeal, truth, movement. You can fight it, or you can step into it with iron in your veins.

The path doesn’t end here.
If today’s runes struck a chord, take the next step: claim your own Runic Star Path reading, a map drawn from the runes and the heavens, made for you alone.

Or put the power in your own hands with the Runic Oracle, 24 cards, 24 doors into wyrd. Cast them, question them, let them answer back.

And if you want to walk deeper still, my books wait for you, guides, grimoires, and companions for the long road. They’re forged to be carried, marked, lived with.

Don’t just read about wyrd. Walk it. Order your Runic Star Path. Draw from the Runic Oracle. Browse the books.

Big love

Rich xxx