Tiwaz

The picture

An arrow pointing up. That is the whole picture, and I find it is enough.

An arrow has one direction. It holds its line through the wind, and once it has left the string it is committed. The old story behind this rune is of a god who gave up his hand so that a dangerous thing could be bound and the world kept safe. Whatever you make of the story, the lesson in it is plain. Order costs somebody something. Fairness is paid for.

In ordinary life Tiwaz is the person who tells the truth at the meeting when it would be easier to nod. It is the parent who keeps the promise they made in the car park even though the child has forgotten it. It is the referee, the magistrate, the quiet person at work who everyone trusts to split the bill properly. The picture is of strength with a conscience attached.

I think of it as the straight spine rune, and a straight spine can still bend to pick something up.

When it comes up

When Tiwaz comes up in a draw I read it as a question about where you stand and whether you are willing to say so. Something in your life is asking for a clear position. You may have been keeping the peace by keeping quiet, and the rune is telling you that the peace you are keeping is costing more than you think.

It also speaks of winning, and I want to be careful with that word. Tiwaz is victory earned fairly. It is the result that comes from doing the work, playing by the rules and holding your nerve. If you are hoping for a shortcut, this rune is a polite no. If you have been doing the right thing for a long time and wondering whether anyone noticed, it is a yes, and the result is closer than it looks.

The third thread is sacrifice. Ask yourself what you would need to give up for the thing you want to come right. Sometimes it is time, sometimes money, often it is being liked by everyone. Tiwaz asks you to name the price and decide whether you will pay it. Standing in this rune means choosing the arrow over the shrug.

Reversed

Drawn upside down, the arrow points at the ground, and I read it as the spine going soft. Energy leaks out through arguments that go nowhere, through being right in a way that helps nobody, or through a fight you are in for the wrong reasons. It can also point to a result that has been held up by an unfairness you did not create, and the work there is patience and paperwork, which have none of the glamour of a spear and win more often. Check your motives before your tactics. I read the reversed arrow as a sign that the cause was sound and the method was not, and the method is the easier thing to change.

Across the traditions

In the tarot I put Tiwaz beside Justice, the eleventh card of the Major Arcana, with her sword held upright and her scales level. The sword and the arrow are the same idea, a sharp thing kept in service of balance. That is my own pairing and nothing stronger. The Justice page in The 78 Cards goes further into the card. There is no tree in this picture, so I do not send you to the Ogham for it, though the whole alphabet of the north has the same angular hand, cut across the grain so the lines would hold.

Where in your life are you keeping the peace, and who is actually paying for it?

If you would like this read against your own chart, my readings are here.