"The younger man-rune stands for-the active, creating, generating principle, for freedom, development, life-. It is a very frequently used sign and can already be found on stoneage pottery. Very often (also in the rock paintings of southern Sweden) it appears as a shape of a man, with both arms powerfully stretched upwards. In the Elder Futhark it appears to signify here however the phonetic value-z- or r respectively, whilst the actual man-rune (with the phonetic value -m-) has a different shape. Only from the 9th century CE was the above shown sign used as the man-rune.-In folk art this younger man-rune signifies very often the upper part of the tree of life, whilst the roots part is represented by the younger yr-rune." (My translation)
This is very interesting as the Man-rune has a very ancient lineage going back to the Stone Age as do many of our runes and holy signs. It is the act of worship of Germanic man as he stretches out his arms to communicate with his Gods and to receive divine energy streams from them. Here Blachetta also connects the rune to its opposite Yr rune, both being parts of the tree of life, Yggdrasil or the Irminsul. The Wendehorn rune incorporates this principle more fully as a bind rune of both Man and Yr.
Later in his book Blachetta shows the younger Man-rune again as an alternative rune stave when discussing the Futhark:
"The later form of the Man Rune. Its letter value is M. Rune of the Younger Nordic Rune row and today the better known form of the M letter. It is the Rune of the masculine principle and stands for the active, creative producing principle, for freedom, development, life." (My translation)
Regarding its opposite, the Yr Rune Blachetta states:
"The younger Yr-rune stands for the preserving, protecting, receiving principle, for restriction, collection, peace-. It is the upside down Man-rune and signifies the lower part of the tree of life, the roots part. We see here the sign of the I, of the personality-the vertical stroke-resting in Urdbogen (My edit-Urdbogen literally means the bow of Urd, a concept which I will write about in a future article on this blog, the Gods willing!), thus is the place of rest, of the collective (My edit-ie the ancestors) and of death. There is clearly much in this meaning which points to an older Yr-rune, which survives from an Ur-rune (My edit-primaeval rune), which includes a small vertical stroke within itself (see under 'Superfluous Runes'). In contemporary folk custom the younger Yr-rune has been frequently used in obituaries, in order to suggest that the personality of the deceased has not been extinguished through death, but only tarries for a certain time of rest in Ur (My edit-has the sense of the primaeval, time outside of the time-the ancestors) in the collective." (My translation)
The Ur-rune he is referring to is actually the 27th rune of the Northumbrian and Anglo-Saxon Futhorcs. Further on in the book Blachetta emphasises the feminine nature of the Yr rune:
"The younger form of of the Yr Rune. Its letter is y. Rune of the younger Nordic Rune row, indeed there was in later centuries still many other forms of for the y used. The form standing here was however the best known. It is a Rune of the feminine principle and stands for the preserving, protecting. receiving principle. for bonding, collecting, peace." (My translation)
Blachetta here attaches an image of this older Ur-rune which resembles an upside down heart (Herz) with a dot (Punkt) in the centre. Blachetta gives the meaning of Mutterschoss to this symbol which means the womb. Another word for this is Mutterleib. So clearly the Yr-rune represents the feminine principle (weiblichen Prinzips) whilst the Man-rune the masculine principle (maennlichen Prinzips).
The Wendehorn, a mediaeval Rune which does not belong to an historical rune row is interesting because not only does it incorporate both the Man and Yr-runes but whichever way you turn it it remains the same. Wenden is German for 'to turn' or to 'turn over' or 'around'. It is thus a dynamic rune which is in constant movement. We get the sense of this in the life and death aspects of this rune: Arising-Becoming-Passing Away-New Arising. It is the rune of eternal recurrence. It demonstrates that death is not the end but it counsels us to think of the end.
Blachetta has this to say about Wendehorn:
"The Wendehorn is the image of the- fruit-bearing replenishment-of both antithetical principles-thus of freedom and restriction-of unfolding and collection-of life and rest-of generating, creating and receiving, protecting-of man and woman etc. The younger Man-rune and the younger Yr-rune are found to be united here in one sign, that yet restores the image of a tree of life. This sign is called 'Horn', and the sign of the horn stands for ripeness, fullness, strength. The Wendehorn is closely related to the Hagal-rune, the Lilly, the Stuetze (Wotans Krieger's edit-a rune-like symbol slightly resembling the Wendehorn) and the Double Arrow. (Wotans Krieger's edit-a rune-like symbol resembling two Tyr runes on top of each other) In the Nordic country almanac it was, 'of double, the increaser of the earth', which twice had to be signified, if it was hoped that a request be fulfilled (Success of a deed, a work, good harvest, numerous descendants etc.)" (My translation)
Blachetta does not refer to the Calc rune in his book but the very name of this rune as I have discussed in previous articles signifies kalkr, `chalice` which can also be used in a heathen and not just a Christian context. So the word calc and the obvious horn shape of the rune stave make it very clear what it is supposed to represent.
The Wendehorn symbolises the union of opposites and reminds us that millions of years ago in ariosophical lore, prior to the division into gender man was neither male nor female but one. It also signifies to us that life and death are part of a continiuum. It is the bridge between apparent opposites.
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