Eihwaz, the 13th rune, is the yew — Yggdrasil itself, the living bridge between the lower and upper worlds. In the Uthark sequence, it marks the hush between descent and regeneration, the initiatory zone Karlsson describes as a visionary trance: synchronicities cluster, the everyday grows semi-transparent, and psychic awareness travels the spine like sap moving through wood.
Jump to the Eihwaz Rune Tarot Spread
Eihwaz is the rune of spiritual discipline and focused endurance. It teaches steadiness in transformation — the ability to stay rooted while life rearranges itself around you. In the body, it corresponds with the spinal column and the subtle channels through which kundalini rises. In the Tarot, it harmonises with Death (the release), The Hanged Man (the sacrifice) and Judgement (the awakening). The corresponding deity is Ullr.
Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem — Eoh / Eihwaz
“The yew is a tree with rough bark,
hard and fast in the earth, supported by its roots,
a guardian of flame and a joy upon an estate.”
The Descent Between Worlds
Every genuine encounter with Eihwaz begins as a descent. The yew stands at the threshold where the seen and unseen exchange breath — its roots drinking shadow, its crown tasting light. To work with this rune is to feel that same vertical pull within your own spine: instinct and intellect stretched between earth and sky until a channel opens.
In the Uthark current, Eihwaz marks the initiatory midpoint — the place of testing and transformation. It’s here that the soul confronts its own polarity: the mystic who trusts what cannot be proved and the craftsman who must make it intelligible. The tension between those forces is not a flaw; it’s the mechanism through which wisdom becomes communicable.
Eihwaz shows us how to hold that current steady. The rune teaches that endurance and illumination are one motion — the upward draw of the serpent through the tree. Its number, 13, evokes the cyclic mysteries of death and renewal; its deeper vibration hums with the ninefold pattern of the World Tree’s wholeness. The message is simple: to rise, root deeper.
The Eihwaz Rune Tarot Spread below helps translate the rune’s living current into the language of practice — mapping how the flow of daily discipline builds a bridge between what you take in and what you give back. It’s an initiatory spine for modern seekers: practical enough to ground, potent enough to awaken.
Eihwaz Rune Tarot Spread for Spiritual Discipline
- Habitual Input
What you feed your spirit each day — prayer, study, media, self-talk, silence. The soil your consciousness draws from. - Your Foundation
The roots that already hold: disciplines and virtues proven by endurance. What sustains you when the current intensifies. - Where Effort Is Needed
The weak branch or neglected root — a habit, belief, or attitude that drains the current. What needs pruning or renewal so energy can rise? - Your Core Spiritual Gift
The medicine you carry for others. If a difficult card appears, remember Eihwaz’s gifts often hide inside adversity: wisdom is pressure refined into structure. - Habitual Output
The energy you radiate without effort — your living aura, your everyday teaching. What others receive from your presence.
CLICK HERE for a sample reading with the Eihwaz Rune Tarot Spread.
Working with the Current
Before drawing your cards, breathe slowly along the spine and visualise the yew pillar rising from root to crown. After the reading, compare Card 1 and Card 5 — what you take in versus what you emanate. Eihwaz teaches that input and output are one circuit; energy that flows cleanly through becomes light.
Sit with your spine straight, take a few deep breaths and consciously feel the energy circulate. Then look at the cards one more time and journal your findings.
Closing Reflection
Eihwaz is the spiritual backbone. It asks for patience, repetition, and faith in organic timing. Use this spread whenever you sense the need to realign habit with purpose. The lesson is simple and inexhaustible: stand as the yew stands — rooted, centred, alive to both worlds.
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