The Irminsul and the Task of the Ar-man

The Irminsul or Yggdrasil of Germanic mythology represents the world tree of the northern world. Its trunk provides a pathway and access to the nine worlds which are not only places but states of being. This concept is an extremely ancient one and has its origins in the pre-Germanic Aryan era. A similar tradition existed amongst the Vedic Aryans. The presence of the two systems is surely evidence of their origin in a common Aryan source before the division of the Aryan peoples took place. For several years now as an Associate of the Rune Gild I have been engaging in runic exercises and meditations which have the purpose of releasing the Kundalini serpent power. This exercise is to be found under the sections covering the Yew Working in Edred Thorssons Nine Doors of Midgard. It does take several years to work through the nine doors and I am now most of the way through the bulk of the curriculum. I would like to focus on just two aspects of the Yggdrasil today and that is the presence of the eagle who is perched at the top of the world tree and the serpent or dragon[the terms are interchangeable] who sits at the bottom. The dragon/serpent Nidhoggr[ON-`the one striking full of hatred`] is at enmity with the eagle who is unnamed. The agent of this discord is a squirrel called Ratatoskr[ON-`drill-tooth`] who runs up and down the trunk of the tree conveying messages between the two parties. This on the surface may seem to be a negative and malicious act. However it is a necessary one for Ratatoskr is the means by which the two polar opposites interact and this interaction causes a dynamic flow of energy up and down the tree trunk which should be likened to the spinal column. The dragon/serpent represents the sleeping Kundalini serpent power which lies dormant at the base of the column. It is aroused via the dynamic action of Ratatoskr and this creates energy in the form of friction[via the Nauthiz rune]. This energy may be directed by the initiate into the various wheels/chakras[energy centres] situated along the column. These wheels should be looked upon as being worlds or states of being/consciousness which may be experienced and activated. The ultimate aim of course is to activate the highest energy centre above the crown of the head, termed the Black Sun chakra by Miguel Serrano. As a practitioner of the northern tradition I believe in the concept of a nine not a seven wheel system which accords with the tradition of the nine worlds in Germanic cosmology. Through the regular practice of runic kundalini we achieve a personal awakening but this is something that is gradual and needs to be worked at on an almost day to day basis. This practice is not something that should be openly offered to the profane but reserved for the Sun Initiates which includes the Priests of Wodan. The Ar rune of the Armanen Futhork signifies several things-the primal fire[`Urfyr`], the sun, light, god, and the rune stave represents as a hieroglyph the Aar[eagle][See Das Geheimnis der Runen/The Secret of the Runes-Guido von List].[ One of Wodan`s many by-names is Arnhofdi, meaning `the one with the eagle`s head`[ON]. It is of course the eagle-the Aar which sits at the top of the world tree. It is the function of the Ar-man[the Sun Initiate, Aryan] to achieve this state of supreme awakened consciousness and individuation. There is a close linguistic association between the aar[eagle] and the ar[sun] in Armanism, hence the term Ar-man[Sun Initiate], the Arya or Aryan. This of course is the truer and deeper interpretation of the term.