Yr, A Thing Of Mysterious And Sacred Significance

When I look at the rune Yr I think of the dynamic force that's present in the tension of the pulled back bow, a force that's barely able to be contained.  I think of the stillness of aim and focus necessary to realize the intended result, hitting the target.  And I'm reminded that the arrow has to be pulled back before being released.  Otherwise it couldn’t go forward.  I honor as well the truth that the bow cannot be pulled back indefitinely.  At some point, the tension must be released.
I see the primal force of the Uruz rune holding within itself the stillness of Isa. 
Yr holds the double message:  the bow can be used skillfully to take life and the bow can be used skillfully to sustain life.  Similar opposites are found in the hunter/hunted aspects of Algiz.
Killing is a necessary part of life on earth.  Death of something must always occur in order for life to continue.  One question the Yr rune might ask you to consider is, what do you need to take aim at and kill in order for you to live?  Another question might be, what is your bow and are you the skilled artisan who made it or has it been crafted by someone else?   Is your relationship with a tool you’ve made yourself different from the relationship you have with a tool crafted by another?
Skadi, the mountain giantess who loves to dwell in places where the snow never melts, embodies this rune.  She can show you the way with her true flying arrow.  She is a huntress and her sacrement of blood on white snow is a thing of mysterious and sacred significance.
She can be cold as ice for she stands for the laws of life that are often considered brutal or unfair by humans but are necessary and vital in order for life to continue on earth.
How might you choose to honor this patroness of winter subsistence activities?  Yr isn’t about hunting as a sport but rather hunting to survive and the sacredness of death.  There are no places on earth where survival is not dependent upon the death of something.  
What can we learn from the Yr rune as it harmonizes with people who kill to live? 
How might working with the life and death energies of Skadi help you find your way?

Yr

(un) familiar Rune Cards

Yr 
remind me
to hold focus
with silent aim
your taut bow
Skadi
releases a true flying arrow
you sustain life by taking life
the taste and smell
of blood
are your sacraments

This original rune poem by Ingrid Kincaid was first published in her limited edition, handmade rune book (un) familiar.

Skadi's longing for the Mountains (1908) by W. G. Collingwood