JERA

JERA

JERA (pronounced "yehr-ah")

JERA is the word for year or harvest, and the letter J. It is the 12th rune in the set. It is associated with Freya and Freyja.

Traditional interpretations of JERA: success, harvest, reward, good year, gain, profit, fertility, and justice.

JERA is the harvest and the sowing of the seeds. It is the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. JERA is the year, with all the seasons and changes.  I like to think of JERA in a few odd ways. Notice the resemblance to the yin-yang. Dark; light, masculinity; femininity, life; death, night and day. These are two opposite forces are coming together. JERA resembles two scythes, as well, reminding us of the harvest once more. JERA is a rune of reward, yes- but it also tells us that we must work first to fully enjoy the bounties of our harvest. Before the feast, we must harvest the crops.

We associate the word "harvest" with bounty, prosperity, gain, and feasting. But what we forget is that those things are the outcome of the harvest. They are what we get to enjoy after we work to collect the crops, not the harvest itself. The harvest is work, but it pays off in the end with celebrations, feasting, and enough food to last until the next harvest. The harvest allows us to live, to survive, and to thrive. We exit a period of time where our food is running out, and enter a time of plenty and feasts.

JERA is also a rune of justice and legal matters. As it resembles a scale, it brings balance into our lives.

JERA can hint at past investments paying off, or, in the less monetary sense, someone/something from your past once again entering your life and bringing you fulfillment and joy.

JERA, like the land we sow and reap, must replenish itself. In order to restore fertility the land must "recharge" for a time. JERA may signify that you need to take some time for yourself before throwing your self back into your work full force.

When crops are harvested they are stored and rationed, in order to insure that you are properly prepared for the coming winter. Hard times may be ahead, but so long as you prepare yourself, you will have no trouble. This may signify that you should conserve your monitory resources, or that your talents may soon become very useful.

JERA is both masculine and feminine. It embodies fertility; of a man, of a woman, of your mind, of your investments, and of the land.

When interpreting JERA it is important to remember that what you sow is what you reap. You must put effort into your endeavors and work to succeed. Look at the surrounding runes. Where are they in relation to JERA? Do they entail success or failure? What energies can you sense from JERA at this time and in this context? Look around JERA, do the runes surrounding it tell of monetary gain/loss? Do they hint at partnership and relationships? JERA is usually a positive rune, as it has no reverse, unless its surrounding runes say otherwise. But, as with all things, there are positive and negative aspects of it. With the harvest, come the approach of winter; a time when the land yields no crop. But winter is also a time of recharging before the rebirth in spring. It allows the land to recover and regain its fertility. After winter, the land is ready to live again.