Completion and Cweorth
Cweorth and Completion
I find it interesting that I would pull two means of completion. The irony in restarting a blog only to be met with something that so many may see as an end. If we truly completed something, then we would never return. It would be seen as finished, no more, the words “The End” might scroll across our hearts and minds.
How many times have we watched a movie or TV series to be met with those words? The End. Were we left wanting more? Were we satisfied with what happened to the characters and their stories? There are only a few instances where I can truly say that about a show or movie. The first being “Six Feet Under” which ran on HBO in the early 2000’s. This show, while jumping the shark a few times, gave us a beautiful final episode. It wrapped everything up with characters and left us feeling good, grounded, and not lost. We knew it was completion, however, we also were left knowing that each characters’ story would still go on.
These memories of their experiences are what makes them whole, what leads them to the completion of one of their cycles in life.
When we look at the card called Completion we see the Ouroboros. Jormungandr knowing on its tail. Odin placed this serpent around Midgard to keep the waters within, to keep Midgard protected from itself. Jormungand’s appetite is never ending. By forcing the giant serpent to consume its tail it is left never hungry and always hungry. Midgard is safe and its boundaries are held in place.
While the serpent is constantly eating held in a place of completion, it is never satisfied. It continues to consume. Thus is our own completion. An artist may finish their project but will forever be looking at it and thinking about how they could have done this, or that, or incorporated this experience or this medium. A chef is constantly looking to make a recipe better using different experiences, information given to them by staff or guests. While it is important to rest and move into a state of completion it is also important to understand that new things will come about from taking that time to reflect. By using what we have created, or what has been created from our experiences and doings we can begin to write a new story.
In the Norse cosmology Ragnarök, the end of all things, is not really an end. It is an end to that story, that cycle, but it is really a beginning. Cweorth comes forward as not a rune of destruction through the funeral pyre, but it is a means of recreation, fresh starts, and new possibilities. It is a rune that resembles the phoenix. Burning away its old story and rebirthing itself to live again in something new and exciting. Same character, stories and experiences now committed to memory to be used as a means to better itself in this next chapter.
Ragnarök ends the current world. But the story tells us what and who is left. What experiences do the children of Thor have that allow them to create a new world? What has Baldr seen and been through that allow him to relay his wisdom, what about the continued wisdom of Freyja and Frigg who are not mentioned and thus assumed to survive? While the one story has been completed we are left with a second story that follows. Yggdrasil will burn again and what story comes from the experiences held in its roots and branches this time around?
With 2022 coming to a completion, we look back and ask ourselves what was completed? What has left us hungry for more? Do we feel satisfied with what we have accomplished? What will we bring with us into the new year that helps us within our new chapter? Are we still within the same story? Have we moved on? Are there different characters?
When we introduce new characters into our lives we often say farewell to the ones that came before them. I’m sure I’ll get a little backlash from my Star Wars loving fans out there, but we see this happen in the newest films. We continue the Skywalker (the whole rise and fall of Darth Vader begins and ends with fire) story with new characters, but to say farewell to the old story the new characters must be allowed to experience and learn from the realities of the past. Each of the original characters is given a farewell and shares their story with the new cast. We are also given an updated version of the story knowing that the lessons learned will be passed down and that we grow through learning, living, and allowing those cycles to come to a completion, only to know that we will come out of those experiences with new adventures waiting.
Cweorth is a rune that brings about conclusion to a chapter in our lives. It is a rune that burns and purifies through fire, but it is what rises from the ashes that matters next. What story comes next? Our completion is never final. Even in death we may live on in Helheim, be taken to Folkvangr, Valhalla, or as an ancestor and guide for others. The story doesn’t end, just a chapter. What will 2023 bring for us? What did we burn away in this past year and make room to create this coming year? What stories did we complete and what new ones are starting to unfold? How hungry are we?