Runes

Dagaz

Also known as: ᛞDagaz rune*dagazDaeg

Dagaz (ᛞ) is rune 23 of the Elder Futhark; its modern keywords are dawn, breakthrough and clarity.

Dagaz is rune 23 of the Elder Futhark — the runic alphabet used roughly from the 2nd to the 8th century — and rune 7 of Tyr's ætt (an ætt is one of three groups of eight runes). It writes the sound "d", and in the Unicode block "Runic" it is ᛞ. The shape is two staves joined by crossed diagonals, like an hourglass on its side.

The name *dagaz means "day". The Old English poem (dæg) calls day the Lord's messenger, dear to people, a hope and joy to rich and poor alike. The names of the Elder Futhark runes are reconstructions by linguists, and the rune poems — Old English, Norwegian and Icelandic — were written many centuries later and describe later alphabets. They tell us about a tradition, not about a certain original meaning.

In modern reflective practice Dagaz is linked above all with dawn, breakthrough and clarity. Today Dagaz is read as the rune of dawn: the moment night turns into day. It speaks of a breakthrough, a fresh view and clarity after a time of uncertainty.

As the rune of the day in Cards of the day, Dagaz has two short texts. The first: "Dagaz is dawn — the moment night turns into day. Something that was unclear may take a clear shape today." The second: "A fresh view is sometimes all it takes. Dagaz invites you to look at a familiar matter as in the morning — with fresh eyes and without yesterday's assumptions." A question worth staying with: "What is starting to become clear for me?"

In AstroSensus runes are a tool for reflection, not a prediction. There are no reversed runes and no "blank rune" — the latter is a 20th-century idea, not part of history. In a spread of three or five runes, Dagaz is always read together with its position and the other runes. The rune can also be your avatar on social media, with the bio line "ᛞ Dagaz — I greet each new day" as a reminder of your own intention.

RUNE OF THE DAY