Mannaz as a Birth Rune

Mannaz people understand others well. Human nature interests them: why people act as they do. They value reason, conversation and a community in which everyone can be themselves.

Mannaz reminds you that a person is both alone and with others. What the rune teaches is to know yourself and find your place among people, losing neither yourself nor your bond with them.

• Understanding people. You sense others' motives and state of mind.
• Reason. You think clearly and know how to learn from experience.
• Community. You value the ties between people and know how to strengthen them.
• Self-knowledge. You strive to understand yourself and grow.

The flip side of Mannaz is too much reasoning. The person analyses so much that they lose touch with feeling and simplicity.

The other extreme is dissolving into the group or, the reverse, standing apart from it. The rune's message is balance: to be yourself among people, not instead of them and not in spite of them.

In love you are an understanding, attentive partner. Conversation, mutual respect and shared values matter to you. You see your partner first of all as a person.

Remember to feel, not only to understand. Sometimes your partner needs not your explanation but simple warmth.

Natural fits include work tied to people and human nature: psychology, sociology, teaching, medicine, human resources, community work, law, the humanities, teamwork.

You come into your own wherever understanding people matters. Success comes through your connections and your ability to work with others.

The half-month of Mannaz falls in the second half of April. Spring is at full strength, people come out of their winter homes, and in the old days it was a time of shared work and gatherings. Mannaz is the fourth rune of Tyr's aett.

Before Mannaz comes Ehwaz: movement has led to people. After it comes Laguz, the rune of water: from understanding yourself, the path leads to the depth of feeling and intuition.