The Eighth Rune
The glory of victory
the pleasure of attainment
I bring to myself and my clan
Names - WUNJO - joy, WINJA - pasture, WYNN - pleasure or delight, VEND - joy or hope
Pronunciations - "Woon joe" "win jha" "win"
Phonetic Value - "W"
Symbolism - A Clan Banner or Flag
Keywords - Joy
The essential meaning of this rune is symbolised in the image of a clan flag or banner unfurled in victory.
While the upright stave holds the two angled staves in such a way as to easily resemble a flag or banner, it is important to note that this pictogram is very similar to the pictogram for "Thorn".
If the challenge represented by Thorn was successfully overcome there would be ample reason to raise the flag of victory and the celebration implied in the rune Wunjo might indeed be the end result.
Happiness, joy, and glory are all associated with this rune. The battle well-fought and won, a wand or staff, prosperity, peace, and good fellowship are equally associated with Wunjo. There is also a term in Anglo-Saxon, wuldortanas, meaning "glory twigs" which many experts associate with the rune.
Wynn, or vend, (other names for Wunjo) can also be visualized as a wind-vane, showing "which direction the wind is blowing." This image, while immediately valuable to anyone who understands the importance of knowing "which way the wind is blowing" to the success of the hunt or other ventures dependant upon the use of forces already in motion in the surrounding environment, becomes even more valuable when you delve deeper into the phonetic derivations of this rune.
Phonetically, Wunjo in it's derivative form of Winn and Wend, has influences in the meanings and sounds of present day language. Win is clearly about victory or attainment, Wend also means to change the direction of something, to turn or to run with or against the wind.
This derivation should easily call to mind the importance of being "downwind" to a hunter, or the importance of running "with the wind" to a sailor.
As far as the many derivations of win, winsome, or winning are concerned, little else needs to be said other than a reminder that attainment should always end in a celebration and acknowledgement of that attainment.
Magically, Wunjo is called upon to ensure or encourage a victory or attainment of some much desired outcome. In fact, the rune Wunjo looks beyond the victory to the celebration following the victory and is therefore an essential aid in completing your magical visualization because the most successful magical endeavors assume success at the outset.
To change one situation into another, is another use of Wunjo both magically and in divination and Wunjo is especially good in bind runes for ensuring victory due to the aforementioned assumption of the celebration following victory inherent in the meaning of this rune.
In divination it can represent any of the following forms.
WUNJO UPRIGHT:Joy, celebration, comfort, pleasure, fellowship, harmony, prosperity, ecstasy, glory, reward, success, recognition, accomplishment.
WUNJO MERKSTAVE: Loss, stultification, shame, sorrow, strife, alienation, delirium, intoxication, mourning, impractical enthusiasm, raging frenzy, berzerker.
To Return to the Midnight Moonchild Rune Page, please select the Runes icon to your left. For more detailed information on the meanings of each individual rune, please select the individual Rune icons to your left