Jera is the Rune of the harvest and the yearly cycle.
Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem
Ger byÞ gumena hiht, ðonne God læteþ,
halig heofones cyning, hrusan syllan
beorhte bleda beornum ond ðearfum.
Summer is called joyful, when God lets,
Holy heaven’s king – shining fruits
Be born from earth for rich and poor.
Norwegian Rune Poem
Ár er gumna góðe
get ek at örr var Fróðe.
Harvest is a blessing to men;
I say that Frodhi was liberal.
Icelandic Rune Poem
Ár er gumna góði
ok gott sumar
algróinn akr.
Harvest is blessing to men
and good summer
and fully ripe crops.
Jera not only stands for the harvest but, if literally translated from Old English and Old Norse, actually indicates the whole year. What we can glean from the Rune Poems is that it is a joyful Rune that is a blessing to humankind but also that Gods help is needed in order for it to truly come to fruition. The Norse system, like most animistic and holistic systems, does not really differentiate between the spiritual and the material the way we do these days. Both are thoroughly intertwined and things that cannot be controlled like the weather therefore simply belong to the realm of the Gods. In Jera both of these aspects come together, the hard work of mankind and the blessing of the Gods.
Jera can be used for several purposes but mainly helps to bring our efforts to fruition. Practical magic is not a shortcut to get things without doing the work but quite the opposite. Therein also lies the danger of applying Jera as if you have done no work then you will reap the benefits of that.
It is also very useful to meditate on Jera in order to gain deeper insight into the cyclical nature of all things. This knowledge is something that has been lost along the way as our modern lifestyle is designed to escape these cycles. We hide old people in retirement homes, fly in products from all over the world so everything is available year around and “process” our meat far away from our homes, so reconnecting to Jera is a very worthwhile thing to do…