Name: Feoh (Fehu)
Meaning: Cattle, wealth and fee.
Rune ritual image: A calf suckling from its mother.
This image depicts the life giving and nurturing aspects of this rune, as recalled within the origin stories of the Eddas. Auðumbla, the sacred cow, is a compound name that translates as 'hornless cow rich in milk', referring to the hornless cows farmed by neolithic Northern Europeans. She feeds the Jotun, Ymir, from which the world is formed and through her licking she reveals Buri, father of the Aesir. These actions make clear that Feoh is the beginning, the first rune in the Futhark. The name Auðumbla can be translated to rich as in wealth and from that we can extract abundance and security.
The wealth denoted by Feoh is not simply money or gold, but instead it is part of the living ecosystem, with value gained from its reproductive qualities. The breeding of livestock and the cycle of farming grain are qualities that money and gold do not have, although we attempt to attribute this to these through investment and interest.
There is a distinct warning contained here about wealth as evidence by the Norweigen Rune poem:
Wealth causes friction between relatives
While the wolf lurks in the woods.
Envy and greed are revealed through this friction within the family or community, aspects of the human psyche that should be guarded against, much like the predators that seek to feast upon the wealth. Unlike either cattle or crops, cash has no ‘living’ value, it does not reproduce or provide immediate sustenance. In this respect it is hollow and dead, something that we must acknowledge in how we perceive money and material assets.
Feoh is best used for acquiring that which supports life; such as food, clothing and shelter, rather than simply finance. Cattle provided this with their flesh, milk and hide. The rune reverberates with nurturing and nature, and should be used for growth or improvement of your life and wellbeing. Outcomes that simply desire an increase of money or power run against the philosophy of Feoh, and a fee will need to be paid.
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