This is the card of Fate or, in the Northern tradition, Wyrd. When runestones are made, the Wyrd rune is represented by a stone with a blank, uncarved face. Thus, when it is turned over nothing is revealed. In the Celtic mythos, this image is the sea. We see the surface of the water, but nothing is revealed of its depths. Both the Celts and the Norse had a great respect for the sea and an appreciation of its power. Both cultures used open boats to travel long distances on the stormy North Atlantic. Much of their livelihood came from the sea or by means of trading along sea routes. The sea brought them food and goods, wealth and adventure, but could also threaten their boats and their lives with no warning. Storms showed them the power of the natural world at its most inimical.

This is the role of fate. It brings things into our lives, good and bad, and we must work with them. When the spirit world sends us a message, we must carefully examine it and struggle to extract its deepest meaning rather than quickly assume the most obvious, complimentary, or desired point. When an event changes our lives, we must carefully determine whether we have engineered it into happening or if it is a truly fortuitous event. We must also decide what, if any, response is appropriate. We must know ourselves to know what to do. Are we passive, and too likely to give up a struggle against adversity by assuming that it's Fate and nothing can be done? Or are we more likely to stubbornly push on when our desired goal is a castle in the clouds with no pathway to it by any means?

Wyrd and Fate are somewhat different concepts. Like many of the Northern mythic ideas, Wyrd cuts both ways. It is not just Fate intervening into our lives from outside, although it includes this aspect. It is also our inborn abilities and personality working outward on the world around us. Finding a balance between what we wish to do, what we are able to do and what we should do is our life's Wyrd.

For sea-faring people, the mystery of the sea and the power of the storm are major symbols. For Northern people, the crystalline beauty of the snowflake and the power of the avalanche are the same symbols. For people in a warmer climate the life-giving rain and the power of the hurricane stand in the same light. The Chaos theory concept that everything has a universal effect and that we affect things in ways we cannot foresee is a part of this same magic.

There is no reversal to this card and no specific message. It is rather a reminder that we are small parts of the all, and that the universe is more likely to act on us than be acted on by us. Turning up this card may be a warning against self-interest and insularity or forewarning that a great event may move into our lives.