Study › Runes & Norse › Yera
Jera (ᛃ) is the twelfth rune of the Elder Futhark. Also spelled Yera, its name means "year", and its meaning is the harvest: the turning of the seasons, and the reward that comes back in proportion to what was sown. It cannot be reversed.
Keywords: harvest, cycle, time, reward, seasons
What does the Yera rune mean?
Yera is the twelfth rune of the Elder Futhark. It comes after Isa, and Eihwaz comes after it.
Its name means "year", and it is bound to the turning of the seasons and the harvest. Coming after the frozen pause of Isa, Yera sets time moving again — events quicken, and the results of your actions come in. It stands for prosperity of every kind and the fair fruit of what you have done. In runic magick it is also used to represent an ongoing cycle, prolonging the effect of other runes and helping a formula see its work through to the end.
Yera is a non-reversible rune. After the slowdown of Isa, it is the turn that speeds time up again. Meaning "year" and standing for the cycles of nature, it symbolises the results of actions — and, by extension, cycles of every kind and the harvest that follows effort. At its best, Yera is good results from good actions.
It sets time moving again after the stillness of Isa.
Yera in a reading
Yera in love
The relationship bears fruit. Love follows its natural rhythm. Given time, it deepens. Care is repaid. The right season for love.
Yera and money
A harvest of profits. Business follows its cycle. Patience pays. Work is rewarded. The right time to gather.
Yera and health
The results of healthy habits. The body's natural cycles. Healing takes time. Effort pays off. A season of recovery.
Yera on the spiritual path
Reaping what was sown. The wheel of life turns. Growth over time. Karmic reward. A new season begins.
Can Yera be reversed?
No. Yera looks the same either way up, so it has no reversed meaning: it reads the same however it falls.
Yera in the rune poems
The rune poems are the oldest sources for the runes' meanings. Here is what each one says of Yera, first as written, then in English.
Norwegian Rune Poem
Ár er gumna góðe;
get ek at ǫrr var Fróðe.Plenty is a boon to men;
I say that Frodi was generous.
Icelandic Rune Poem
Ár er gumna góði
ok gott sumar
algróinn akr.
annus allvaldr.Boon to men
and good summer
and thriving crops.
Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem
Ger byþ gumena hiht, ðonne God læteþ,
halig heofones cyning, hrusan syllan
beorhte bleda beornum ond ðearfum.Summer is a joy to men, when God, the holy King of Heaven,
suffers the earth to bring forth shining fruits
for rich and poor alike.
Questions
How do you pronounce Jera?
Say it "YEH-rah".
What does the Jera rune look like?
Jera (ᛃ) is two angled hooks facing each other, one above the other.
Can Jera be reversed?
No. Jera looks the same either way up, so it has no reversed meaning.