KÄLLAN
The Hidden Well of Runic Secrets
You have crossed Odin’s Eye.
Now, at the source, only those who can read the runes may drink from the well of secrets.
Will you accept the runic challenge?
Here, at the root of things, the visions are gathered. Each image held in this space is a reflection pulled from the still water, a memory of a trial endured. The eye was offered to the well, and this is what the well showed in return.
Look deep. The water is dark, but it is clear. Within it, you will not find pictures. You will find the Runes—the stories of what they cost and the truths they revealed.
The Well of Wisdom is never still. From its depths, a new whisper emerges with every turning of the week. It takes the form of a Rune—a fragment of Odin’s sight, a riddle of meaning cast out into the world, waiting to be found. This is your invitation to the hunt.
The Weekly Rune | A Trial of Sight
The Prövning—the trial—is set each Monday when a new Rune is revealed. Your quest is not merely to find a subject, but to decipher the Rune's meaning through your lens. It is the culprit, the mystery, and the prize all at once. Its echo may be hidden in the stark geometry of a city street, the patient silence of a forest, or the fleeting chaos of a storm. It waits for a seeker's eye to give it form.
This is more than a challenge; it is a shared saga written in light and shadow. By undertaking this quest, you join a fellowship of visionaries. You add your own sight to the Well, sharing the wisdom you have uncovered and witnessing the truths found by others.
A new Rune awaits. Let the trial begin.
Rune of the Week
Djupsejd
Runic Challenge Deadline: Sunday, July 27, 2025
The Rune's Trial: The Source
The paths of the Soul Forest are not walked with thought alone, but with feet and with sight. Read the riddle below. Your answer is not a word to be whispered, but an image to be captured. Find what I describe in nature. Immortalize it with your eye of glass. That is your proof.
The Riddle
I have no voice, but from my depths, ancient knowledge is whispered.
My surface mirrors the stars, but my heart is a root-filled darkness.
A god sacrificed his eye to drink of my truth.
I quench no common thirst, but whoever drinks is never the same.
Capture my face in your eye of glass.
Once you return with evidence of your discovery, the glyphic form of the Rune will be unveiled and secured within the sacred Rune Archives.
Visions from the Well
R U N E • C O L L E C T I O N
A New Rune Beckons—Claim Your Place!
Week 28 | Rune of the Lake's Mirror
The Tale of Rune Seeker Alaric Vance
Meet Alaric Vance, an intrepid seeker with an eye for discovery and a lens that captures the soul of every journey. Known as "The Rune Seeker," Alaric embarked on a daring photographic expedition to uncover the mysteries of an ancient rune. Through tangled forests, windswept cliffs, and hidden valleys, Alaric let his camera narrate the adventure, immortalizing each step in imagery. His journey was not just about finding the rune—it was about seeing the world in a way only a seeker of stories could, one frame at a time. The photographs became a testament to his relentless spirit and the enduring magic of exploration.
The Seeker's Log:
The trail for the Lake's Mirror wasn't a path of dirt and stone, but one of patience. I walked for hours along the jagged shoreline of Anjala, Finland, the wind a constant companion, chasing ripples across every surface. The riddle spoke of perfect stillness, a thing that seemed impossible in this wild place.
I nearly gave up. Frustrated, I sat on a moss-covered boulder, the granite cold even through my clothes. I wasn't hunting anymore, just resting. My gaze fell upon a small pool nestled between the larger rocks, sheltered from the wind. It was no grand fjord, just a forgotten puddle. But it was flawless.
As I stared, the world inverted. The sky wasn't above, it was in the water, deeper and bluer than the real thing. The stones weren't holding the water, but framing a gateway. In that moment of absolute calm, I didn't take a picture of a reflection. I photographed another world. And in its silent perfection, the form of the Rune finally became clear.
The Seeker returned with the photograph as proof, and the true form of the Rune was revealed.
The Photographic Evidence:
The journey to stillness is captured in these moments:
The Symbol of Truth:
The Deciphered Meaning of the Rune:
On its surface, this Rune is about reflection. It calls to the still water of a forest tarn, a rain-slicked city street, or the deep, dark eye of a fjord. It is born in the moment of perfect calm, when the boundary between the real and the reflected dissolves.
But its true meaning lies deeper. The Lake's Mirror is a symbol of duality, of the two worlds that exist at once: the one we stand in, and the one just beneath the surface. Is the reflection a perfect copy, or does it show a truer, more honest version of the world, free from the wind's influence? Is it a fleeting truth, shattered by a single ripple? Or is it a gateway, a silent invitation to an underworld of myth and shadow?
This Rune is a prövning of patience. It asks you to find a moment of absolute stillness and capture the world in conversation with itself.
The All-Father sacrificed his eye at the well of Källa for wisdom. The Trials of Odin's Eye ask you to do the same—not to lose an eye, but to see the world through a single, focused lens.
This is the Källa Rune Photography Challenge: a summons to interpret ancient runes and capture their meaning through your camera. It is a test of sight, story, and soul.
Do you have questions about the runes? Are you ready to undertake the trials? Your journey begins with a single step. Reach out and let your intent be known.
