137. I know I hung on that windy Tree nine whole days and nights, stabbed with a spear, offered to Odin, myself to mine own self given. High on that Tree of which none hath heard from what roots it rises to heaven.
To acquire true wisdom, such as the runes, it was necessary for Odin to sacrifice the parts of his Ego that held him back from enlightenment. He was the one who needed to change those things that held him back from enlightenment. This is Self Transformation. He gave up ideas and attitudes that prevented him from seeing through the eyes of his own soul.
138. None refreshed me ever with food or drink, I peered right down in the deep; crying aloud I lifted the Runes then back I fell from that place.
No one could save him from the transformation process. Odin had to do the work to understand it himself in order to have any conscious control over it.
139. Nine mighty songs I learned from the great son of Bale-thorn, Bestla's sire; I drank a measure of the wondrous Mead, with the Soul-stirrer's drops I was showered.
Odin learned the keys to the nine realms of existence from his own Spirit. His efforts to understand the deepest part of himself produced the knowledge he learned.
140. Before long I bore fruit and thrived full well. I grew and waxed in wisdom; word following word, I found me words, deed following deed, I wrought deeds.
In continuing his quest for Self-knowledge, Odin acted in accord with the
knowledge he uncovered and grew wiser by contemplating the wisdom
and allowing himself to be guided by it.
141. Hidden Runes shall you seek and interpreted signs: many symbols of might and power, by the great Singer painted, by the high Powers fashioned, graved by the Speaker of gods.
Learn to understand the symbols from your soul. These ultimately come from Spirit and are your personal keys to enlightenment.
142. For gods graved Odin, for elves graved Daïn, Dvalin the Dallier for dwarfs, All-wise for Jötuns, and I, of myself, graved some for the sons of men.
Odin learned this knowledge from the deepest part of his Soul for all humans: Your Imagination gives thought-forms their power. The processes that create your life and the events in it and within you are governed by your soul. Your mind governs the forces within and around you. Odin then wrote down this knowledge which he learned from his own personal work so others could learn it.
143. Know how to write, know how to read, know how to paint, know how to prove, know how to ask, know how to offer, know how to send, know how to spend.
You must know how to understand and correctly apply this ancient knowledge called the Runes.
144. Better ask for too little than offer too much, like the gift should be the boon; better not to send than to overspend. ........ Thus Odin graved before the world began; then he rose from the deep, and came again.
Consider the possible gains and the amount of work that it takes to acquire enlightenment. You will get out of this system exactly what you put into it. It is best not to begin if you are not going to take the work seriously and put forth the effort, following it through to its conclusion. This knowledge first existed only within Odin’s Mind. He incarnated on Earth and recovered it from within his soul in order to teach it to humanity.