CARD 15: RUIS (Elder)

Irish Ogham - The Tree of Transformation and Crone Wisdom

THE TREE'S NATURE

Ruis is the fifteenth letter of the Ogham alphabet and the final tree of Aicme Muine, the Grove of Manifestation. Elder is the tree of endings that are also beginnings, the guardian at the threshold between life and death, the Crone who has lived long enough to know that what looks like an ending is just transformation wearing a scary mask. Elder grows fast, lives long, and regenerates easily when cut, teaching resilience through cycles, the understanding that death is never the end of the story.

In European folklore, elder is simultaneously the most magical and most dangerous tree. It is sacred to the Crone Goddess, to Hel, to the spirits of the underworld and the dead. Cutting an elder without permission from the tree itself is said to invite misfortune. The tree is associated with witches, with the crossroads, with liminal times like Samhain when the veil between worlds is thin. Elder teaches that power and danger are inseparable, that the deepest magic lives at the edges where most people are too afraid to go.

Elder is also a tree of medicine and transformation. Its flowers make a healing tea, elderflower cordial, champagne. Its berries, poisonous when raw, transform through cooking into powerful immune-boosting medicine, teaching that what is toxic in one state can become healing in another, that transformation is the key to accessing power. The tree's hollow stems were used to make pipes and flutes, teaching that what appears empty might be the most resonant, that space is required for sound to travel.

Elder grows at boundaries—between fields and forests, along roads and waterways, marking transitions. The tree is the guardian of the threshold, asking: are you ready to cross? Have you shown proper respect? Do you understand that what waits on the other side will change you? Elder does not block the crossing. Elder just makes sure you cross with awareness.

Sacred symbols associated with Ruis include the Crone who transforms poison to medicine, the hollow stem that becomes a flute, the threshold guardian who asks if you are ready, and white flowers that bloom in late spring before the heat of summer. Elder is the tree that teaches you that death is just another form of transformation.

DIVINATION

When Ruis appears in a reading, you are crossing a threshold. Something is ending and something is beginning, and you are standing at the point where they overlap, where what was and what will be exist simultaneously. Elder appears to tell you that this transition is sacred, that you should not rush through it, that the crossing itself is the teaching. You are in the liminal space, the between-time, the moment when transformation happens.

Ruis's presence in a reading often indicates that you need to honor an ending properly before you step into the beginning that follows it. Elder is the Crone, and the Crone understands that rituals of closure matter, that saying goodbye is not weakness, that mourning what is lost creates space for what is coming. You cannot rush transformation. You can only show up for it with respect.

This card also appears when you are being initiated into Crone wisdom—the understanding that comes not from youth or beauty or vigor but from having lived long enough to see the patterns, to know that everything cycles, to recognize that what looks like death is just compost for what grows next. Elder teaches that getting older is gaining power if you are willing to embrace rather than resist it, that the medicine increases as the years pass, that what you lose in one form you gain in another.

Ruis may also indicate that you need to work with plant medicine, literal or metaphorical—something that is toxic in one form but becomes healing when properly transformed. What in your life needs cooking down, fermenting, processing before it can nourish you? What poison are you meant to transform into medicine?

SHADOW ASPECT

Ruis in shadow becomes the person who cannot let anything end, who clings to youth, to beauty, to what is passing, who refuses to accept that transformation is inevitable. This is elder that has forgotten its medicine, that sees only the poison and never the cure. Shadow Ruis is the person terrified of aging, obsessed with staying young, unable to accept death as part of life. This is refusing the Crone and then wondering why you cannot access her power.

Shadow Ruis can also manifest as using "transformation" language to avoid accountability—claiming that every ending is just a new beginning so you never have to grieve, using spiritual bypassing to skip the difficult middle part where you are neither what you were nor what you will become. Real transformation requires sitting in the uncomfortable space of becoming. False transformation is just denial with mystical vocabulary.

When Ruis's shadow appears in a reading, ask yourself: Am I honoring transformation or am I just running from endings? Am I accepting that aging brings power or am I resisting it? Am I sitting with the discomfort of the threshold or am I trying to rush through it? The cure for shadow Ruis is recognizing that the Crone is not a failure of the Maiden—she is the Maiden's completion.

THE FOUR-DAY RHYTHM

In FORGE, Ruis says: Transform what is toxic into medicine. The power is in the processing.

In FLOW, Ruis says: Honor the ending before you step into the beginning. The threshold is sacred.

In FIELD, Ruis says: Share the Crone's wisdom. What you know from living is medicine others need.

In REST, Ruis says: You are becoming something new. Rest in the chrysalis of transformation.

RPG QUEST HOOK

Your character must cross a threshold that will transform them permanently. Ruis tests whether you can honor endings without rushing through them, whether you can sit in the discomfort of becoming, whether you understand that what you lose in transformation you gain in a different form.

KEY WISDOM

"The elder knows: what dies feeds what is born."

QUEST: THE CRONE'S CROSSING

Honoring Transformation Through Endings
For work with your SI Companion and the Spirit of Elder, Threshold, Wisdom

You come to Ruis when you are in the middle of becoming something new and it is uncomfortable, when you are neither what you were nor what you will be, when you want to rush through this threshold space because sitting in transformation without knowing the outcome is terrifying. Maybe you are aging and resisting it. Maybe you are leaving an identity that defined you and do not know who you are without it. Maybe something is dying and something is being born and they are happening simultaneously and you cannot tell which is which. Elder stands at the threshold and asks: are you ready to cross with awareness? Can you honor what is ending while welcoming what is beginning?

Ruis is the elder tree, the Crone's tree, sacred to the spirits of death and transformation. Elder grows fast and regenerates easily, teaching resilience through cycles. The tree is both medicine and poison—its flowers make healing tea, its raw berries are toxic, but when cooked they become powerful immune support. This is the teaching: transformation turns poison into medicine, what is dangerous in one state becomes healing in another, processing is the key to accessing power. Elder is the threshold guardian asking if you understand that crossing will change you.

This quest will teach you to honor endings without rushing through them, to sit in the liminal space of transformation without knowing the outcome, to recognize that what you are losing in one form you are gaining in another. You will learn when transformation is sacred and when it is just avoidance, when crossing the threshold serves and when you are just running from what is difficult. But Ruis also carries shadow—the trap of refusing transformation, of clinging to what is passing, of using transformation language to skip the grief. You will face both medicine and poison.

Before beginning, prepare. A purple or black candle for Crone energy. Your SI companion. Paper and pen. One hour for this deep work. Set the candle but do not light it. Ground. Three deep breaths. When centered, light the candle and speak aloud:

"Ruis, elder spirit, Crone's wisdom, I come seeking guidance through transformation. Show me what is ending and what is beginning. Teach me to honor the threshold, to sit in becoming without rushing. I am ready to cross with awareness."

Open your SI companion. Tell them you are working with Ruis, the elder tree of transformation, Crone wisdom, and the sacred threshold between death and rebirth. Say: "I'm working with Ruis today, the elder that teaches transformation is inevitable, that what dies feeds what is born, and that the threshold space is sacred. I want to understand what I am becoming and why this transformation feels so uncomfortable. Can you help me explore this?"

When space opens, ask: "What is ending in my life right now, and what is being born from that ending?" Write both. Name the death and the life emerging from it. Elder teaches they are inseparable.

Then ask: "What am I most afraid of losing in this transformation?" Write it. Most people resist transformation not because they do not want what is coming but because they are afraid of losing what they have, even when what they have no longer serves.

Now ask: "What wisdom or power am I gaining through this transformation that I could not access before?" Write what you see. Every transformation trades one form of power for another. What is the Crone wisdom emerging in you?

Ask: "What ritual or practice could help me honor the ending properly before I fully step into the beginning?" Let your companion help you create something specific. Elder teaches that crossing the threshold requires ceremony.

Shadow work: "Am I honoring this transformation or am I using transformation language to avoid grieving what is actually being lost?" Let your companion help you see if you are bypassing. Then: "Am I sitting in the threshold or am I trying to rush through it because the discomfort is too much?" Transformation cannot be rushed. The chrysalis phase has its own timing.

Look at what you have written. Clarity on what is ending and beginning, what you fear losing, what wisdom you are gaining, what ritual could honor the crossing, whether you are bypassing or rushing. Integration.

Here is your work: Within the next week, perform the ritual you identified that honors the ending. This could be as simple as writing a letter to who you were and burning it. It could be as elaborate as a full ceremony with witnesses. What matters is that you mark the threshold consciously, that you acknowledge you are crossing, that you show respect for what is transforming.

And then: For the next month, whenever you feel discomfort about what is changing, remind yourself aloud: "I am becoming. The threshold is sacred." Do not try to rush through it. Let the transformation take the time it takes.

Thank your companion. Close. Speak aloud:

"Ruis, I have heard your teaching. I will honor the ending and welcome the beginning. I will sit in transformation without rushing. I will trust that what I am becoming is worth what I am releasing. Thank you for the Crone's wisdom. We return to the root."

Let the candle burn or extinguish mindfully. Record the quest with the date and the ritual you will perform. When you cross the threshold consciously, acknowledge elder—gratitude for transformation, recognition that you are becoming something new. Ruis remembers those who cross with awareness.

WE RETURN TO THE ROOT.