This rune means "god", "mouth", and "estuary".

It starts from the synchronicity of Water, Air, Emptiness, and Earth.
And it flows down from the Water to the Air.
At the same time, the Air descends to Emptiness.

The Ansuz rune meaning encompasses speech, mind, and consciousness.

We, humans, are both physical and spiritual creatures. We have our material hands and our consciousness connected to them from "that" parallel level. It can control our material body "here", and it also works in the opposite direction: when we move our hand in a special conscious way, our attention, which is closely following the movement, makes ripples "there". This is how and why all the gestures suggested in this book work.

According to my observations, consciousness appears to have a higher level of connection with matter when matter is organized at a higher level of complexity.

The ultimate example of matter with a high level of complexity is life, and especially the nervous system/brain. However, even inanimate matter with a high level of complexity resonates with the field of consciousness significantly better.

For example, crystals, elemental whirls (whirlpools on the water or whirlwinds), complex regular structures like megaliths or big modern architecture, big rock formations with a certain inner direction, or rivers - huge masses of water flowing in the same direction, etc. All these things seem to enable an elevated level of consciousness around, or to be more precise, an elevated level of interconnection between the material world (Earth) and the spiritual world (Air). A similar effect can be observed in old woods populated by big trees.

This principle lies at the foundation of magic. When a magician performs rituals and crafts magical artifacts, it's an act of intentionally introducing complexity into the material world. By following a certain set of "rules", which may seem to be irrational, but consistent with the logic of the spiritual level of reality, the magician increases the average level \ concentration of consciousness around, and it's then easier to manipulate on "that" level. We add to our own normal clump of consciousness attached to our body the elevated level of surrounding consciousness, which may even spontaneously form additional autonomous clumps of consciousness around, temporarily making magical artifacts "alive".

The Ansuz rune describes this projection of the Will of the Sky down to the Earth.

It feels like liquid, transparent, but a little bit heavy, "Uranium" vibration, which makes expanding ripples object's contours, contrary to similar but much softer and lighter Water-Lagus energy. You can sometimes catch this vibration by watching grand clouds in the clear sky.
Ansuz possesses the power of the first Word, which, according to the Christian myth, initiated the creation of the world.

What makes this rune different is the second, "wrong" descending bar from the Air to the Emptiness.

This is Sky, built of Ymir's skull - descending bar of the Thurisaz rune, brought to the center. This makes god's will prevail over the will of nearly extinct giants.

Ansuz rune is a part of asymmetry introduced into an ideally balanced universe, which caused pain and destruction, but triggered a blow of exponentially growing complexity.

It represents the rule of Æsir, powerful beings born of the Light, the spirit of the Fire, reflected in the Water, the bright image of Fire looking into the dark mirror.

In the modern community, the Ansuz rune is often associated with Odin. While it's not attested by any historical source, I still feel the presence of some truth in such a connection. To spell Odin's name using Elder Futhark runes and make some sense, we also need to use his older proto-Germanic name "Wodanaz".
In Elder Futhark, it will be "ᚹᛟᛞᚨᚾᚨᛉ".
All these runes combined as part of a "broken" Philosopher's Stone look very intriguing:

Someone could see a one-eyed face or head in this combination, and the Ansuz rune in the middle is what makes it special.

Broken Stone

Let's return to the Creation myth.

While it may look scary: killing an ancestor, rivers of blood, breaking our precious Stone, which we were crafting so long and hard. But let's trust Odin's wisdom; if he did it, there was a very good reason.

• Ymir is a Thurs, which means wild and chaotic.
• Ymir has never been mentioned doing anything except eating, sleeping, and making children. It does not seem to be a high level of consciousness.
• After his "death," we, humans built of trees, find ourselves walking inside his head with brains as clouds, flesh as earth, blood as water, bones as rocks, etc.
• Ymir is closely connected to Birth, Death, and Time.

All these make us conclude Ymir is Matter, the material world we live in. And on a microcosm level, Ymir is our own body inhabited by our spirit.

The Norse myth of the birth and death of Ymir and the resulting creation of the world of mortals echoes the modern myth of the Big Bang, which describes the birth of the universe as a very intense and violent event compared with a blow when space and time themselves first ever appeared. We could compare the moment of the Big Bang with the moment of the killing of Ymir.

Only after killing Ymir did the actual Creation happen, so all the story before this moment, as represented by the entire "ideal" Philosopher's Stone, is a story of the conception and incubation of the egg. And when the hatchling is ready, the shell must be broken.

In two Runic Poems, the Old Norwegian and Old Icelandic, Thurs is described as causing pain to women. This connection can be interpreted as representing the pain and struggle of childbirth, along with the corresponding symbolism of struggle, destruction, and the transcendence to new life.

In classic Western alchemy, four main phases are usually distinguished: Nigredo (black), Albedo (white), Citrinitas (golden/yellow), and Rubedo (red).

So, considering the idea of the Philosopher's stone as an egg, we can compare the darkness of the mother bird's womb as nigredo, white and yolk as albedo and citrinitas, and the growing embryo of the future bird as rubedo. And the purpose of the egg-stone is to conceive and nurture, and the destination of the egg is to be broken.

So when the time comes, and you complete your Philosopher's Stone, don't be afraid of opening it and seeing what you've got as a result, let the bird fly.