The Runes - Why are they becoming so popular?
The Runes are having a revival and just like the Tarot.
They are a way of understanding our lives better and look set to
grow again in popularity, as we seek to understand our lives in
more depth.
The Runes History
Runes are ancient characters used in Teutonic, Anglo-Saxon, and
Scandinavian civilizations, and found on many ancient
inscriptions.
They were probably first used by the East Goths (c.300), who are
thought to have derived them from Helleno-Italic writing, and
were used extensively throughout N Europe, Iceland, England,
Ireland, and Scotland until the final establishment of
Christianity.
After that the use of runes was reviled as a pagan practice, so
their use was discouraged, discontinued or used in secret.
However, in Scandinavia their use persisted even after the
Middle Ages; there they were used for manuscripts as well as
inscriptions.
The word rune is derived from an early Anglo-Saxon word meaning
secret or mystery.
Therefore in our ancient past, writing was perhaps a much more
serious thing than it is today; not just to communicate, but it
was full of magical power.
Runes were often used in casting spells, to get someone to love
you, or to make an enemy impotent, or even die.
Interestingly, in the casting of spells, the writing of the
runes was accompanied by a mumbled (whispered) or chanted prayer
or curse, also called a rune. This was to make the magic
effective.
Today, the revival of the rune, which had faded away like a
whisper, has reappeared from the mists of the past.
Runes have now been rediscovered as a significant symbolic
system and have gained a wide following as a means of divination.
Like the Tarot, they give a glimpse into the past as well as the
future, as they provide an approach to understand the lives and
beliefs of our ancestors.
The Runes, have much to teach us about a way of life that was
more intimately related to the worlds of nature world, and
spirit, than our own today.
The darkest period in the history of runic studies was
paradoxically their revival by German scholars connected with
the Nazi movement in the that 20's and 30's.
The legitimate historical research of our past was unfortunately
tainted by Nazi propaganda and racism and it rendered the
results negligible.
However, by whatever means, the Runes had re-appeared in our
cultural sphere, and with it, came its mysteries and perhaps,
power.
Today, the Runes are basically used as a method of Divination.
However, since there are no reliable historical descriptions of
runic divination (at least not known to the general or
scholastic communities), virtually any method one chooses can be
considered valid.
There are certain characteristics of the runes that make them
better suited to some methods than others.
For example, most runes are carved onto small bits of wood, clay
or stone. These are designed to be easily picked up and
scattered, rather than being laid out in a specific pattern
(like the Tarot
How to use the Runes.
You must either buy a set of them (sold in bookstores or New Age
stores or sites). You can also make your own. You will need a
bag to place them in. There are several good books to buy that
will explain all these steps in details.
However as an example, after you have your Runes, you can
quickly ask some question mentally, and then place your hand in
a bag, and pull out three Runes as in the system below.
The Norns System (The Three-Rune Easy Cast).
This method is helpful in getting an overview on a given
situation, and to give some idea about a future outcome.
The result will depend on how much time and effort you put into
the analysis and your understanding of the meaning of each Rune.
To begin, you pull one rune out of the bag and lay it down face
up. This rune represents the first Norn - or those events in the
past which affect the current situation.
Pull another rune and lay it next to the first. This is the
second Norn - or the present situation, which frequently to a
choice that needs to be made.
Pull a third and lay it down. This is the third Norn, and often
proves the most difficult rune to interpret. It can represent
the person's inevitable fate, or might simply be the end result
if the current situation remains unchanged, or even just one of
several results.
You must rely on your own psychic abilities to decide which the
answer is. As in all things, practice makes perfect. This is
something that the more you practice, and concentrate, the
better the result.