Starting Out on Runic Divination - A few tips

Discussion of runes.
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Xiao Rong
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Starting Out on Runic Divination - A few tips

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kay 32 wrote:Now I would like to ask you a question. I like making my own things and I have been to a place where I have collected some lovely flat white small stones, creamy white in colour and would make a lovely set of runes. I plan to make them some time towards the end of this month or perhaps early next month when I have the time. Would you give me some guidance on how you use yours please. I would be very grateful for a few pointers please
Sure! I've been asked a few times about this, so I'll write a bit about my methods (so this isn't directly just at you, Kay) So, just to note, I mostly work with the Elder Futhark runes, which I find to be a runic system that is simple, but has some really cool potential for numerology and symmetry (which make for very interesting dimensions of analysis). I've also been studying rune for 9 months now (so I am NOT the be all, end all of runic experts), and my methods are not strictly based off of historical practice, but what makes the most sense to me ... Here goes!

Getting Your Runes

I'm sort of divided on the subject of whether or not you should make your own runes. If you can afford to shell out for a really pretty set of runes, then more power to you. I enjoyed the process of making my own runes using salt dough and I feel like they are bonded to me and unique, but I will freely admit that they are not the prettiest, and not as sturdy as stones (they're kind of due for a repainting) ... Some people would say that you have to make your own runes to charge them with your own energy.

There's kind of a bit of a debate between using rune staves (sticks carved with runes on one end) and rune tiles. I've been working with rune tiles, and I use them more like tarot spreads (putting them in particular arrangements and patterns). Historically the Ancient Norse were more likely to use rune staves that they would "cast", or toss onto the floor, and try to divine meaning from which staves fell closest to you, which staves crossed and which staves were parallel, etc. I consider that to be "more advanced" rune divination.

Familiarizing Yourself with the Meanings of the Runes

This is really two simultaneous processes. The first process, like everything else in witchcraft, is READING. There are loads of online materials that are quite good (Sunny Ways comes to mind as a good one). There are also plenty of great books out there on runes (I've reviewed two such books here: Nordic Runes and Northern Mysteries and Magic). Very few of these sources will agree on a single meaning of the rune. Instead, you should read a bunch of sources and take notes on them. Over time, you'll start seeing these threads and patterns that emerge, and the many facets of a single meaning of the rune (they have different meanings depending on the situation). One of the things I've done that's helped me a lot is to get a notebook (a pretty fat one) where you can keep records of your notes on rune meanings, personal experiences with runes, rune spreads, etc.

The second process is ...

Practicing Reading the Runes

I generally like to start with a quick prayer to the Goddess for clarity. Some people have more involved rituals prior to divination (e.g. meditation, casting a circle, etc.) that I don't use.

Think of the question in your mind. I don't really like to use my practice as fortune-telling, so I tend to avoid yes/no questions like, "Will I get married to my boyfriend?" The runes, in my experience, give you a peek into the patterns in the mysteries of the past, present, and future, and they don't always answer the question the way you want them to, especially if you frame it as a yes/no question. In the above example, maybe it would be better phrased as, "What should I know about my relationship with my boyfriend?"

Now, choose a rune spread for your question. For simple questions, you can just use a one-rune draw - just pick a rune out of your pouch and that should give you plenty of stuff to chew on over your answers. For more complicated questions, you can do a past-present-future reading (3 runes). Just don’t get into crazy Celtic Crosses or Nine World spreads just yet! There’s some really great results to be had in simplicity. For rune spreads involving a lot of runes, I like to empty my rune pouch, stir the runes sunwise, and then feel the energies of the runes for the ones that call out to me (I can’t really explain it … You’ll have to find it out for yourself). I also like to close by thanking the Goddess at the end.

Interpretation

Like I said before, I highly recommend taking lots of notes as you go, not only about what books say the runes mean, but also about your personal vibes and observations as you work with them, because they’ll keep on revealing more and more aspects of themselves as you use them. I don’t really know how to explain this part, except to listen very carefully to your instinct about how the runes relate to each other and to the situation at hand. Later on, you can start working on finding commonalities in the runes drawn (such as their aetts, shapes, etc.) You’ll start out finding yourself using books and websites as a crutch, but the more you work with them the less you’ll need other sources and rely more on your own intuition.

There’s quite a lot of discussion about merkstaves and reversed staves. Merkstaves are when the runes are found upside down, and reversed runes refer to when you find the rune horizontally flipped. Some of the Elder Futhark runes are non-reversible or can’t have merkstaves because their symmetrical shapes (for example, Ingwaz). I experimented with this for a while but I decided I don’t really like using them in rune spreads, because their meanings are too specific and don’t mean much in rune placements anyways.

Advanced Topics

Perhaps we can discuss these in a later thread, if you guys are interested:

Aettir
“Symmetry” in the runes
Wyrd and Orlog
Common themes in the runes
Rune shapes

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I’d love to discuss any of this, whether it’s sharing more tips, or just talking about methodology or advanced topics (I’m always looking to improve my practice as well!)
~ Xiao Rong ~ 小蓉 ~ Little Lotus ~
kay 32

Re: Starting Out on Runic Divination - A few tips

Post by kay 32 »

Hi and thank you for the information. You know I only just noticed it today, so I'm sorry about the late reply of thanks
I'll keep all of this in mind and I'll come back to it for reference.
Thanks again
Take Care
BB K
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Pinkpower_80
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Re: Starting Out on Runic Divination - A few tips

Post by Pinkpower_80 »

Great info as always Echo, thank you for your post! :fairy:
I don't have any runes yet but I do plan on making my own soon. I trie making some out of salt dough but got distracted and was unable to finish. I messed them up anyway lol.
I feel really drawn to using runes.
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Heartsong
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Re: Starting Out on Runic Divination - A few tips

Post by Heartsong »

An excellent post! Very informative, thank you for putting this up :)
Dance like the Maiden
Laugh like the Mother
Think like the Crone
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Jade Rose
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Re: Starting Out on Runic Divination - A few tips

Post by Jade Rose »

I can't wait to start reading runes!

I've been meaning to get a set ideally of stones or crystals but I haven't found luck so far so I might as well do my own!

Thanks for this Xiao. :)
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Xiao Rong
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Re: Starting Out on Runic Divination - A few tips

Post by Xiao Rong »

You're welcome! And if you've got questions, please feel free to PM me or post on this thread : )
~ Xiao Rong ~ 小蓉 ~ Little Lotus ~
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