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Runes for beginners

Warewullf

20:47 / 07.06.05

I recently got my first set of Runestones and have just begun learning how to use them. I've got a couple of questions that I was hoping some more experienced Runemasters could help me with.

1) My set has a blank rune. The book I'm reading has very basic info on them and gives it the name "Wyrd" and says it represents Fate. On the other hand, this site (which I got from another Rune thread) says that there is no blank rune. What do y'all reckon?

2) Does anyone know of a decent "Runes for Beginners" web-site? The one above just lists keywords which never works for me. I prefer a little paragraph or whatever explaining the meanings.

3) The book I'm reading says you can use runestones in traditional Tarot spreads. Has anyone had any luck with this?

Fritz K Driftwood

23:05 / 07.06.05

The blank rune is the invention of one Mr. Blum. Most Asatru refuse to acknowledge it as legitimate. Most recommend that you keep it as a replacement should you lose one of the others. It's up to you. I don't use the blank rune any longer, but before the Age of the Internet when information was dear and costly, I used it and didn't have a problem with it. I stopped using it about 8 years ago, and that works for me now. Do what feels right for you.

This site @ Sunnyways (Runes, alphabet of myssssssstery, spooky, eh?) is pretty good. Also, try the The Rune Gild . I think that the Rune Gild is Edred Thorsson's site or somehow connected to him. Anymore info on that and we would have to start getting into the politics of the various heathen/Asatru factions, and no one wants that!

grant

02:08 / 08.06.05

You could also check out the work done here, compiled on the Barbelith wiki. Once you've cruised over those threads, you'll have a good idea of what all the runes mean and how they fit together.
The external links (particularly the Jordsvin one) will fill in most of the gaps, I think.

Fritz K Driftwood

06:14 / 08.06.05

D'oh! Grant is correct!

How could I be so absent-minded? The various rune threads were the original reason that I started to read Temple threads in the first place.

Nietzsch E. Coyote

07:14 / 08.06.05

I used to like this site.

Gypsy Lantern

07:49 / 08.06.05

How about throwing your set of manufactured runestones in the bin, where they belong, and then calling on Odin, going to the woods/beach/park/any wild space where you will be in direct contact with nature, with the expressed intention of spending the entire day trying to grasp the mysteries of Fehu (the first rune in the elder Futhark) and returning with a stone or wooden lot that you can inscribe with the rune Fehu representing the knowledge, wisdom and understanding that you have earned. Repeat until you have your full set of runes and an instinctive understanding of how to use them in a variety of ways and for a variety of purposes.

Kauna

14:11 / 08.06.05

Some background information...

http://www.arild-hauge.com/eindex.htm

Kauna

Less searchable M0rd4nt

07:34 / 11.06.05

GL may be overstating things a little, but he's sort of got a point. The runes are heavy shit, man, a deep mystery; they require much study and meditation. If you're serious about all this, you can't just buy a bunch of mass-produced fake rocks and start chucking them around.

I'm just easing back into all this myself, and I haven't even begun to make my set of runes yet. I'm preparing in various ways which I don't want to go into here, but one of the things I'm doing is refashioning my ritual dagger by hand--grinding the blunt blade down by hand, getting it really fucking sharp, whilst chanting rune poems. It's hard work and very rewarding.

When it is really fucking sharp, I'll start on Fehu.

And yes, the blank rune is B.S. Avoid.

Nietzsch E. Coyote

18:47 / 11.06.05

I have found the piece of wood that I am making my new rune set from. But I am not ready to carve it yet.

Less searchable M0rd4nt

19:18 / 11.06.05

*grin* I hear you there.

I have been gifted exactly but exactly the right piece of wood; it is mine... and yet not. I'm earning it.

Unconditional Love

19:52 / 11.06.05

alongtime ago in a cemetary far far away, i found a piece of yew wood that became my set of runes. i think gypsy has the right idea.

how i used to get the meanings was to choose one rune after having sawn the wood and used a soldering iron to burn the rune, meditate on the rune before sleep, place it under my pillow, and fix the image of the rune as i fell to sleep in my mind and let my dreams and morning impressions inform me.

its also a very good way to remember each individual rune, and if adding to your own impression via books, means that when you actually begin to read for others other than your self you will never have to look at a book for reference.

my runes are now growing in a maize field.

grant

15:13 / 04.09.07

What's the consensus on Kenneth Meadows?

I've found a couple old references to him on here that I find a little confusing, although this thread clarifies things a little.

Got a book by him on runes as a rummage sale gift. It doesn't look like something I'd get myself (especially the intro, which gets a little goofy), but does seem like it *could* be interesting. Is anything in it worthwhile? Should I bother with more than a cursory read?

zedoktar

17:08 / 04.09.07

I've been meaning to get back into Runes for a while, but my runes, which i hand made from wood, are locked in storage 2000km away. I guess I never really got out of them so much as put them out of reach for a while.
At least now I have some internet reading to get help shake the rust off before they come back.

Personally I don't know how anyone could use a mass-produced set. They feel so... fake. I guess if it works for you, then by all means.
Mine used to grab me if they had something to say, like, they would be in my head, pulling my attention mercilessly even from across town.

I mostly used Edred Thorsson and Freya Aswynns books for learning. The Aswynn book I have has a cool bookmark with all the runes and their names on it which made figuring out what i was looking at really easy. No idea what the general consensus on her is, but I do reccomend giving her a look.

EmberLeo

18:57 / 04.09.07

Both Thorsson and Aswyn are reasonable resources in my book, but then "my" book is basically Diana Paxson's Taking Up The Runes, so perhaps I'm biased.

The two things I look for are that they are actually referring back to the original rune poems (at least!) in their work, and that you ultimately use more than one resource to help you figure out your own relationship with the runes. I probably wouldn't use either Thorsson or Aswyn as my only source, because neither is quite my style, but both make good secondary sources for triangulating the perspectives of very experienced runeworkers.

--Ember--

harmonic series

03:58 / 05.09.07

I made some runes out of unpolished stone and 14k gold paint (for the symbols), on a special holiday- so I'd like very much to use the set but... the paint has already sunk some into the porous stone and the rest wants to rub off when I touch them. The question is... can I coat them with a clear lacquer without limiting their energy potential?

EmberLeo

10:40 / 05.09.07

Huh... Well, I think laquer is indeed fine, if you are actually worried you might try dipping them in a natural resin instead - beeswax might give added value. Of course a set of runestones made with gold and beeswax is rather Freya of you

--Ember--

harmonic series

03:12 / 06.09.07

Hmmm, beeswax is a good idea- thank you... and I would be honored to form a thing that Freya would appreciate!

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