When I made mine, it had to be blood, and I had to cut it out of the heel of my hand rather than do something clever with a needle. The Old Man wanted it that way. Had to show I had the mettle for it, I guess. Blood mixed with semen and an assortment of herbs and things that made sense at the time. That's how it done the Old Way, or so I'm guided, and that's what I was to do with it. That remains my most intimate and powerful personal ritual to date. Lost my favorite knife to the spear I had to make last minute, too. And there are still parts of it I just can't talk about. But I spent a good bit of time among the most real communion with dieties I've ever experienced.
I deviated from tradition a bit though, and used snowflake obsidian for the stones. Its a stone that resonates well with me, so that's what it became of. Consequently, they have a most particular feel to them, and particular handling instructions. Like, never to be touched by sunlight (well, I did blood them at the height of a lunar eclipse...) nor touched by anyone but me (which also makes sense seeing as how obsidian absorbes energy so). And oaths to ettiquite in their use as well, which I was perfectly willing to make. But it all went well.
Consequently, I feel any personal set should be blooded properly, not just painted, if its to be properly empowered. I also think for times of greatly important divination, a set cut from fruit tree, blooded, and then used only once is the way to go. But that's my one stickle to tradition there, and I've not yet found anything important enough to merit that level of attention.
Otherwise, a useful technique to add I used in learning them was to meditate on one of the runes, bring to mind all the meanings of it at once, see the rune burning before me, then cast it like a sigil and banish. I did this with each rune over three nights, one aette per night, and imprinted the lot in one go. After casting an entire aette, I'd pass the heck out from the effort, but it did the trick. I later went over them again 2 more times, for a total of 9 nights in all, adding in details from different sources to round my understanding out. In retrospect, casting a single rune each night before sleep would have been easier on me, but I aparantly had to get up to speed asap to make up for lost time or something.
In their use, every draw is a religious experience. Its not like the tarot for me. I'm invoking powers and drawing communication from them, often as an act of service for someone they want to talk to that came to me for the reading. Part of the deal, that. I also find that I spend a lot more time working with someone to narrow down their question to something specific to ask, something that can not be answered by either of us without a draw. I'll sit there and give answers without drawing a single stone until we get to where I need to draw because its something dealing with information beyond me. That's just a matter of respect, to not ask what you can already answer yourself. Don't waste the gods' time.
And so I find myself having found religion out of pursuit of magick. Careful, they can getcha that way. |
