This article was first published in NY and NE magazine in 2003-2004. It is intended for a general Pagan audience but should be relevant to Wicca as well - Looking at it now I might want to rewrite it but ok here it is
The starting point: My journey started in a bookshop in Trondheim in 1989, where I found a small brown book with an accompanying very factory-made rune set. I silently pass over the author and title, some things are better forgotten than hidden.
Enough about that for now, the book and the runes went home with me and were read in one go from the first page to the last. I wouldn't say I was a pagan at the time, but somewhere along the line I had a deep respect for my ancestors and their knowledge.
It was really quite simple, any people who lived with Iron Age technology and who had the strength and will to cling to this rocky outcrop, up here at the very edge of the ice, obviously had to have some kind of power. And based on my own experience of the harsh lessons of life, I realised that these people who had survived here under these conditions had necessarily understood a thing or two about the characteristics of nature and the forces that govern it.
When I had finished the book, I was quite disappointed, and what I was left with was quite simple: my ancestors never stood for anything as anaemic, toothless and American as that. The national fluffy bunny book club hadn't been invented yet, but I don't doubt that this book could have been a hit there. But it didn't get any applause from me. Book fires bring too dark associations, so it ended up at the bottom of a drawer and has been there ever since.
The start: But it had started something, so after some hesitation I pulled three runes out of the plastic velour bag that came with it, and hey and ho the gods were with me even then, because the runes that came out of the bag were: Ty the warrior and the man, Ash world tree and The blank unrecognisable. The question I asked before I drew them was: What will the runes mean to me on my path, and the answer suited a budding mystic and a bit macho 19 year old perfectly.
What's more, they quivered with power, I could feel a pulse beating out of them and into me, settling against my own heartbeat in the same way that a good bass player creates the perfect sounding board for the guitarist. My budding mystic heart suddenly beat with a power and intensity that almost took my breath away.
I sat with those runes in my hands for a long time that day, and spontaneous meditative images came over me, filling me with deep wonder and a new respect for my ancestors. It was the start of a long and close friendship, and a journey that I have only seen the beginning of so far.
So what do you do when you've recently made a new friend, but you realise that the language of the person who introduced you isn't up to scratch? Well, together with your new friend, you find your own language. Even though I didn't understand much more, I realised that the runes were alive, which I experienced in a striking and direct way, and living things can speak and express themselves, so there you go. Then I just had to figure out the keywords and start communicating.
First I tried my best to forget what I had read in the aforementioned book, right down to the names of the runes. Then, one by one, the runes became part of my daily meditation practice. They went to bed with me at night. They were used as wall decorations. I could sit for hours "playing with them" spreading them out and letting them form patterns, etc. Etc.
What eventually happened was that in a strange way they began to take shape in me, almost as if they lived in me as something abstract that slowly but surely gained substance and became a landscape. The magical landscape of the runes.
Then in 1994 I met shamanism, or perhaps it was shamanism that found me, and the mystic heart and its circulation were filled with new and fresh blood. And a strong and beating heart filled to the brim with fresh, vital blood is, as we all know, a prerequisite for striving up long uphills and running like the wind down gentle slopes, the journey could begin in earnest. Now I could really experience and explore the landscape of the runes.
Today, 15 years after that first vibrant encounter with the power of the runes, I see more clearly than ever that the runes are alive and communicating. And I realise that good books and good teachers can inspire and act as birth guides, but the rune landscape is best experienced first-hand.
But a good, and as detailed as appropriate, map is a good companion on the journey, and here are some of my map references as well as some descriptions of the nature of the landscape.
Whatever you're working with, whether it's deities, power beings of various kinds or a power language like the runes, it's important to realise that they have a past. All the power that the people and robbers of Cardamom City have invested in them lies in the field around the runes. When seeking the power and insight of the runes, the moral here, as in most magical work, is to let your ethics be your own and keep your intentions strong and clear. You don't want to pick up the rubbish that certain schools of thought and people who I don't even think are worthy of mentioning by name have left behind, and in some cases are still leaving behind, do you?
So as I said, let your ethics be your own and keep your opinion strong and clear.
The Futhark: "My" runes are the 24 runes in the older futhark. The futhark is named after the first 7 runes.
In the introduction to this article I mentioned the blank rune, the unrecognisable one, which was part of the aforementioned book and the rune set that came with it, and I see that others sometimes use it.
I have stopped using it for two reasons; when I encounter the futhark in an altered state of consciousness, in a shamanic trance, I have yet to see it, at least as an independent entity. Perhaps it can be described as a sum of all 24, but I don't use it as a single rune.
Besides, when I work with the runes in the form of a physical rune set, they are all blank on the reverse side, so why would I need one that is blank on both sides?
The Futhark is again divided into 3 ættir, that is Frøys ættir, Hagals ættir and Tys ættir, more about this under the heading initiations.
Much can be said about the history of the runes and the development of the characters, first as a power language and later as a written language, but that is not within the scope of this article.
The sources: In my work with the runes, I have always focused on my encounter and dialogue with them. In recent years I have read several books about the runes, but I have yet to read a book that I would fully recommend.
I also find it a paradox that so few of the books available are of Scandinavian origin. Although the runes as a power language speak a universal language, they do so with a clear northern European and Scandinavian accent, and it is my, possibly arrogant, assertion that it must be an advantage to have a good dose of Scandinavian genes in the body when this unmistakable Scandinavian accent is to be fully understood. I have so much of the shaman in me that I value my atavistic, my inherited if sometimes buried knowledge. And these atavistic kernels of wisdom, these embers at the centre of my cellular structure, I feel that the runes are breathing and tuns them into live flame.
Good written sources from Norse times are notoriously scarce, but they can be a great source of inspiration, great pegs on which to hang your own experienced knowledge. And again with contemporary books, they are valuable in their own way. But I think they are of greater value as sources of inspiration, and as supplementary material for your own experience than as textbooks from which you memorise rune knowledge.
The language of power: As mentioned before, the runes are living beings that exist in, create, give birth to and sustain the nine worlds. But for the mystic, they also function as symbols; the symbol expands the reach of your daily consciousness. Knowledge, insight and power that is too far-reaching for your daytime consciousness to embrace is made available to you through the symbol. The 24 runes encompass the entire cosmos and together form a complete power language. When you use the language of power, all the power it encompasses is made available to you....
You can also look at the language of power as an archiving system. Each rune, each etiquette, and to some extent the movement between them is an archive folder. It is delivered with a basic content. You then archive all your experiences, insights and power with references and cross-references during your own practice. The folders can then be opened when needed to retrieve parts of the content, or entire folders can be included in a given piece of work when needed.
Initiations: The encounter with each rune can be an initiation. A mystery initiation that opens a portal between your mind, body and thought, and towards the power and insight of the rune. You are a reflection of the cosmos, so when the portal opens and the power behind the rune reaches you, it will meet its reflection that already lives within you and the power becomes an integral part of you. Available to you and your intention on all levels...clever and practical:-)
But each ættir also represents an initiation, a deeper and more far-reaching initiation. If we look at the three ættir and what they represent, I think many will recognise the three levels/degrees/deeper initiations from other contexts and other systems.
You will see that the eight runes in the three ættir represent the same things but on different levels, for instance there is a qualitative difference between the purifying rune in the three ættir, there is a development here, a gradation if you will. And the same gradation is then reflected throughout the ættir.
The first, Frøys ættir, is very much about learning to recognise and deal with the fundamental forces in life, the fertile, the constructive, the destructive and so on. In many ways, it is the apprentice's ættir, it helps you to familiarise yourself with and integrate the "elements of magic".
The meeting with the other, Hagal's ettir, is the meeting with the magician in you, where you learn to handle and manipulate the forces to a greater extent. And to direct the insights you have gained outwards, you can become the emerging teacher.
The third, Tys ættir, is the high priest/priestess ættir. You are still an apprentice and magician but with a greater responsibility and you are approaching the realisation of your full potential.
Like all other magical work and craftsmanship, this is a perpetual process, at least from my point of view, and each ættir requires that you have integrated all the runes from all three ættir before you are ready for the next "ættir initiation". And so you go through the futharken in round after round.
Well, I think that's enough for now, in the next issue of Ny og Ne we'll take a look at the toolbox the runes represent, we'll also take a look at runes and cosmology, the non-physical home of the runes, and if I find the inspiration for it, we'll take an ever so slight deep dive into the topic of runes and the mathematics of magic, and look at how the language of power can be used almost in the same way as mathematical equations to analyse and understand most things from that dark morning in primeval times when the goddess created for the first time and into eternity: -)
Thank you: Thank you Tor who played the role of relentless editor by taking the electricity and thus deleting an unsaved part of the article, it got better on the second try. But did you have to do it so thoroughly that I had to wait several hours in the middle of the night to get the power back?
Thanks for last time, it took a little longer than expected but at least here is the continuation of the rune article in the winter issue 2004
The toolbox:
Well integrated into you, the futhark is a massive toolbox. I find it hard to think of a piece of magical craftsmanship, or any part of a process where the runes cannot be used with vigour.
For me, magical craftsmanship is divided into three parts, this has almost become a mantra for me: Intention, Tool and Focus. Intention is the purpose, tool is the technique or method you use, and focus is the ability to keep the direction of the work. Then it all becomes a matter of having a strong and pure intention, mastering the tool and staying focused, and few things are impossible. The runes can be used on all these levels.
For me, intention is "everything" in the sense that it is crucial to how a piece of work turns out. If it's murky and unclear, the work will follow suit. Or the result may be completely different from what you thought you wanted because the intention was ambiguous. It is often difficult to see yourself and your own motivation clearly. The runes can be of invaluable help here. As a clarifying tool, they can show you why you want what you want, what needs to be done to make you and your situation ready to receive the change you want, and often how to achieve what you want through purely physical " unmagical" means.
Using the runes for this purpose can be done in many ways, but they all require that you have worked with the runes enough that they are largely consciously integrated as both intellectual and experienced knowledge. For example, you can: identify one or more runes that represent the situation and meditate on them, place them under your pillow and ask for clarifying dreams, etc. "Classical divination" is of course another way to achieve the same thing.
The tool can be the runes themselves. Through rune magic where you gather the powers you see are needed to achieve what you want and bind them together in a new rune, you can create exactly the situation or goal you want.
Another way to do something similar is to "write a sequence" with the runes. The first rune in such a series should represent the situation as it is at the time. The next one may carry exactly the power needed to cleanse away that which prevents the situation from developing as you wish. The third has the power that is missing in the situation, and the fourth embodies the desired result. These are then carved in the right order and given power and attention, while you consciously open up to the necessary change and, & voila, things start to happen.
As a rune chant, the runes can also be the consciousness-changing tool in the work. In- or evocation of the rune(s) can be an important part of travelling/becoming powerful. Try the very simple Fehu-Fehu-Fehu-Fe-Fe-Fe-Fehu as a chant. Power in buckets and pails there!
In shamanic healing work, it is about removing power imprints and replacing power loss. And in this context, a shamanic rune expert experiences that runes are blown into the client's body to fill "holes" after power loss. I even saw a "new age" healer at a fair once who spread a significant number of runes over the client's body and then laid hands on them. When asked, the lady had no idea what the runes meant or what power lay in them, but as she said it works, so there you go. How strongly I would recommend such an approach, or should we rather say lack of approach is another matter but as the lady said, it worked :-)
The runes can give focus to the work in many ways. As a shamanic practitioner, I know several runes as a travelling tool and auxiliary power, in the same way as or in combination with drums, power animals, etc. If I have problems in the journey in other ways, I bring in Hagal in the journey work and off we go, it is often like the pure nimbus 2000.
When I have made bindrunes, rune wands or other "runetalismans" as described above under the heading of tools, I regularly focus on the work by having them physically there, in my pocket, under my pillow, on the altar or wherever I have placed them. Their mere presence reminds me of the work in progress and helps me to focus on it, and to check/remember/examine how far it has come. And to round off when the work is over and the desired change has taken place.
Also, of course, the power of a particular rune can give you exactly the power needed to get; generally better focus, or specifically in certain contexts.
Cosmology: As a language of power, the futhark speaks of the entire cosmos, how the cosmos came out of chaos, what forces it was formed by, what forces sustain it and how it will one day break down.
All this lies there in layers upon layers for those with eyes to see and hearts to hear. And the most fascinating thing is how this insight comes in layers when you work with the runes. Suddenly there's something completely new there that you haven't seen before, and "out of the blue" it's so clear that it's eye-opening.
As I said, this "message" is layer upon layer, and it will probably be read and perceived differently depending on who you are and where you stand.
A relatively simple example of this is a way of reading Ty's ættir as the creation of man:
Ty is the first and brings the masculine or animus, Bjørk is the second and brings the feminine or anima, ior is the third and brings the animal/matter/body, and mannar is the fourth and is man. Then you can look at the fifth and sixth and see where they lead you.
Simple and basic, but it leads further into other contexts and insights that eventually become staggering and make you humble, proud and hungry for more. More insight, more power, more initiation. And the Futhark gives you that without limit, if you dare.
In the previous article, I mentioned that I find the sources from the time of the "runes" to be sparse. Sometimes I also find them both limiting and perhaps downright misleading. Why I feel this way is a big explanation that there is no room for here. Suffice it to say that it seems to me that most of what we have been handed down in terms of knowledge and understanding of pre-Christian society, customs and cosmology is a small, edited selection. And this selection has probably been edited with a deliberate policy by the Christian gentlemen who acted as editors.
When archaeological finds and traditions are then attempted to be understood within this framework, the results are sometimes awkward and very incomplete.
I therefore think it's important in rune work to dare to think in new ways, and to dare to let the runes themselves speak, even if they sometimes tell a story that doesn't harmonise well with what's written in books etc. And what are read and accepted truths, well then maybe it might be worthwhile to trust the runes instead of the experts? At least as an experiment to see where it leads.
I'll try a slightly deeper rune cosmological story:
Hagal represents on one level the created/manifested/ the six directions. The four celestial directions that are also the core of the solar cross, and the upward and downward axis that runs through the centre of this cross.
Fig. 1 hagal represented by the four cardinal directions and the upward and downward axis in the centre:
The axis is the potential, the god and goddess, the life force if you will. Seen from the side, this will appear as a new cross, and this cross is in turn glued together by the third rune of the futhark, Thurs the chaos force. The bond that turns chaos into cosmos (the midgard serpent which is the power of chaos but holds midgard together, etc.)
Fig 2 the four directions and the axis through seen from the side with the double thorn that binds them together:
If you now look closely you will see that where the axes in this cross meet there is a double Eiwaz/barlind, which forms a Swastika; the eternal circle, the eternal truth, birth and death, the wheel of the year etc etc. Yep, are you following me, have you lost the plot or do you think I'm spinning fantasy castles and fairy tales? It's all true :-) in case you lost me along the way, as you can see I have attached a couple of small sketches so you can try to figure them out:-)
The Midwife of the Runes: A physical rune set is nice to have in rune work, and making it yourself can be an important part of getting to know the runes. I myself have made several sets of different materials; different types of wood, bone, horn and ceramics. And some of the coolest rune work I've seen was carved on a whole moose jaw.
I was pleased with most of the ones I made myself, and each individual set was fine for its use and its user. Tacitus says something about the runes being made from a twig of a fruit-bearing tree, and this can certainly have its significance. For me, it is more important to find a material that appeals to me and/or the person who will use the runes, and not least, the energy I put into the work as a rune maker and the forces I co-operate with along the way are important for the power of the finished runes.
An Icelandic lady who had learnt to use the runes from her aunt, who in turn had learnt from her foremothers in a supposedly unbroken line back to pre-Christian times. She said that she had learnt to pick pebbles on the beach and make the runes from them. She also said that you should always make a new set before an important divination. I myself have tried to make a set specifically for a particular divination, but it doesn't tempt me to repeat it often. However, I find that the runes, like other magical tools, become "charged" over time and become mine in a positive way with long-term use.
When I work hard to create a rune set, each individual rune is a small birth. The work takes place in co-operation with one or more auxiliary forces, such as a non-physical rune teacher, the elements, etc.
I also see making the physical rune, giving it a body, as a favour I do the rune. As a thank you for all it has done for me.
I make ceramic runes by mile firing, a technique that has been used in the north at least since the Bronze Age, and which is similar to modern Japanese Raku firing. Perhaps there will be an article later describing this process (which is also excellent as a group/coven/course project).
House of Runes: As I have probably said repeatedly now, the runes are living beings, and living beings usually have a home. So also with the runes. When I search in trance for the source/residence of the runes, I come to a place that looks suspiciously like stonehenge and similar stone circles. How real and important this is is for others to decide, for me it is an important part of the rune practice to visit this place regularly, to find new strength and "blessing" in the rune work there. So good luck on your runic journey. Have a good summer and see you at the summer gathering?
- Kategori: Runene
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-A personal description of a mystics journey, with selected map references.