Runic magic
Encyclopedia
There is some evidence that, in addition to being a writing system
, runes
historically served purposes of magic
. This is the case from earliest epigraphic evidence of the Roman
to Germanic Iron Age
, with non-linguistic inscriptions and the alu
word. An erilaz
appears to have been a person versed in runes, including their magic applications.
In medieval sources, notably the Poetic Edda
, the Sigrdrífumál
mentions "victory runes" to be carved on a sword
, "some on the grasp and some on the inlay, and name Tyr
twice."
In early modern and modern times, related folklore and superstition is recorded in the form of the Icelandic magical staves
. In the early 20th century, Germanic mysticism
coins new forms of "runic magic", some of which were continued or developed further by contemporary adherents of Germanic Neopaganism
. Modern systems of
runic divination are based on Hermeticism
, classical Occultism, and the I Ching
.
used various forms of divination and means of reading omens. Tacitus
(Germania
10) gives a detailed account (98AD):
It is often debated whether "signs" refers specifically to runes or to other marks; both interpretations are plausible and Tacticus does not give enough detail for a definite decision to be made.
The Ansuz
and Tiwaz
runes in particular seem to have had magical significance in the early (Elder Futhark
) period. The Sigrdrífumál instruction of "name Tyr twice" is reminiscent of the double or triple "stacked Tyr" bindrunes found e.g. on Seeland-II-C
or the Lindholm amulet
in the aaaaaaaazzznnn-b- muttt, sequence, which besides stacked Tyr involves multiple repetition of Ansuz, but also triple occurrence of Algiz
and Naudiz
.
Many inscriptions also have meaningless utterances interpreted as magical chants, such as tuwatuwa (Vadstena bracteate
), aaduaaaliia (DR BR42) or g͡æg͡og͡æ (Undley bracteate
), g͡ag͡ag͡a (Kragehul I
).
Alu
is a charm word appearing on numerous artifacts found in Central and Northern Europe dating from the Germanic Iron Age
. The word is the most common of the early runic charm words and can appear either alone or as part of an apparent formula. The origin and meaning of the word are matters of dispute, though a general agreement exists among scholars that the word either represents amulet magic or is a metaphor (or metonym) for it.
A few Viking Age
rings
with runic inscriptions of apparently magical nature were found, among them the Kingmoor Ring
. The phrase "runes of power" is found on two runestones in Sweden, DR 357
from Stentoften and DR 360
from Björketorp. Runestones with curses include DR 81
in Skjern, DR 83 in Sønder Vinge, DR 209
in Glavendrup, DR 230
from Tryggevælde, DR 338 in Glemminge, and Vg 67
in Saleby.
is the Sigrdrífumál
, where the valkyrie Sigrdrífa (Brynhild) presents Sigurd
with a memory-draught of ale that had been charmed with "gladness runes" (stanza 5),
She goes on to give advice on the magical runes in seven further stanzas. In all instances, the runes are used for actual magic
(apotropaic or ability-enhancing spells) rather than for divination:
The Poetic Edda also seems to corroborate the magical significance of the runes the Hávamál
where Odin
mentions runes in contexts of divination, of healing and of necromancy (trans. Bellows):
Other oft cited sources for the practice of runic divination are chapter 38 of Snorri Sturluson
's Ynglinga Saga
, where Granmar
, the king of Södermanland
, travels to the Temple at Uppsala
for the seasonal blót
. "There, the chips fell in a way that said that he would not live long" (Féll honum þá svo spánn sem hann mundi eigi lengi lifa).http://wikisource.org/wiki/Ynglinga_saga#Orusta_Ingjalds_konungs_og_Granmars
Another source is in the Vita Ansgari
, the biography of Ansgar
the Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen
, which was written by a monk named Rimbert
. Rimbert details the custom of casting lots
by the pagan Norse (chapters 26-30).http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/anskar.html The chips and the lots, however, can be explained respectively as a blótspánn (sacrificial chip) and a hlautlein (lot-twig), which according to Foote and Wilson would be "marked, possibly with sacrificial blood, shaken and thrown down like dice, and their positive or negative significance then decided."
Egils Saga
features several incidents of runic magic. The most celebrated is the scene where Egil discovers (and destroys) a poisoned drink prepared for him, by cutting his hand and cutting runes on the drinking horn, and painting them runes with blood. While the motif of blood painted runes also appears in other examples of early Norse literature it is uncertain whether the practice of painting runes with blood is merely a literary invention or whether it had precedence in magical practice.
In the 17th Century, Hermeticist and Rosicrucian
Johannes Bureus
, having been inspired by visions, developed a Runic system based on the Kaballah and the Futhark which he called the Adulruna.
The Armanen runes
"revealed" to Guido von List
in 1902 were employed for magical purposes in Germanic mysticism
by authors such as Friedrich Bernhard Marby
and Siegfried Adolf Kummer
, and after World War II
in a reformed "pansophical" system by Karl Spiesberger
. More recently, Stephen Flowers
, Adolf Schleipfer, Larry E. Camp and others also build on List's system.
Several modern systems of runic magic and runic divination were published from the 1980s onward. The first book on runic divination, written by Ralph Blum in 1982, led to the development of sets of runes designed for use in several such systems of fortune telling, in which the runes are typically incised in clay, stone tiles, crystals, resin, glass, or polished stones, then either selected one-by-one from a closed bag or thrown down at random for reading.
Later authors such as Diana L. Paxson
and Freya Aswynn follow Blum (1989) in drawing a direct correlation between runic divination and tarot divination. They may discuss runes in the context of "spreads" and advocate the usage of "rune cards".
Modern authors like Ralph Blum sometimes include an ahistorical "blank rune" in their sets. Blank runes are most commonly used to replace any runes that are lost and are not to be included in a reading.
book The Book of Runes: A Handbook for the Use of an Ancient Oracle, which was marketed with a small bag of round tiles with runes stamped on them. This book has remained in print since its first publication. The sources for Blum's divinatory interpretations, as he explained in The Book of Runes itself, drew heavily on then-current books describing the ancient I Ching
divination system of China
.
Each of Blum's seven books on runic divination deals with a specialized area of life or a varied technique for reading runes:
Blum has also written books on the Tao Te Ching
, Zen
Buddhism
, and UFO
s.
published a series of books under the pen-name "Edred Thorsson" which detailed his own original method of runic divination and magic,'odianism', which he said was loosely based on historical sources and modern European hermeticism
. These books were:
Runic divination is a component of Flowers' "esoteric runology" course offered to members of his Rune Gild, as detailed in The Nine Doors of Midgard: A Curriculum of Rune-Work.
, a.k.a. Kveldulf Gundarsson, described runic magic as the active principle as opposed to passive interpretations based on runic divination. He held that runic magic is more active than the allegedly shamanic practice of seid practiced by the Seiðkona. Runic magic, he states, uses the runes to affect the world outside based on the archetype
s they represent.
Most of Gundarsson's runic magic entails being in possession of a physical entity that is engraved with any or all of the individual runes or "staves", so as to practically work with their energies. The individual runes are reddened with either blood, dyes, or paints. The act of possessing the stave in its final form serves the purpose of affecting the world of form with "the rune might" of that particular stave. After use, the staves are discarded or destroyed.
Gundarsson holds that each rune has a certain sound to it, to be chanted or sung; the sound has in common the phonetic value by which it is represented. This act of singing or chanting is supposed to have more or less the same effect of using the staves in their physical form.
Writing system
A writing system is a symbolic system used to represent elements or statements expressible in language.-General properties:Writing systems are distinguished from other possible symbolic communication systems in that the reader must usually understand something of the associated spoken language to...
, runes
Runic alphabet
The runic alphabets are a set of related alphabets using letters known as runes to write various Germanic languages before the adoption of the Latin alphabet and for specialized purposes thereafter...
historically served purposes of magic
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
. This is the case from earliest epigraphic evidence of the Roman
Roman Iron Age
The Roman Iron Age is the name that Swedish archaeologist Oscar Montelius gave to a part of the Iron Age in Scandinavia, Northern Germany and the Netherlands....
to Germanic Iron Age
Germanic Iron Age
The Germanic Iron Age is the name given to the period 400–800 in Northern Europe and it is part of the continental Age of Migrations.-Germanic Iron :...
, with non-linguistic inscriptions and the alu
Alu (runic)
Alu is a Germanic charm word appearing on numerous Elder Futhark found in Central and Northern Europe dating from between 200 and 800 CE. The word – the most common of the early runic charm words – usually appears either alone or as part of an apparent formula...
word. An erilaz
Erilaz
Erilaz is a Migration period Proto-Norse word attested on various Elder Futhark inscriptions, which has often been interpreted to mean "magician" or "rune master", viz. one who is capable of writing runes to magical effect...
appears to have been a person versed in runes, including their magic applications.
In medieval sources, notably the Poetic Edda
Poetic Edda
The Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems primarily preserved in the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. Along with Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, the Poetic Edda is the most important extant source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends, and from the early 19th century...
, the Sigrdrífumál
Sigrdrífumál
Sigrdrífumál is the conventional title given to a section of the Poetic Edda text in Codex Regius....
mentions "victory runes" to be carved on a sword
Viking sword
The Viking sword is a form of spatha, evolving out of the Migration Period sword in the 8th century, and evolving into the classical knightly sword in the 11th century with the emergence of larger crossguards...
, "some on the grasp and some on the inlay, and name Tyr
Tiwaz rune
The t-rune is named after Týr, and was identified with this god. The reconstructed Proto-Germanic name is *Tîwaz or *Teiwaz.-Rune poems:Tiwaz is mentioned in all three rune poems...
twice."
In early modern and modern times, related folklore and superstition is recorded in the form of the Icelandic magical staves
Icelandic magical staves
Icelandic magical staves are symbols credited with magical effect preserved in various grimoires dating from the 17th century and later...
. In the early 20th century, Germanic mysticism
Germanic mysticism
Germanic mysticism or Germanic occultism may refer to* Ariosophy* more generally, various schools of Esotericism in Germany and Austria* various modern systems of runic magic...
coins new forms of "runic magic", some of which were continued or developed further by contemporary adherents of Germanic Neopaganism
Germanic Neopaganism
Germanic neopaganism is the contemporary revival of historical Germanic paganism. Precursor movements appeared in the early 20th century in Germany and Austria. A second wave of revival began in the early 1970s...
. Modern systems of
runic divination are based on Hermeticism
Hermeticism
Hermeticism or the Western Hermetic Tradition is a set of philosophical and religious beliefs based primarily upon the pseudepigraphical writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus...
, classical Occultism, and the I Ching
I Ching
The I Ching or "Yì Jīng" , also known as the Classic of Changes, Book of Changes and Zhouyi, is one of the oldest of the Chinese classic texts...
.
Historical evidence
Tacitus
Historically it is known that the Germanic peoplesGermanic peoples
The Germanic peoples are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.Originating about 1800 BCE from the Corded Ware Culture on the North...
used various forms of divination and means of reading omens. Tacitus
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
(Germania
Germania (book)
The Germania , written by Gaius Cornelius Tacitus around 98, is an ethnographic work on the Germanic tribes outside the Roman Empire.-Contents:...
10) gives a detailed account (98AD):
- They attach the highest importance to the taking of auspices and casting lots. Their usual procedure with the lot is simple. They cut off a branch from a nut-bearing tree and slice it into strips these they mark with different signs and throw them at random onto a white cloth. Then the state's priest, if it is an official consultation, or the father of the family, in a private one, offers prayer to the gods and looking up towards heaven picks up three strips, one at a time, and, according to which sign they have previously been marked with, makes his interpretation. If the lots forbid an undertaking, there is no deliberation that day about the matter in question. If they allow it, further confirmation is required by taking auspices
AuspiceAn auspice is literally "one who looks at birds", a diviner who reads omens from the observed flight of birds...
.
It is often debated whether "signs" refers specifically to runes or to other marks; both interpretations are plausible and Tacticus does not give enough detail for a definite decision to be made.
Epigraphy
Ansuz rune
The a-rune , Younger Futhark was probably called *ansuz in Proto-Germanic, to which the Norse name Æsir is attributed.The shape of the rune is likely from Neo-Etruscan a , like Latin A ultimately from Phoenician aleph....
and Tiwaz
Tiwaz rune
The t-rune is named after Týr, and was identified with this god. The reconstructed Proto-Germanic name is *Tîwaz or *Teiwaz.-Rune poems:Tiwaz is mentioned in all three rune poems...
runes in particular seem to have had magical significance in the early (Elder Futhark
Elder Futhark
The Elder Futhark is the oldest form of the runic alphabet, used by Germanic tribes for Northwest Germanic and Migration period Germanic dialects of the 2nd to 8th centuries for inscriptions on artifacts such as jewellery, amulets, tools, weapons and runestones...
) period. The Sigrdrífumál instruction of "name Tyr twice" is reminiscent of the double or triple "stacked Tyr" bindrunes found e.g. on Seeland-II-C
Seeland-II-C
Seeland-II-C is a Scandinavian bracteate from Zealand, Denmark dating to the Migration period . The bracteate bears an Elder Futhark inscription which reads as:The final ttt is a triple-stacked Tiwaz rune...
or the Lindholm amulet
Lindholm amulet
The Lindholm "amulet", listed as DR 261 in Rundata, is a bone piece found in Skåne, Sweden, that is dated to the 2nd to 4th centuries and has a runic inscription.-Description:...
in the aaaaaaaazzznnn-b- muttt, sequence, which besides stacked Tyr involves multiple repetition of Ansuz, but also triple occurrence of Algiz
Algiz
The Algiz is part of the ancient Nordic and Anglo-Saxon runic alphabet, often equated to the modern day z, however was traditionally pronounced yr. The letter has come to symbolize many neo-pagan religions and is often worn as a pendant...
and Naudiz
Naudiz
Abdul Rahman Pazhwak was an Afghan poet and diplomat. He was educated in Afghanistan and started out his career as a journalist, but eventually joined the foreign ministry. During the 1950s he became ambassador to the United Nations, and served as president of the UN General Assembly from 1966 to...
.
Many inscriptions also have meaningless utterances interpreted as magical chants, such as tuwatuwa (Vadstena bracteate
Vadstena bracteate
The Vadstena bracteate is a gold C-bracteate found in the earth at Vadstena, Sweden, in 1774. Along with the bracteate was a gold ring and a piece of gold sheet: all were about melted down by a goldsmith who was stopped by a local clergyman...
), aaduaaaliia (DR BR42) or g͡æg͡og͡æ (Undley bracteate
Undley bracteate
The Undley bracteate is a 5th century bracteate found in Undley Common, near Lakenheath, Suffolk. It bears the earliest known inscription that can be argued to be in Anglo-Frisian Futhorc ....
), g͡ag͡ag͡a (Kragehul I
Kragehul I
Kragehul I is a migration period lance-shaft found in Fyn, Denmark. It is now in the collection of the National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark. The spear shaft was found in 1877 during the excavation of the classic war booty sacrificial site Kragehul on southern Funen. The site holds five...
).
Alu
Alu (runic)
Alu is a Germanic charm word appearing on numerous Elder Futhark found in Central and Northern Europe dating from between 200 and 800 CE. The word – the most common of the early runic charm words – usually appears either alone or as part of an apparent formula...
is a charm word appearing on numerous artifacts found in Central and Northern Europe dating from the Germanic Iron Age
Germanic Iron Age
The Germanic Iron Age is the name given to the period 400–800 in Northern Europe and it is part of the continental Age of Migrations.-Germanic Iron :...
. The word is the most common of the early runic charm words and can appear either alone or as part of an apparent formula. The origin and meaning of the word are matters of dispute, though a general agreement exists among scholars that the word either represents amulet magic or is a metaphor (or metonym) for it.
A few Viking Age
Viking Age
Viking Age is the term for the period in European history, especially Northern European and Scandinavian history, spanning the late 8th to 11th centuries. Scandinavian Vikings explored Europe by its oceans and rivers through trade and warfare. The Vikings also reached Iceland, Greenland,...
rings
Magic ring
A magic ring is a ring, usually a finger ring, that has magical properties. It appears frequently in fantasy and fairy tales. Magic rings are found in the folklore of every country where rings are worn, and they endow the wearer with a variety of abilities, including invisibility, the granting of...
with runic inscriptions of apparently magical nature were found, among them the Kingmoor Ring
Kingmoor Ring
There are seven known rings of the Anglo-Saxon period bearing runic inscriptions.The most notable of these are the Bramham Moor Ring, found in the 18th century, and the Kingmoor Ring, found 1817, inscribed with a nearly identical magical formula read asA third ring, found before 1824 There are...
. The phrase "runes of power" is found on two runestones in Sweden, DR 357
Stentoften Runestone
The Stentoften Runestone, listed in the Rundata catalog as DR 357, is a runestone which contains a curse in Proto-Norse that was discovered in Stentoften, Blekinge, Sweden....
from Stentoften and DR 360
Björketorp Runestone
The Björketorp Runestone in Blekinge, Sweden, is part of a grave field which includes menhirs, both solitary and forming stone circles....
from Björketorp. Runestones with curses include DR 81
Skern Runestone
The Skern Runestone, designated as Danish Runic Inscription 81 or DR 81 in the Rundata catalog, is a Viking Age memorial runestone located in Skjern, Denmark. The stone features a facial mask and an inscription which ends in a curse...
in Skjern, DR 83 in Sønder Vinge, DR 209
Glavendrup stone
The Glavendrup stone, designated as DR 209 by Rundata, is a runestone on the island of Funen in Denmark and dates from the early 10th century. It contains Denmark's longest runic inscription and ends in a curse.-Description:...
in Glavendrup, DR 230
Tryggevælde Runestone
Tryggevælde Runestone, designated as DR 230 under Rundata, is a runestone housed in the National Museum of Denmark, in Copenhagen. It is classified as being carved in runestone style RAK, and is dated to about 900 CE.-Description:...
from Tryggevælde, DR 338 in Glemminge, and Vg 67
Saleby Runestone
The Saleby Runestone, designated as Vg 67 in the Rundata catalog, was originally located in Saleby, Västergötland, Sweden, and is one of the few runestones that is raised in memory of a woman.-Description:...
in Saleby.
Medieval sources
Th most prolific source for runic magic in the Poetic EddaPoetic Edda
The Poetic Edda is a collection of Old Norse poems primarily preserved in the Icelandic mediaeval manuscript Codex Regius. Along with Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda, the Poetic Edda is the most important extant source on Norse mythology and Germanic heroic legends, and from the early 19th century...
is the Sigrdrífumál
Sigrdrífumál
Sigrdrífumál is the conventional title given to a section of the Poetic Edda text in Codex Regius....
, where the valkyrie Sigrdrífa (Brynhild) presents Sigurd
Sigurd
Sigurd is a legendary hero of Norse mythology, as well as the central character in the Völsunga saga. The earliest extant representations for his legend come in pictorial form from seven runestones in Sweden and most notably the Ramsund carving Sigurd (Old Norse: Sigurðr) is a legendary hero of...
with a memory-draught of ale that had been charmed with "gladness runes" (stanza 5),
|
|
She goes on to give advice on the magical runes in seven further stanzas. In all instances, the runes are used for actual magic
Magic (paranormal)
Magic is the claimed art of manipulating aspects of reality either by supernatural means or through knowledge of occult laws unknown to science. It is in contrast to science, in that science does not accept anything not subject to either direct or indirect observation, and subject to logical...
(apotropaic or ability-enhancing spells) rather than for divination:
- "victory runes" to be carved on the sword hilt (stanza 6, presumably referring to the t runeTiwaz runeThe t-rune is named after Týr, and was identified with this god. The reconstructed Proto-Germanic name is *Tîwaz or *Teiwaz.-Rune poems:Tiwaz is mentioned in all three rune poems...
named for Tyr), - ølrunar "AleAlûAlû is one of the Utukku, vengeful spirits in the lore of the ancient Assyrians.Stephen Herbert Langdon cites a translation of a cuneiform script by Major-General Sir H. C. Rawlinson. From v Pl. 50, A, line 42: "Whom in his bed the wicked Alû covered,/Whom the wicked ghost by night overwhelmed"...
-runes" (stanza 7, a protective spell against being bewitched by means of ale served by the hosts wife; naudizNaudizAbdul Rahman Pazhwak was an Afghan poet and diplomat. He was educated in Afghanistan and started out his career as a journalist, but eventually joined the foreign ministry. During the 1950s he became ambassador to the United Nations, and served as president of the UN General Assembly from 1966 to...
is to be marked on one's fingernails, and laukaz on the cup), - biargrunar "birth-runes" (stanza 8, a spell to facilitate childbirthChildbirthChildbirth is the culmination of a human pregnancy or gestation period with the birth of one or more newborn infants from a woman's uterus...
), - brimrunar "wave-runes" (stanza 9, a spell for the protection of ships, with runes to be carved on the stem and on the rudder),
- limrunar "branch-runes" (stanza 10, a healing spell, the runes to be carved on trees "with boughs to the eastward bent"),
- malrunar "speech-runes" (stanza 11, the stanza is corrupt, but apparently referred to a spell to improve one's rhetorical ability at the thingThing (assembly)A thing was the governing assembly in Germanic and introduced into some Celtic societies, made up of the free people of the community and presided by lawspeakers, meeting in a place called a thingstead...
), - hugrunar "thought-runes" (stanza 12, the stanza is incomplete, but clearly discussed a spell to improve one's wit).
The Poetic Edda also seems to corroborate the magical significance of the runes the Hávamál
Hávamál
Hávamál is presented as a single poem in the Poetic Edda, a collection of Old Norse poems from the Viking age. The poem, itself a combination of different poems, is largely gnomic, presenting advice for living, proper conduct and wisdom....
where Odin
Odin
Odin is a major god in Norse mythology and the ruler of Asgard. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxon "Wōden" and the Old High German "Wotan", the name is descended from Proto-Germanic "*Wodanaz" or "*Wōđanaz"....
mentions runes in contexts of divination, of healing and of necromancy (trans. Bellows):
- "Certain is that which is sought from runes / That the gods so great have made / And the Master-Poet painted" (79)
- "Of runes heard I words, nor were counsels wanting / At the hall of Hor" (111)
- "Grass cures the scab / and runes the sword-cut" (137)
- "Runes shalt thou find / and fateful signs" (143)
- " if high on a tree / I see a hanged man swing / So do I write and color the runes / That forth he fares / And to me talks." (158)
Other oft cited sources for the practice of runic divination are chapter 38 of Snorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was twice elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing...
's Ynglinga Saga
Ynglinga saga
Ynglinga saga is a legendary saga, originally written in Old Norse by the Icelandic poet Snorri Sturluson about 1225. It was first translated into English and published in 1844....
, where Granmar
Granmar
Granmar was a king of Södermanland, in Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla. The same king also appears in the Volsunga saga.Granmar was married to Hilda, the daughter of the Geatish king Högne of East Götaland, and his son-in-law was the seaking Hjörvard of the Ylfings...
, the king of Södermanland
Södermanland
', sometimes referred to under its Latin form Sudermannia or Sudermania, is a historical province or landskap on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Östergötland, Närke, Västmanland and Uppland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic sea.In Swedish, the province name is...
, travels to the Temple at Uppsala
Temple at Uppsala
The Temple at Uppsala was a religious center in Norse paganism once located at what is now Gamla Uppsala , Sweden attested in Adam of Bremen's 11th century work Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum and in Heimskringla, written by Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century...
for the seasonal blót
Blót
The blót was Norse pagan sacrifice to the Norse gods and the spirits of the land. The sacrifice often took the form of a sacramental meal or feast. Related religious practices were performed by other Germanic peoples, such as the pagan Anglo-Saxons...
. "There, the chips fell in a way that said that he would not live long" (Féll honum þá svo spánn sem hann mundi eigi lengi lifa).http://wikisource.org/wiki/Ynglinga_saga#Orusta_Ingjalds_konungs_og_Granmars
Another source is in the Vita Ansgari
Vita Ansgari
Vita Ansgari is the biography of Ansgar, written by Rimbert, his successor as archbishop in Hamburg-Bremen. Written in about 875 CE, the Vita is an important source in not only detailing Ansgar's missionary work in Scandinavia but in its descriptions of the everyday lives of people during the...
, the biography of Ansgar
Ansgar
Saint Ansgar, Anskar or Oscar, was an Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen. The see of Hamburg was designated a "Mission to bring Christianity to the North", and Ansgar became known as the "Apostle of the North".-Life:After his mother’s early death Ansgar was brought up in Corbie Abbey, and made rapid...
the Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen
Archbishopric of Bremen
The Archdiocese of Bremen was a historical Roman Catholic diocese and formed from 1180 to 1648 an ecclesiastical state , named Prince-Archbishopric of Bremen within the Holy Roman Empire...
, which was written by a monk named Rimbert
Rimbert
Saint Rimbert was archbishop of Bremen-Hamburg from 865 until his death.A monk in Turholt , he shared a missionary trip to Scandinavia with his friend Ansgar, whom he later succeeded as archbishop in Hamburg-Bremen in 865...
. Rimbert details the custom of casting lots
Casting lots
Casting lots may refer to:*Sortition, the casting or drawing of lots to make a fair form of selection*Cleromancy, the casting or drawing of lots as a form of divination...
by the pagan Norse (chapters 26-30).http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/anskar.html The chips and the lots, however, can be explained respectively as a blótspánn (sacrificial chip) and a hlautlein (lot-twig), which according to Foote and Wilson would be "marked, possibly with sacrificial blood, shaken and thrown down like dice, and their positive or negative significance then decided."
Egils Saga
Egils saga
Egils saga is an epic Icelandic saga. The oldest transcript dates back to 1240 AD. The saga is centered on the life of Egill Skallagrímsson, an Icelandic farmer, viking and skald...
features several incidents of runic magic. The most celebrated is the scene where Egil discovers (and destroys) a poisoned drink prepared for him, by cutting his hand and cutting runes on the drinking horn, and painting them runes with blood. While the motif of blood painted runes also appears in other examples of early Norse literature it is uncertain whether the practice of painting runes with blood is merely a literary invention or whether it had precedence in magical practice.
Modern systems
Rosicrucian
Rosicrucianism is a philosophical secret society, said to have been founded in late medieval Germany by Christian Rosenkreuz. It holds a doctrine or theology "built on esoteric truths of the ancient past", which, "concealed from the average man, provide insight into nature, the physical universe...
Johannes Bureus
Johannes Bureus
Johannes Thomae Bureus Agrivillensis was a Swedish antiquarian, polymath and mystic. He was royal librarian, tutor, and adviser of King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden....
, having been inspired by visions, developed a Runic system based on the Kaballah and the Futhark which he called the Adulruna.
The Armanen runes
Armanen runes
The Armanen runes, or Armanen 'Futharkh' as Guido von List referred to them, are a row of 18 runes that are closely based in shape on the Younger Futhark...
"revealed" to Guido von List
Guido von List
Guido Karl Anton List, better known as Guido von List was an Austrian/German poet, journalist, writer, businessman and dealer of leather goods, mountaineer, hiker, dramatist, playwright, and rower, but was most notable as an occultist and völkisch author who is seen as one of the most important...
in 1902 were employed for magical purposes in Germanic mysticism
Germanic mysticism
Germanic mysticism or Germanic occultism may refer to* Ariosophy* more generally, various schools of Esotericism in Germany and Austria* various modern systems of runic magic...
by authors such as Friedrich Bernhard Marby
Friedrich Bernhard Marby
Friedrich Bernhard Marby was a German rune occultist and Germanic revivalist. He is abest known for his revivalism and use of the Armanen runes row. He was imprisoned during the Third Reich, which may have been due to a denunciation by Karl Maria Wiligut...
and Siegfried Adolf Kummer
Siegfried Adolf Kummer
Siegfried Adolf Kummer was a German mystic and Germanic revivalist. He is also most well known for his revivalism and use of the Armanen runes row...
, and after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in a reformed "pansophical" system by Karl Spiesberger
Karl Spiesberger
Karl Spiesberger was a German mystic, occultist, Germanic revivalist and Runosophist. He is most well known for his revivalism and usage of the Sidereal Pendulum for divination and dowsing and for his anti-racialist stance and revivalist usage of the Armanen Futharkh runic system after the second...
. More recently, Stephen Flowers
Stephen Flowers
Stephen Edred Flowers is an American Runologist and proponent of occultism and Germanic mysticism. The Bonham, Texas-born author has over two dozen published books and hundreds of published papers on a disparate range of subjects. He is also known by the pen-name Edred Thorsson...
, Adolf Schleipfer, Larry E. Camp and others also build on List's system.
Several modern systems of runic magic and runic divination were published from the 1980s onward. The first book on runic divination, written by Ralph Blum in 1982, led to the development of sets of runes designed for use in several such systems of fortune telling, in which the runes are typically incised in clay, stone tiles, crystals, resin, glass, or polished stones, then either selected one-by-one from a closed bag or thrown down at random for reading.
Later authors such as Diana L. Paxson
Diana L. Paxson
Diana L. Paxson is an author, primarily in the fields of Paganism and Heathenism. Her published works include fantasy and historical fiction novels, as well as numerous short stories...
and Freya Aswynn follow Blum (1989) in drawing a direct correlation between runic divination and tarot divination. They may discuss runes in the context of "spreads" and advocate the usage of "rune cards".
Modern authors like Ralph Blum sometimes include an ahistorical "blank rune" in their sets. Blank runes are most commonly used to replace any runes that are lost and are not to be included in a reading.
Ralph Blum
In 1982, the modern usage of the runes for answering life's questions was apparently originated by Ralph Blum in his divinationDivination
Divination is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic standardized process or ritual...
book The Book of Runes: A Handbook for the Use of an Ancient Oracle, which was marketed with a small bag of round tiles with runes stamped on them. This book has remained in print since its first publication. The sources for Blum's divinatory interpretations, as he explained in The Book of Runes itself, drew heavily on then-current books describing the ancient I Ching
I Ching
The I Ching or "Yì Jīng" , also known as the Classic of Changes, Book of Changes and Zhouyi, is one of the oldest of the Chinese classic texts...
divination system of China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
.
Each of Blum's seven books on runic divination deals with a specialized area of life or a varied technique for reading runes:
- The Book of Runes: A Handbook for the Use of an Ancient Oracle: The Viking Runes (1982); revised 10th Anniversary Edition (1992); revised 25th Anniversary Edition (2007).
- The Rune Cards: Sacred Play for Self Discovery (1989); reissued as The Rune Cards: Ancient Wisdom For the New Millennium (1997). Rather than rune stones, this book uses images of the runes printed on card stock, much like a set of trading cardTrading cardA trading card is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing and a short description of the picture, along with other text...
s or tarotTarotThe tarot |trionfi]] and later as tarocchi, tarock, and others) is a pack of cards , used from the mid-15th century in various parts of Europe to play a group of card games such as Italian tarocchini and French tarot...
cards. - The Healing Runes with co-author Susan Loughan (1995) teaches methods for using runic divination in the context of health and personal integration.
- Rune Play: A Method of Self Counseling and a Year-Round Rune Casting Recordbook (1996)
- The Serenity Runes: Five Keys to the Serenity Prayer with co-author Susan Loughan (1998); reissued as The Serenity Runes: Five Keys to Spiritual Recovery (2005) utilizes runic divination as a method for assisting self-helpSelf-helpSelf-help, or self-improvement, is a self-guided improvement—economically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a substantial psychological basis. There are many different self-help movements and each has its own focus, techniques, associated beliefs, proponents and in some cases, leaders...
and recovery from addictions; the title is a reference to the well-known serenity prayerSerenity PrayerThe Serenity Prayer is the common name for an originally untitled prayer by the theologian Reinhold Niebuhr. The prayer has been adopted by Alcoholics Anonymous and other twelve-step programs.The best-known form is:...
widely used in the 12-step program of Alcoholics AnonymousAlcoholics AnonymousAlcoholics Anonymous is an international mutual aid movement which says its "primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety." Now claiming more than 2 million members, AA was founded in 1935 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith in Akron, Ohio...
. - Ralph H. Blum's Little Book of Runic Wisdom (2002).
- The Relationship Runes: A Compass for the Heart with co-author Bronwyn Jones (2003) shows how to use runic divination in matters of love and friendship.
Blum has also written books on the Tao Te Ching
Tao Te Ching
The Tao Te Ching, Dao De Jing, or Daodejing , also simply referred to as the Laozi, whose authorship has been attributed to Laozi, is a Chinese classic text...
, Zen
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
, and UFO
Unidentified flying object
A term originally coined by the military, an unidentified flying object is an unusual apparent anomaly in the sky that is not readily identifiable to the observer as any known object...
s.
Stephen Flowers
In the wake of a 1984 dissertation on "Runes and Magic", Stephen FlowersStephen Flowers
Stephen Edred Flowers is an American Runologist and proponent of occultism and Germanic mysticism. The Bonham, Texas-born author has over two dozen published books and hundreds of published papers on a disparate range of subjects. He is also known by the pen-name Edred Thorsson...
published a series of books under the pen-name "Edred Thorsson" which detailed his own original method of runic divination and magic,'odianism', which he said was loosely based on historical sources and modern European hermeticism
Hermeticism
Hermeticism or the Western Hermetic Tradition is a set of philosophical and religious beliefs based primarily upon the pseudepigraphical writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus...
. These books were:
- Futhark: A Handbook of Rune Magic (1984)
- Runelore: A Handbook of Esoteric Runology (1987)
- At The Well of Wyrd (1988) which was later reprinted under the title Runecaster’s Handbook: The Well of Wyrd.
- Northern Magic: Rune Mysteries and Shamanism (2002).
Runic divination is a component of Flowers' "esoteric runology" course offered to members of his Rune Gild, as detailed in The Nine Doors of Midgard: A Curriculum of Rune-Work.
Stephan Grundy
In 1990, Stephan GrundyStephan Grundy
Stephan Grundy is an American author best known for his modern adaptations of legendary sagas and also a non-fiction writer on Germanic mythology, Germanic paganism, and Germanic neopaganism, often under the pseudonym Kveldulf Gundarsson .Grundy grew up mainly in Dallas in the U.S...
, a.k.a. Kveldulf Gundarsson, described runic magic as the active principle as opposed to passive interpretations based on runic divination. He held that runic magic is more active than the allegedly shamanic practice of seid practiced by the Seiðkona. Runic magic, he states, uses the runes to affect the world outside based on the archetype
Archetype
An archetype is a universally understood symbol or term or pattern of behavior, a prototype upon which others are copied, patterned, or emulated...
s they represent.
Most of Gundarsson's runic magic entails being in possession of a physical entity that is engraved with any or all of the individual runes or "staves", so as to practically work with their energies. The individual runes are reddened with either blood, dyes, or paints. The act of possessing the stave in its final form serves the purpose of affecting the world of form with "the rune might" of that particular stave. After use, the staves are discarded or destroyed.
Gundarsson holds that each rune has a certain sound to it, to be chanted or sung; the sound has in common the phonetic value by which it is represented. This act of singing or chanting is supposed to have more or less the same effect of using the staves in their physical form.
Other
- Nigel PennickNigel PennickNigel Campbell Pennick, born 1946 in Guildford, Surrey, England in the United Kingdom, an author publishing on occultism, magic, natural magic, divination, subterranea, rural folk customs, traditional performance and celtic art as well as runosophy....
proposes "Germanic Runic Astrology" in publications such as Runic Astrology: Starcraft and Timekeeping in the Northern Tradition (1995), ISBN 1898307458. - Freya Aswynn has a feminist version of runic magic, in Leaves of Yggdrasil: Runes, Gods, Magic, Feminine Mysteries, and Folklore Llewellyn Worldwide (1990), ISBN 0875420249 and Northern Mysteries and Magick: Runes, Gods & Feminine Powers (1998), Llewellyn WorldwideLlewellyn WorldwideLlewellyn Worldwide is a New Age publisher, currently based in Woodbury, Minnesota, a suburb of St. Paul. Llewellyn's mission is to "serve the trade and consumers worldwide with options and tools for exploring new worlds of mind & spirit, thereby aiding in the quests of expanded human potential,...
ISBN 1567180477. - Adam Byrn Tritt, in Runic Divination in the Welsh Tradition (2011) presents a system based on a ten stone set, including nine symbols which are unrelated to the historical runes, plus a blank stone, which represents the querent.
- Diana L. PaxsonDiana L. PaxsonDiana L. Paxson is an author, primarily in the fields of Paganism and Heathenism. Her published works include fantasy and historical fiction novels, as well as numerous short stories...
deals with the subject of runic divination and the use of the runes in magical spell-casting in her book Taking Up The Runes: A Complete Guide To Using Runes In Spells, Rituals, Divination, And Magic (2005). - Wendy Christine Duke in Spiral of Life (2008) presents a divination system is based on organizing a set of forty-one "revealed images" based on the runic letters.
See also
- Germanic neopaganismGermanic neopaganismGermanic neopaganism is the contemporary revival of historical Germanic paganism. Precursor movements appeared in the early 20th century in Germany and Austria. A second wave of revival began in the early 1970s...
- GaldrGaldrGaldr is one Old Norse word for "spell, incantation", and which was usually performed in combination with certain rites. It was mastered by both women and men and they chanted it in falsetto .-Etymology:...
- Icelandic magical stavesIcelandic magical stavesIcelandic magical staves are symbols credited with magical effect preserved in various grimoires dating from the 17th century and later...
- Uthark theoryUthark theoryIn the occult study of the esoteric meaning of runes, the Uthark theory originated in the 1930s with the work of philologist Sigurd Agrell , a professor at Lund University, Sweden....
Sources
- Birley, A. R. (Trans.) (1999). Agricola and Germany. Oxford World's ClassicsOxford World's ClassicsOxford World's Classics is an imprint of Oxford University Press. First established in 1901 by Grant Richards and purchased by the Oxford University Press in 1906, this imprint publishes primarily dramatic and classic literature for students and the general public...
. ISBN 978-0-19-283300-6 - Blum, Ralph (1993). The Book of Runes : A Handbook for the Use of an Ancient Oracle: The Viking Runes with Stones, St. Martin's Press; 10th anniversary ed. ISBN 0-312-09758-1.
- Thorsson, Edred (1983). A Handbook of Rune Magic, Weiser Books. ISBN 0-87728-548-9
- Thorsson, Edred (1987). A Handbook of Esoteric Runology. Weiser Books, ISBN 0-87728-667-1
- Fries, Jan, Helrunar: A Manual of Rune Magick, Second Edition, Mandrake of Oxford (2002), ISBN 978-1869928384
- Foote, Peter G.Peter FootePeter Godfrey Foote was a scholar of Old Norse literature and Scandinavian studies. He inaugurated the Department of Scandinavian Studies at University College London, and headed it for 20 years.-Early life and education:...
, and Wilson, D. M. (1970). The Viking Achievement, Sidgwick & Jackson: London, UK. ISBN 0-283-97926-7 - Meadows, Kenneth (1996). Rune Power: The Secret Knowledge of the Wise Ones. Milton, Brisbane: Element Books Limited. ISBN 1-85230-706-4
- Plowright, Sweyn (2006). The Rune Primer. Lulu Press. ISBN 1-84728-246-6
- Tritt, Adam Byrn (2011), Tellstones: Runic Divination in the Welsh Tradition. Smithcraft Press. ISBN 9780979393518
External links
- Mystic Uses of the Runes bibliography
- Meaning of the Runes by Ingrid Halvorsen
- Magic Runes
- On line readings