The
Runes - Why are they becoming so
popular?
The Runes
are having a revival and just like the
Tarot.
They are
a way of understanding our lives better
and look set to grow again in
popularity, as we seek to understand our
lives in more depth.
The Runes
History
Runes are
ancient characters used in Teutonic,
Anglo-Saxon, and Scandinavian
civilizations, and found on many ancient
inscriptions.
They were
probably first used by the East Goths
(c.300), who are thought to have derived
them from Helleno-Italic writing, and
were used extensively throughout N
Europe, Iceland, England, Ireland, and
Scotland until the final establishment
of Christianity.
After
that the use of runes was reviled as a
pagan practice, so their use was
discouraged, discontinued or used in
secret. However, in Scandinavia their
use persisted even after the Middle
Ages; there they were used for
manuscripts as well as inscriptions.
The word
rune is derived from an early
Anglo-Saxon word meaning secret or
mystery.
Therefore
in our ancient past, writing was perhaps
a much more serious thing than it is
today; not just to communicate, but it
was full of magical power.
Runes
were often used in casting spells, to
get someone to love you, or to make an
enemy impotent, or even die.
Interestingly, in the casting of spells,
the writing of the runes was accompanied
by a mumbled (whispered) or chanted
prayer or curse, also called a rune.
This was to make the magic effective.
Today,
the revival of the rune, which had faded
away like a whisper, has reappeared from
the mists of the past.
Runes
have now been rediscovered as a
significant symbolic system and have
gained a wide following as a means of
divination.
Like the
Tarot, they give a glimpse into the past
as well as the future, as they provide
an approach to understand the lives and
beliefs of our ancestors.
The
Runes, have much to teach us about a way
of life that was more intimately related
to the worlds of nature world, and
spirit, than our own today.
The
darkest period in the history of runic
studies was paradoxically their revival
by German scholars connected with the
Nazi movement in the that 20's and 30's.
The
legitimate historical research of our
past was unfortunately tainted by Nazi
propaganda and racism and it rendered
the results negligible.
However,
by whatever means, the Runes had
re-appeared in our cultural sphere, and
with it, came its mysteries and perhaps,
power.
Today,
the Runes are basically used as a method
of Divination. However, since there are
no reliable historical descriptions of
runic divination (at least not known to
the general or scholastic communities),
virtually any method one chooses can be
considered valid.
There are
certain characteristics of the runes
that make them better suited to some
methods than others.
For
example, most runes are carved onto
small bits of wood, clay or stone. These
are designed to be easily picked up and
scattered, rather than being laid out in
a specific pattern (like the Tarot
How to
use the Runes.
You must
either buy a set of them (sold in
bookstores or New Age stores or sites).
You can also make your own. You will
need a bag to place them in. There are
several good books to buy that will
explain all these steps in details.
However
as an example, after you have your
Runes, you can quickly ask some question
mentally, and then place your hand in a
bag, and pull out three Runes as in the
system below.
The Norns
System (The Three-Rune Easy Cast).
This
method is helpful in getting an overview
on a given situation, and to give some
idea about a future outcome.
The
result will depend on how much time and
effort you put into the analysis and
your understanding of the meaning of
each Rune.
To begin,
you pull one rune out of the bag and lay
it down face up. This rune represents
the first Norn - or those events in the
past which affect the current situation.
Pull
another rune and lay it next to the
first. This is the second Norn - or the
present situation, which frequently to a
choice that needs to be made.
Pull a
third and lay it down. This is the third
Norn, and often proves the most
difficult rune to interpret. It can
represent the person's inevitable fate,
or might simply be the end result if the
current situation remains unchanged, or
even just one of several results.
You must
rely on your own psychic abilities to
decide which the answer is. As in all
things, practice makes perfect. This is
something that the more you practice,
and concentrate, the better the result.
About
the Author
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alternative toughts
On the
Runes and on spirituality, religon and
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