The Rune Forum

I have yet to get into this too deep or use it myself, but I'm sure the possibilities are endless.

Do you use runes for spellcasting or other forms of magic? What's your preferred way of going about it? (If you don't mind sharing, that is! :))

I use Runes in nearly every working that I do, these days. Normally, for spellwork, I select three or four appropriate Runes and simply place them on my working surface, reciting the intent of that particular Rune, as I lay it down. Last night, as a matter of fact, I was making some charm bags. For one of them, I created a bindrune from three pertinent Runes, and drew it on the bag into which I was placing my herbs and stones. I have no idea if this is what is considered a "correct" way to do things, but it is what feels right, to me, personally. As I don't subscribe to there being any right or wrong way to do things, when it comes to magic, I am comfortable going with whatever occurs to me. Hope this helps!  :)
Elizabeth

One thing I have used runes for is inscribing them into candles before burning them.

sometimes I find that the rune alone is enough, and its great that they are so portable so you can keep one in your pocket if you need its help that day - though b e careful not to loose it!

Other than that I have inscribed a candle, and also if on the beach its easy to grab a stick and put the markings into the sand and let the tide take the rune symbol away and do its work.

The great thing I find about the runes is that the symbols, though small enough to fit on a small tablet, give you alot to work with.

I really love your idea of drawing a symbol in the sand and letting the tide take it away, Winter Night! That just gave me an idea to draw one on a piece of paper and burn, letting the smoke do the same as the water in your idea. Thank you!
Elizabeth

I really don't think there is a wrong or right way, though admittedly I've not yet gotten myself all that familiar with that aspect of runes -from a traditional standpoint, anyway.
Someone who is well versed in seiðer or galdr might know more, but even then, I'm not sure how much there is to go on.

Bindrunes can be used, I believe, in anyway that suits your purpose. Warriors often used them on their swords and weapons to aid them in battle and protect them, but whether they followed any special ritual or practice..?  Who knows?
I made my own bindrune years back, I'd sometimes draw it on my wrist. I recently made a nice graphic of it on the computer. There are so many endless combinations!

BTW, worth a mention here.  Technically speaking, the runes are not the cookies, staves or chips with the symbols on them, but the symbols themselves. A little different than say, Tarot.  I'm trying to find the source for this, but it might have been one or more of my many books, not on the Internet.
Makes sense, anyway. 
So, you can absolutely draw a rune in the sand -it's still a rune.

This is also why there is no such thing as a "blank" rune.  How can a symbol be blank?   ;)

I like the idea of drawing the rune in the sand too.  I would like to learn about the traditional uses of the runes for magic. 

sorry, don't know yet how to quote people!

"This is also why there is no such thing as a "blank" rune.  How can a symbol be blank?"

your right G! which is why I probably never used one unless drawn and then I always thought it was a cop out.

The whole purpose of the runes for me is to give guidance or act as - (I cant remember the name of it at the moment  ???) the sword which basically all things fall on and they cannot stay on the edge of the blade, but must drop on once side or the other.
(I wish I could remember - help me Google!)

If I am facing a really tough decisions they can sometimes face me with an argument that goes so much against my own intuition that it makes me realise what I actually want to do (like reverse psycology?!). 

I still feel that the rune reading has  be productive and not a failure, as sometimes you almost need to have someone come at you from the other side to make you find the correct path to take.  And the rune you picked that day knew this. ;) 

WN, just look at the title header of the post you wish to quote, then look over to the right.. there should be a quote button there. I can put up a screenshot if you like.

BTW, while answering this, another great feature I just now discovered this board has is the ability to multiquote! This is awesome.
To do that, first quote someone as you would normally; then, if you look below your text window, you'll see the previous posts for the thread, and each one has a small link at the top right entitled "Insert Quote".  This allows you to address and quote multiple posts in one shot. (I'll put this up in the FAQ section too)

I use runes in spellwork but not all the time. Like most of what I do, it depends on my mood. I've scribed them on candles, drawn 'em on paper & burned or buried the paper, used them in sigil work (sigil comes out 'way cool-looking), on charm bags, poppets, you name it. There are two scribed on my walking staff, one on my cane.

I totally agree! As long as it feels right, makes sense, and most importantly works, who's to say what is or isn't "correct"?  :)

I already sort of do this with whatever rune I pull in the morning, but never thought of doing it with a rune picked for magical purposes. :)


Lucky you living by the beach! The closest I get here in the desert is leaving the windows open when it's windy, closing my eyes, and imaging the ocean (it sounds very close!). lol Still there is lots of sand around that could still be useful I suppose. :)

Lucky you living by the desert!  Sand is amazing, the sands of time - think of how much energy is stored in those little particles - dunes are like a living thing - always moving and changing, so if you mark runes in them, and the sands take them you never know what might happen!

ok, so its evening time, and the kids are in bed, so I am starting to babble....! ;)

I have also made use of henna paste for temporarily tatooing runes, for a specific purpose. Granted, you have to live with it for a couple of weeks, but for the right reason, very well worth it!

I like this idea, and they could be placed out of sight, and you can't loose them which would be a bonus! :D

That only works if henna works on you!  I don't want a permanent tatt but sometimes I'd like a temporary one. I've had three different henna artists try on me. It only gets to a light orange and washes off in the next shower! I also tried the same transferable 'ink' they used in "Star Trek: Voyager" for Chakotay's tattoo. That washed right off, too. I'm destined to be a plain Jane.

Beware of "Black" Henna though - the stuff can be unsafe, apparently - from severe allergic reactions to being carcinogenic.

http://www.hennapage.com/henna/ppd/index.html

I find a sharpie works well enough for temp tatt   ;)

I'm glad that you pointed that out about the black henna, Grym. I also like your idea of using a sharpie-it would be gone much faster. Thanks!

MW, did the henna artist exfoliate your skin before applying the henna? I do them myself, they don't usually come out really dark, but the damn things don't completely wash off for a good week and a half. They worked particularly well for protection.  :)

Yep. Still didn't take. One of 'em warned me about the perils of 'black' henna so I've stayed away from that. Sharpies and ballpoint pens last until the next shower.

Your skin, apparently, does not want to be adorned! Interesting. I suppose you could use it as an excuse to make some Runic jewelry to wear for the approriate purpose.  ;D

Well, I finally have some time to participate in this forum.

I use runes magically almost exclusively. The divination aspect eludes me and is one of the reasons why I have joined this forum.

However, I can be useful and contribute with regards to this topic (phew!)

Quick and easy ways to use runes magically are to inscribe them singly on candles, as was mentioned. My favourite way to use them, however, is to use wood or tree nuts and shells to hold inscriptions. My current favourite is using sequoia cones (giant redwood). They are wonderful and hold a lot of power. Then I seal them with resins or beeswax, depending on the intended use of the resulting token. I will cut my runes, not burn or paint them for the most part, first having blackened my blade over a flame.

The most important thing, to me, however, is the careful planning of which runes to use. They are all very powerful and magic wrought with them works well and quickly. So it is really important that I am sure I am using the runes that will support my intention and the time-frame in which I hope to see results. Sometimes, I don't want an 'overnight' change, I want gradual development and change over time. Some runes support one over the other. There's 'change' and then there's 'Change'...so to speak.

I work a lot with bind runes and spend a long time choosing combinations and reworking them to get what I need. I generally use three, and I consider numerology when I make my decisions.

I have created a bind rune which I have transferred to a canvas mat that I use when path-working. I learned the bind rune combination in a dream, and it was given to me as strong protection for wandering in Other.

I love this Patrima, using nuts and shells to hold inscriptions - a bit like a little message in a bottle.
Reminds me of a film I watched as a child about cinderalla, I think it was dubbed, maybe it was german, something beautifully different to how its mostly told - anyway! LOL! (I will get back on subject!) in the film cinderella visited a forest and she found a nut, which when opened it she pulled out a whole satin dress and shoes to wear to a ball, all in that little nut - your idea for the nuts just reminded me of the magic of this   :)

That is wonderful! I'd love to see this movie...
And yes- the nuts and cones inscribed with runes are like messages in bottles - exactly!! Because seeds are the beginnings of new life, they can birth the magic that the runes represent and contain. That's why I think it is so important to understand exactly what pieces one is putting together and sealing into the bottle - you must be sure of what it will give birth to and grow to be.

I recently bought Makko to make some incense cones as it's self burning. In Japan they take a u shaped piece of wood and make in indent in sand then fill it with makko and burn. I immediately though to drawing a rune in the sand and doing the same thing. It's goes with some of the other posts of drawing the rune and letting it be taken, especially the one on the beach.

This was touched on in a different thread  (http://www.phrets.com/runeforum/index.php?topic=59.0)here but worth repeating here;  apparently, one of the most often used runic charms was "ALU", which is believed to be what's referred to as the "Ale runes" in The Sigrdrifumol.  It's exact function as an amulet is still debatable, but it might have been seen to have imbued whatever it was inscribed upon with magic, in a general sort of way.. maybe an enabler of sorts. Or, they might have been used in conjunction with Nauthiz as a "fidelity" charm of sorts.

It could be written straight out, left to right, or right to left, as runes could be written either direction. Or up or down, vertically.
Sometimes it was written both ways at once, like this:

(http://phrets.com/runeforum/images/Uruz.gif)(http://phrets.com/runeforum/images/Laguz.gif)(http://phrets.com/runeforum/images/Ansuz.gif)(http://phrets.com/runeforum/images/Laguz.gif)(http://phrets.com/runeforum/images/Uruz.gif)

It could also be made into a bindrune, like this:
(http://phrets.com/runeforum/images/ALUbind.jpg)

That's a bit clunky though.  And the runemasters of old found a better way!
It's been seen written utilziing a form of runic encryption, known as the hahalruna system, where a runemaster would use the rune Tiwaz as a "base" rune;  marks on the left indicate an Aett, and marks on the right, the number of the rune found in that aett.
Example,  Jera is the 4th rune of the 2nd aett, so there would be 2 marks on the left, and 4 on the right.  (http://phrets.com/runeforum/images/Jerabind.gif)

There is one object found that showed this interesting bindrune of ALU, which seems to incorporate the hahalruna system to depict Uruz:
(http://phrets.com/runeforum/images/alu_bind.gif)  In this bindrune, you can clearly see Ansuz, as well as Laguz (simply ignore the second mark of Ansuz), but also note the fact there is one mark on the left (1st Aett) and two on the right, indicating Uruz via hahalruna.  Very clever stuff!

I'll touch more on hahalruna and other forms of runic "encryption" in a separate post, but it's really interesting stuff.


So.. long story short, it could be worth adding this to any other runes you wish to use, to see if it makes a difference in efficacy.

Now, being that I'm still fairly new to runic divination, I have a question regarding it. When verbally addressing the gods and/ or goddesses, does one particularly ask the Norns (Urdh, Verdandi, and Skuld) for advice?

Speaking for myself, I don't call on Gods. Personally, I believe divination works due to Jung's concept of synchronicity.   But I would assume different things work for different people, a kind of "to each their own" approach.

I also think it might depend on what answer you're looking to get from the runes:  if you wanted, say, insight into your past to understand why you behave a certain way, I would think Urdh would be a logical choice; but for the most part, all three of them collectively weave the web of wyrd and so, you'd probably not want to single any one of the Norns out.

True. Thank you.