If you haven't been on my Facebook page, I have some news! I will be at the Great Conjunction Expo & Psychic Fair on April 1 (10AM-7PM) and April 2 (10AM-5PM) at the Holiday Inn Boardman located at 7410 South Avenue, Boardman, OH 44512. Admission is $5 and can be purchased online or at the door. I will be doing Tarot & Rune readings. I'll also be selling traditional Elder Futhark rune sets. I'm also going to be selling handmade crocheted bags to hold crystals, tarot decks or rune sets. I've been told that I am the ONLY Rune reader that they will have at this show... I bought business cards and a swanky banner for the show, too. I am SUPER official now! I hope to see you there! I've made a Facebook Event page you can look at as well.
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Introduction Runes can be used as a form of divination. In fact, it has been determined that runes were actually used as divinatory or magic tools before they were used as writing tools. There are variations of runes, but the most popular, and the one we will focus on here, is the Elder Futhark runes. These came from 1st-2nd century Northern European, Germanic Tribes. They were likely adopted in a way to be easier to carve into stone, wood and metal since the resulting runes use mostly vertical lines. We call them runes today because of the German word for them, Raunen, which means “to whisper.” The old Norse word for them is Runa meaning “mystery.” Elder Futhark runes consist of 24 letters. They are broken into 3 rows of 8 letters. These rows are called “ætt.” The first ætt’s first six letters are f, u, th, a, r and k, which makes up the word futhark is the equivalent of the word “alphabet” from the Greek, alpha beta. It is important to note that some modern interpretations of runes used specifically for divination may include a blank rune for use as Odin and is interpreted to be a beginning and an end, much like “The World” in tarot. There is no evidence this was done historically. The first recorded incident of the blank rune was in The Book of Runes by Ralph Blum in 1982. Mythological History The runes are said to come from Odin. Legend says he sacrificed himself to himself by wounding himself with a spear and hanging from Yggdrasil, The World Tree, for nine days and nights without food or drink. The origin of the runes is the Well of Urd at the base of Yggdrasil, guarded by Mimir. Odin stared, hanging downward, looking into the waters that held the runes and called to them. The runes, after these nine days and nights, accepted his sacrifice and gave to him not only their shape, but also their secrets. Odin, it is worth mentioning, also received knowledge from the water itself. In another story, whether preceding his discovery of the runes or following it is unknown, desired more knowledge. He asked Mimir if he could have a drink from the water, which was told to give the drinker immense, in-depth knowledge of the universe. The only way Odin was allowed to drink from this water was to sacrifice his eye, which he gouged out and dropped into the water. Regardless, Odin claims in the Poetic Edda, that he has the knowledge and ability to perform 18 different charms that he can use. Odin, in his knowledge of the runes, became a master of the practice a form of shamanism, called “seidr,” along with his goddess counterpart, Freyja, the Vanir. These two also jointly preside over the souls of fallen warriors in hopes of building an army to fight in Ragnarok, the apocalypse. Some of the runes will be of use in Ragnarok. |
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