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01 Feb

The Viking Runes and You

Posted by lucyd     Category: How To/How Do?, Other Forms of Divination

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The Runes are described as an Oracle.  An Oracle will not tell you what to do next in your life.  What it will do is point out the hidden motivations and inner choices which must be addressed in order to bring resolution to the situation at hand. Sometimes the information is very direct.  Sometimes, the Runes require reflection in order to fully understand and undertake the solution they describe.

The Runes are 25 stone objects – each with a glyph pressed into it – except for one: which is the Blank Rune. Just as with the Tarot, no one knows who invented the Runes or what their original meanings were.  We know they originated with the Vikings, and that they crossed the Atlantic, but that is all. However, most sets of Runes come with a book to help you unlock their meanings.

Casting One Rune – Powerful Stuff

Recently, I was waiting on a friend to help me with a chore.  He was supposed to arrive on a Friday, but he didn’t.  I could always count on this friend and I was very confused. So, I drew a Rune to look into the situation from a perspective other than my own.  Did he forget?  Is he mad at me?  Is he incapacitated?  I had no idea.  So I asked the question: “Why did he drop out of sight when I needed him?”  Then, I reached into the bag and pulled Rune #23, “Standstill.”

The gist of the meaning was this:

  • You may be powerless to do anything but submit or surrender
  • Positive accomplishment is unlikely now
  • All of your plans are on hold
  • There is no reason for anxiety
  • What you are experiencing is not necessarily the result of your actions

The following week, I found out why he didn’t show, didn’t call, and left me hanging.  He had a cluster migraine that came on Thursday night, and he didn’t get control of it until Sunday night.

You can see how I was

  • Powerless to do anything

It became clear that

  • Positive accomplishment was unlikely and
  • All my plans were on hold

It was good to know in advance that there was

  • No reason for anxiety

And that

  • What I was experiencing was not the result of my actions – in other words, he wasn’t mad at me — there was some other reason he wasn’t calling. Instead of my brain flitting from fear to rationalization to anger and back, I could just take a deep breath and wait until I heard from him.


Hidden Motivations

My outer motivation was to complete a task that I could not do alone, and that my friend had offered to help with.

My inner motivation was my urge to blame him for my not accomplishing my goal. He must be some kind of thoughtless friend to leave me in the lurch like that.  I can’t trust him – he’s flaky.

Another inner motivation was to be the poor, sad victim of that thoughtless friend.  How could he do this to me? How can he call himself my friend if this is the way he treats me?  I’m worthless.  The only friends I can attract are thoughtless, selfish ones.

Now, granted, these are exaggerated for the sake of this discussion, but if you dig deep enough, you’ll sometimes find that these so-called exaggerated claims are not so far off.

Inner Choices

I had to choose between being a victim and/or blaming him – or just waiting – and not passing judgment.  The payoff here is that I freed up all my worry and angry energy to apply to more constructive things.  In the meantime, he contacted me, we got the job done, and no one got hurt.

The Contemporary Runes

Tarot cards can be traced as far back as about 1500 AD. Runes can be traced as far back as 1300 BC — The Bronze Age!  As mentioned earlier, no one knows the original meanings of the Runes. The first known references that were made regarding the Runes were written 1400 years after they were first carved!

Enter Ralph Blum, author.  Some time before 1982 (he doesn’t specify exactly when) he was given a set of homemade Runes that were baked in an oven like cookies.  They were made by an Englishwoman who also provided him with 2 sheets of paper on which the purported meanings had been written. As often happens in life, he put them away and forgot about them, only to rediscover them one night and begin to attempt to understand them. If  you’re wondering if Ralph Blum made up the meanings of the Runes and devised the spreads – well, yes he did.  But let me say that he was inspired — meaning in spirit — with the meanings of the Runes.  Please don’t think that because this was the method used to unlock the meaning of the contemporary Runes, that they are any less valuable as a tool.  After all, many of Thomas Edison’s best inventions came to him in dreams and they are no less practical.  Let’s just suspend our disbelief and see what the Runes can bring us.

Before You Begin

You are not required to perform any kind of ritual to utilize the Runes.  Simply reach into the bag.  But before you do – focus and form a complete and specific question in your mind.  In the beginning, you should actually write it down.  The exact wording of your question can oftentimes coax the correct answer. Do not begin with an earth shattering question like,  “Should I quit my job?”  Choose something a little less intense for your first practice sessions.

The One Rune Draw Using a Specific Question

Form a complete question in your mind. Don’t assume the Runes know what you mean.  Put your hand into the bag and rattle the Runes around.  One of them will stick.  I know this sounds funny, but as time goes on, you’ll know the feeling. Draw that Rune out of the bag, and set it in front of you vertically. Remember that there are reversed positions in Runes, so don’t automatically turn it one way or the other.  Just place the Rune in front of you whichever way it presents. Now, look it up in the book and read what it says.

While you’re reading the explanation, think of the wording of your question.  Think of the intention behind it as we discussed earlier. Trusting the Runes takes time, so if you’re not happy with your reading, you’ve got three choices:  think about it, forget about it, or draw another.

It is my opinion that you should stick with choice #1.  Think about it.  Give the Rune a chance to show you what the real meaning was for you.  Also, sometimes, when you forget about it, the meaning will be revealed. I caution you not to draw another Rune.  It will confuse the issue. As times goes on, you will know when you really should draw another Rune, or even reverse the orientation of the Rune by turning it upside down or right side up, either before or after you’ve read the meaning of it.

Answers Without Questions

There is another way to consult the Runes.  You can ask them to comment on a situation in your life.  For instance, as you’re running your fingers through the stones in the bag, you might say, “The issue at hand is my best friend.”  This is far more practical than asking a question like, “Should I call out my best friend for her terrible behavior to me?”  The Runes will give an insight into the situation from all perspectives, and you must study the answer to know what to do about the specific problem at hand.

The beauty of the Runes is that they make you think. They place responsibility for solving your problems firmly within your grasp.  And although the original meanings have been lost to us, their current meanings are practical and insightful.  They are even self-regulating.  If you use them too often, instead of using your own personal judgement and insights, their message becomes muddled.  If you save them for the trickier questions in your life, the Runes will shine a light for you.

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30 Oct

Your Own Personal New Year’s Predictions

Posted by lucyd     Category: Gifts

Every year I find a quiet spot and a chunk of time and do something I call “my New Year’s Eve ritual.”  It’s nothing spooky or strange, it doesn’t require a full moon or an alignment of the planets.  It’s something I do for me to set my mind for the coming year.

I wait till I’m alone, I find my trusty set of Runes, a pen and paper, and I sit down to get a deep preview on the year ahead.

I start out by thinking about the past year and what subjects and themes loomed large.  I’ll write down the categories of my life that I want further insight into such as:

  • Love
  • Health
  • Family
  • Job
  • Creative Pursuits

and so forth.  I spend a few moments really thinking about and feeling these areas of my life, and then I pull one Rune for each category.  I write down which Rune I pulled for each category, and then I read it and sometimes  make some notes on what I’ve learned from the draw.

I’ve been doing this since forever.  (See my 1996 draw above!) The reason I continue to practice my little New Year’s ritual is because the predictions and insights have been so accurate that it always amazes me.  You see, even though I have been reading Tarot Cards for 25 years, I’m still impressed when a tool of divination does its job — even when it’s “nearly always!”  My life becomes less linear and takes on a more ‘organic’ shape when I can remember that the story has already been told — I’m just re-experiencing it in my mind.

There is a second (and third) part to this ritual that I added as the years went by.  I’ll take some quiet time to re-read those predictions and insights as the year unfolds.  I keep notes on my original paper that I keep inside my Rune Book.  The effect is something like creating a script that you only work on at random times: find the outline of this year, read it over as things develop, write some notes you don’t want to forget, and make changes when you can. The script changes as you interact with it.

This year, I’m giving Runes for Christmas so that my family and friends can get ahead of the curve of their lives on New Year’s Eve.  I know that dates are an illusion, heck isn’t everything? But even if that is true, it’s a good and righteous thing to care for one another no matter how much we don’t understand reality.

Runes are a tool I really could not live without, and once you’ve experienced them, I know that you’ll agree.

I’d like to offer the Runes to you, too…either for yourself or as the most unique gift even given at your company holiday party!

From now until December 20 (or until I run out — whichever comes first) I am offering a brand new set of Runes that come with a bag to store them in and a book to help you understand their meanings so that you can begin a healing ritual for yourself at the beginning of 2009.

These are the 10th Anniversary Edition of the Runes by Ralph Blum, and currently pretty hard to find.

Give The Book of Runes as a gift for a friend, or as a gift to yourself.  There’s a PayPal button in the left hand margin to take your order.  The price includes shipping within the US.

Begin your own rituals: draw on your birthday, at the birth of a baby, for the future of your “tribe.”  You’ve got nothing to lose but your illusions, and everything to gain with your insights!

(1) Comment
11 Oct

The Viking Runes and You

Posted by lucyd     Category: Other Forms of Divination

The Runes are described as an Oracle.  An Oracle will not tell you what to do next in your life.  What it will do is point out the hidden motivations and inner choices which must be addressed in order to bring resolution to the situation at hand. Sometimes the information is very direct.  Sometimes, the Runes require reflection in order to fully understand and undertake the solution they describe.

The Runes are 25 stone objects – each with a glyph pressed into it – except for one: which is the Blank Rune. Just as with the Tarot, no one knows who invented the Runes or what their original meanings were.  We know they originated with the Vikings, and that they crossed the Atlantic, but that is all. However, most sets of Runes come with a book to help you unlock their meanings.

Casting One Rune – Powerful Stuff

Recently, I was waiting on a friend to help me with a chore.  He was supposed to arrive on a Friday, but he didn’t.  I could always count on this friend and I was very confused. So, I drew a Rune to look into the situation from a perspective other than my own.  Did he forget?  Is he mad at me?  Is he incapacitated?  I had no idea.  So I asked the question: “Why did he drop out of sight when I needed him?”  Then, I reached into the bag and pulled Rune #23, “Standstill.”

The gist of the meaning was this:

  • You may be powerless to do anything but submit or surrender
  • Positive accomplishment is unlikely now
  • All of your plans are on hold
  • There is no reason for anxiety
  • What you are experiencing is not necessarily the result of your actions

The following week, I found out why he didn’t show, didn’t call, and left me hanging.  He had a cluster migraine that came on Thursday night, and he didn’t get control of it until Sunday night.

You can see how I was

  • Powerless to do anything

It became clear that

  • Positive accomplishment was unlikely and
  • All my plans were on hold

It was good to know in advance that there was

  • No reason for anxiety

And that

  • What I was experiencing was not the result of my actions – in other words, he wasn’t mad at me — there was some other reason he wasn’t calling. Instead of my brain flitting from fear to rationalization to anger and back, I could just take a deep breath and wait until I heard from him.


Hidden Motivations

My outer motivation was to complete a task that I could not do alone, and that my friend had offered to help with.

My inner motivation was my urge to blame him for my not accomplishing my goal. He must be some kind of thoughtless friend to leave me in the lurch like that.  I can’t trust him – he’s flaky.

Another inner motivation was to be the poor, sad victim of that thoughtless friend.  How could he do this to me? How can he call himself my friend if this is the way he treats me?  I’m worthless.  The only friends I can attract are thoughtless, selfish ones.

Now, granted, these are exaggerated for the sake of this discussion, but if you dig deep enough, you’ll sometimes find that these so-called exaggerated claims are not so far off.

Inner Choices

I had to choose between being a victim and/or blaming him – or just waiting – and not passing judgment.  The payoff here is that I freed up all my worry and angry energy to apply to more constructive things.  In the meantime, he contacted me, we got the job done, and no one got hurt.

The Contemporary Runes

Tarot cards can be traced as far back as about 1500 AD. Runes can be traced as far back as 1300 BC — The Bronze Age!  As mentioned earlier, no one knows the original meanings of the Runes. The first known references that were made regarding the Runes were written 1400 years after they were first carved!

Enter Ralph Blum, author.  Some time before 1982 (he doesn’t specify exactly when) he was given a set of homemade Runes that were baked in an oven like cookies.  They were made by an Englishwoman who also provided him with 2 sheets of paper on which the purported meanings had been written. As often happens in life, he put them away and forgot about them, only to rediscover them one night and begin to attempt to understand them. If  you’re wondering if Ralph Blum made up the meanings of the Runes and devised the spreads – well, yes he did.  But let me say that he was inspired — meaning in spirit — with the meanings of the Runes.  Please don’t think that because this was the method used to unlock the meaning of the contemporary Runes, that they are any less valuable as a tool.  After all, many of Thomas Edison’s best inventions came to him in dreams and they are no less practical.  Let’s just suspend our disbelief and see what the Runes can bring us.

Before You Begin

You are not required to perform any kind of ritual to utilize the Runes.  Simply reach into the bag.  But before you do – focus and form a complete and specific question in your mind.  In the beginning, you should actually write it down.  The exact wording of your question can oftentimes coax the correct answer. Do not begin with an earth shattering question like,  “Should I quit my job?”  Choose something a little less intense for your first practice sessions.

The One Rune Draw Using a Specific Question

Form a complete question in your mind. Don’t assume the Runes know what you mean.  Put your hand into the bag and rattle the Runes around.  One of them will stick.  I know this sounds funny, but as time goes on, you’ll know the feeling. Draw that Rune out of the bag, and set it in front of you vertically. Remember that there are reversed positions in Runes, so don’t automatically turn it one way or the other.  Just place the Rune in front of you whichever way it presents. Now, look it up in the book and read what it says.

While you’re reading the explanation, think of the wording of your question.  Think of the intention behind it as we discussed earlier. Trusting the Runes takes time, so if you’re not happy with your reading, you’ve got three choices:  think about it, forget about it, or draw another.

It is my opinion that you should stick with choice #1.  Think about it.  Give the Rune a chance to show you what the real meaning was for you.  Also, sometimes, when you forget about it, the meaning will be revealed. I caution you not to draw another Rune.  It will confuse the issue. As times goes on, you will know when you really should draw another Rune, or even reverse the orientation of the Rune by turning it upside down or right side up, either before or after you’ve read the meaning of it.

Answers Without Questions

There is another way to consult the Runes.  You can ask them to comment on a situation in your life.  For instance, as you’re running your fingers through the stones in the bag, you might say, “The issue at hand is my best friend.”  This is far more practical than asking a question like, “Should I call out my best friend for her terrible behavior to me?”  The Runes will give an insight into the situation from all perspectives, and you must study the answer to know what to do about the specific problem at hand.

The beauty of the Runes is that they make you think. They place responsibility for solving your problems firmly within your grasp.  And although the original meanings have been lost to us, their current meanings are practical and insightful.  They are even self-regulating.  If you use them too often, instead of using your own personal judgement and insights, their message becomes muddled.  If you save them for the trickier questions in your life, the Runes will shine a light for you.

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