Expert Explains The Mysterious History Of Rune Stones, And Ancient Fortune Telling

A story of the rune stones, what are they? And how can we use them in today’s modern world

If you were to ask what are runes stones? And where do theycome from? This article is an introduction about the origins of the mystical rune casting and rune stones. I believe that thismagical ancient technology is useful in today’s world. Read on and you can decide this for yourself.

What are the runes?

The runes are an ancient oracular divination method. The runes have been used for centuries as a tool for casting and reading, to answer questions as a form of guidance to problems and situations people face in their every day lives. Some writers even mention readings which reveal answers from past present and future out comes to issues.

Where do the runes originate from? The cultures that used the runes over history have origins with the Germanic people. The Germanic people were a diverse tribe with cultural roots in much of Europe during the iron age. When the Roman Empire lost strength during the 5th century, Germanic peoples migrated into Great Britain and Western Europe, where the area became fixed territories for these people. Looking at the runes from a mystical and religious approach. Mythology mentions that the runes which were carved from stone, wood, bone or metal and that they date back to the 5th century. Originating from the Germanic tribe they were considered in the Germanic language as meaning both letter and secrete (or mystery). By 100BCE the Germanic tribes were found in Scandinavia where within 200 years they had reached both Roman Boarders. German tribes were clan based, with blood loyalty being the basis for all bonds. The Norse people believed Odin (A Norse God and ruler of many Germanic tribes) was the one responsible for runes becoming available to mankind.

Odin the Norse God was a fierce Viking Warrior, a War God and a Poetry God. He was known as a God actively seeking wisdom and giving wisdom, a wanderer. He was known to associate with War, Sovereignty, Wisdom and Magic. There is many writings from Southern to Northern Europe whereduring the Germanic tribal war bands, the dominant Northern Europe Military institutions of the period, would have encountered Italic writings first hand which supports Odin’s association with the runes and is well documented in history writings.

The Roman Historian Tacitus tells us that Odin was well established as the dominant God in the pantheons of Germanic people, who themselves believed that the runes were never invented but are instead eternal, pre-existingforces that Odin himself discovered by undergoing a tremendous ordeal whilst meditating and fasting for nine days.Several poems have been written about Odin and the inventing of the rune stones. Poetry was popular in this era. It was Odin who imparted the runes to priests who became the first rune casters.

More about the runes, what do the runes do, and how does it actually work? 

Author Patti Wigington explains in Kevin Steffen book thatthe runes are an ancient alphabet which have been used in divination by many pagans who followed a Norse or Heathen based path. She stated that most people who work with the runes find the best way to incorporate them into divination is to ask questions based on your current situation. Today the runes consist of two dozen rune stones with the exception of some packs which including an additional rune of mystery, which is a blank rune – meaning the answer has yet to be exposed and is considered to be a mystery. Most modern rune stones do not include the mystery rune.

The first eight runestones are called Elder Futhark in the Germanic language. The three family groups often referred to as earth family, warrior family and heaven family. each rune has a specific meaning. They are akin to the Tarot cards which have specific meaning according to where it lays in the spread, the rune stones also have specific meaning according to how they are cast. The runes are grouped into three families, like the tarot cards which are grouped into two different arcana. One set of the cards are aligned with the journey of life, the other set of the cards align with answering everyday issues in their everyday life. Both runes and tarot are divination tools with ancient origins which can be used in today’s society. Runes are designed to ask questions from the spirit realm about current situations people are dealing with in their everyday lives. Tarot cards reveal messages and advice but do not always reveal specific answers.

Kevin Steffen in his book Runic States, mentioned most literature written about the runes is written from a linguistic point of view and the writers see them as an ancient alphabet, that in itself opens up for another article itself. The literature of R.I. Page falls into this bracket.  They are an ancient alphabet, but they are much more than that. They are also symbols. Other writers including E. Thorsson & R. Blum look at the runes from a mystical and religious approach, these topics are also another approach worth writing about in the future. For now, this is a simple introduction to the runes.Look out for more articles in future on the linguistic aspect and cosmtology of the runes

The runes are cast to answer questions and guide people insolving problems and making good decisions, this is what happens when you ask for a rune casting. There are several ways to have a rune casting. The most common casting I use is, a three stone reading which predicts the cause of a situation, the best cause of action taken, and the result being the outcome. This is also close to past present and future three stone castings, which also reveal answers being sought by questioners. As a reader I often use the one rune casting as a daily reading for myself.

To finish this article I would like to share the information from Kevin Steffen’s book which states that in schools we teach of science and reason. When an event occurs that does not fall within the orderly rules and theories of science, it gets dismissed as those people having a demented and unbalanced mind. When someone states a fact that counters the belief of religion, that person is looked at as the pawn of the devil. When belief and reason unite to work in accordance with cosmic laws of creation, that is magic.

The runes are considered cosmical therefore magic.

Written by Kerry Fayen -Rune caster and tarot reader.

kerryscardsandrunes@simplesite.com