Runic Insights

The Elder Futhark runes are an alphabetic script used by Nordic and Germanic peoples of Northern Europe around 2000 years ago. Although primarily used as a written alphabet, runes have also been used throughout the centuries for divinatory purposes and also to create magical spells.

After World War II, the Runes became associated with ‘dark magic; due to their association with The Nazis, and so were disregarded as a mainstream form of divination. It was not until the mid 1980’s with the arrival of the "New Age Movement" that runes regained their popularity as a divination tool.

The Elder Futhark, are so called after the initials of the first six rune names … F, U, Th, A, R and K. They comprise twenty-four runes and often have an additional blank rune known as the ‘Wyrd’ added to the Rune set.

I was first introduced to the Elder Futhark Runes after buying a pack of Aquarian Runes in the late 1980’s. I’d been drawn to the Runes on the shelf in the ‘New Age’ section of a local bookstore. The runes had been my first divination tools and I soon discovered an intimate affinity for the Runes with each runic symbol appearing to have an inimitable personality of its own.

The early days of my association with the Runes were spent discovering the uniqueness of each rune; their associations with each other and the wealth of information the runes can reveal appertaining to someone’s life. They are most certainly a fantastic means of uncovering & gathering information. The runes reveal their information ‘bluntly’ and are devoid of any human emotion.

Back in those halcyon days of ‘self discovery’ I had  friends to practice on with the runes. I can remember one of my earlier ‘readings’ with the Runes quite vividly. I was due to embark on walking The West Highland Way in Scotland, with a college friend at the time. A few days prior to our ‘adventure’ I’d undertaken a Rune Reading for my college friend. The cards had indeed revealed we were due an adventure which entailed a journey & travel. However, I’d gleaned that one of us was going to depart from the adventure rather prematurely and our friendship was going to come to an end. Talk about an ill fated journey!

Sadly, the runic prediction did come to fruition, as two days into the walk I experienced severe heat exhaustion and was unable to continue the adventure. My college friend, however, decided to complete the walk on his own. I’d been left to dismantle two tents and carry the gear via an overcrowded bus back into Glasgow. Needless to say, after he was reunited with his gear days later, we’ve not been in touch since!

I’ve chosen to use the runes in card form due to my affinity with the Aquarian Runes. Traditionally, rune readers will make their own set of runes; inscripting the runes onto wood, stone or crystal. Because the cards are paper, and paper is derived from wood, I’ve had no problem with working with the rune cards, as technically speaking, the runes are inscripted onto wood!

I always use a nine card spread known as ‘The Three Enclosure’. The runes are laid out in a grid of 3 x 3 cards. The vertical three runes on the left hand side of the spread representing ‘where you have come from’ and are indications of past situations. The middle vertical three runes are representative of current situations. With the right hand vertical three runes I always say ‘the runes do not see the future. The runes merely offer their advice on the most likely outcome based on the preceding six runes.’  The horizontal ‘enclosures’ refer to ‘the heavens’ at the top; ‘the earth’ in the middle and ‘the underworld’ along the bottom. However, I have my own take on the horizontal enclosures. I always read the runes along the top enclosure in their most positive aspect. The middle horizontal enclosure refers to the situation and the person themselves. The bottom enclosure treats the runes as if they are in a ‘reversed’ position, so I tend to view the runes in a more negative light.

I’ve been reading the same runes with the same Three Enclosure spread ever since. That’s over 25 years now! Some would say I’m too set in my ways sticking to the same old same old. But it’s a little like ‘mending the gate when it doesn’t need fixing’ … why change a method that works? My set of Aquarian Runes are a little worse for wear and some of the images are now faded and creased. I’m reluctant to replace them with a newer set, as there is a tremendous wellspring of psychic energy accumulated into the runes from the many years of private sittings.

Each Rune has its own particular personality which will almost certainly always uncover a particular situation needing attention. Take for example the combination of Ing, Beorc and Wyn. Ing is the rune of fertility and it therefore speaks to me of pregnancy. Beorc is the rune of new beginnings and Wyn is the ‘joy’ rune. So it’s not hard to imagine what message the rune combination is conveying if they were in a reading. “There is good news, I can definitely see a pregnancy and the birth of a child here’. Traditionally runes can ‘bind together’ … which means they can be combined together to provide further insights on a situation.

Other examples of particular personalities within the Aquarian Runes are Ken which is my ‘engagement or marriage’ rune; Eolh which is my ‘ancestral protector’ rune and Rad which is my ‘magical journey’ rune.

I have a deep respect for the Elder Futhark runes and I believe this is the reason why the runes continue to provide accurate and helpful insights. For anyone seriously considering working professionally with runes, all I can say is … a close relationship with each and every runic symbol is essential. But, this doesn’t come over night. It is a long and arduous spiritual path to walk to enable your psyche to tune into the runic alphabet and to understand intuitively what the language of the runes …! 

Copyright Matthew James 2012