Today we're gonna talk about runes and when we're talking about runes, we are really thinking about North paganism. And when it comes to this video, I'm not going to delve into all the aspects of runes because there is a lot of info out there. I'm just going to give you some of the basics, and I'm also going to show you how you can do a simple rune reading yourself. So when we talk about runes, we're really talking about an alphabet that was used by the Scandinavian people and this is an alphabet that changed over time.
So you have the elder futhark , which was used from the second to the eighth century CE, and that consisted of 24 symbols and then later on you have the younger futhark and that became prominent and around the eighth century CE , and that consisted of 16 symbols.
But when we're talking about runes as a divination method, we're really talking about the symbols in the elder futhark alphabet. And it gets even more complicated because when we say rune stones that can mean two different things. Of course, it can mean the rune stones, like I have here that can be used for divination. But if you go to Scandinavia and you say rune stones, people will probably think that you're referring to these large stones that exist throughout Scandinavia. And these stones had rudnick inscriptions on them and they were more commemorative. They were created to honor either a person that has passed on or a significant event or a leader in the community. So quite a bit different.
We’re gonna be talking about runes as a divination method, and I personally find that each person is going to be drawn towards different divination systems.
I find that runes work well, when you have a specific question or a specific aspect of your life that you would like guidance on for more kind of general readings or readings that you want to cover a lot of aspects of your life. I find that Tarot tends toe work better for those kinds of readings. So now I wanted to get into how you can do a reading with runes, and the first step is just to find a quiet place where you're not going to be disturbed now when it comes to your runes.
Some people like to cleanse them either before each use, or maybe just when you purchase them.
You can cleanse them in many different ways, you could wash them in a moon water, or you could simply run the runes through some incense smoke. So there are lots of different ways to cleanse your set of runes. If you would like and usually runes, you refer to it as casting the room. So you cast the runes onto a cloth and you hold and shake the runes while you focus on your question
I find that runes work really well for more basic questions. I tend to turn towards the tarot when I'm wanting a lot more detail in my divination, but for just some specific guidance on a particular facet of your life. I do find that runes work pretty well for that, and I recommend you start with just a single room reading, because that's going to be the simplest.
So after you shake your bag of runes, you're going to reach in, pull out a room and lay it on the cloth. Then you can look at the symbol, and if you don't have them memorized because there's a lot of them, you can go and find the interpretation, either in a book or there are plenty of great rune interpretation.
That will give you the guidance you need to help better understand the situation you're going through or understand the answer to your question. So that's the simplest way of doing a reading, though I would say just like how you can have reversals in tarot. You can also have reversals in runes. So if you put your room on the cloth and the symbol is upside down, that might mean something a bit different than if it's right side up on. It's up to you if you choose to read reversals even at all. So that is one way to do a reading, just that single room.
But there are different room spreads, just as there are plenty of different tarot spreads. So I also wanted to talk to you about a pretty popular room spread and that is called the three Nords Spread. And that title refers to the three goddesses of fate that you see in north mythology
This is kind of like a past present future reading something you see pretty commonly in tarot.
I would say that the three northern spread is a bit more nuanced than just a simple like past present future. So that first placement position one is going to refer not just to the past but to a past event or events that have a direct relevance on your current life now. So these are past events that air directly affecting your present. Now that second room referring to the present is more like the circumstances around your present , and it's going to point out any choices that you might need to make in the near future and then you have Position three on. This is kind of the most difficult room to interpret because it does represent the future. But it's more of an obscured or veiled future. It might reveal an aspect of your fate that's yet unknown. Um, it could either show the outcome of current trends or possibly provide a future scenario that is dependent upon the choices you make. So there are many different ways to view this particular three Northern's spread.
So I recommend trying it out a few times and seeing how it fits with you and your own reading style. So that's just one of the many different rune spreads out there. And it's a bit different than how runes would have traditionally been read. Traditionally, you would just kind of grabbed the runes and throw them and onto the cloth and then read the ones that we're right side up. But things have shifted a lot over time. And just like Tarot, where it's a system that evolves throughout the generations, runes is kind of the same. So the way we read runes now is a bit different from how they did it in the past. And I think that's exciting, too. And it allows us to put in our own input in our own opinions about the rune reading process.
So when it comes to runes and if you don't have a room set yet, there are many places you can buy them. You can, of course, by rune sets at a local metaphysical store. I think they sell them on lots of online
retailers. But I would recommend if you're up for it, making your own runes because anything that you're spending a lot of time creating, you're going to be infusing a bit more magical energy into the object. So a popular way I've seen this done is for people to collect either small sticks or like slivers of wood, and then use a wood burning tool to draw on the symbol. Or, I mean, you could simply just use a Sharpie to whatever you have at hand
I'm tend to be a bit of a pagan or minimalist. So any time you have the opportunity to create something yourself, especially if it's something from nature, I say Go for it. So I hope you enjoyed this short introduction to runes and room readings