Divination! (Cue evil laugh) (Blog)
Runic Divination When it comes to the way I read Runes I refer to the experience as the privilege to interact with and manipulate a small section of Wyrd. It is a personal and intimate experience between myself, the querent, and the Rúnvættir.
We can't have a divination focused book without some divination how-tos now can we? When it comes to Runic Divination, also called rune-casting, throwing lots, or even rune reads (readings), there are as many ways to go about actually conducting the divination as there are ways to name it. It's for this reason that I won't be telling you any one way to do it; instead I'm going to attempt to lay out how I conduct my reads, and if you choose to do so, you are more than welcome to adopt it.
At the end of this section if you have purchased the book you will find thirteen monthly read pages for you to keep track of any notes or interesting reads you may interact with. I include five spaces for Runes because I don't generally use the past, present, future aspect of a three Rune pull that has been made popular in an attempt to standardize Runic Divination similarly to Tarot. Runes are much more of a fluid discipline, and they will tell you how many need to be pulled, or if instead you need to cast all of them onto a cloth and read them that way (I do not read in this method except for rare circumstances, so I will not be going deeper into the casting of lots). The point being, often three spaces may be plenty, but just as often, three spaces are not enough for note taking.
My Style of Pulling the Runes: Before I set my bag or box of Runes in front of me, I like to set some semblance of sacred space and set a tone that correlates with my needs for the session or sessions. Sometimes this is as simple as just speaking to my Runes and going into the read; other times I burn incense, don my red cardigan, put on some music and go through my incantation to make my space mine.
After I have set my space in whatever form it needs to take for the session, I then take up my Runes and I speak to them. It may be something along the lines of, “I come to you, the Runes and Rúnvættir asking for guidance, truth, and the knowledge that needs to be known if it is best for those gathered at your table.” This is but an example and not always what or how I speak to them, but I always speak to them - we must remember that the Runes are spirits in their own right, and we would do well to respect them just as we would anything else.
Allright, so… Sacred Space? Check. Speaking with the Runes? Check. Now we are to the actual pull; it's here that I speak to the Runes again, as I place my hand into the receptacle holding my Runes and ask the query I wish to have answered. Then I wait, I let my intuition reach out to (and shake hands and hug with) the Rúnvættir, and when they are ready I let my fingers grasp that which needs to be pulled. I may grab all needed Runes at once, or I may need to go back and grab multiple times: The Runes and Rúnvættir will lead you to what you need to pull.
Now for the read. Let's say for this example I proposed no question, and simply asked for the Rúnvættir’s guidance, and that I do indeed pull three Runes. I draw Jera (ᛃ), Ing (ᛜ), and Ear(ᛠ) reversed in this order. To better understand how they need to lay, let's jot down a couple key words for each Rune. Jera-harvest, Ing- the seed, and Ear-normally the grave or finality, but reversed we know that the time for stalling is over. How can we re-align the “spread” to communicate what the Runes are trying to say?
This is where the fun and beauty of Runic Divination lies. On paper, with no person to be read for, and not being a physical pull but a hypothetical, any way you orient this combo of Runes would be correct. Here is where we lean into our intuition and the energy of the person being read for. For the purpose of the example, I am going to orient them in the manner that first struck me: Reversed Ear (ᛠ), Ing (ᛜ), and then Jera (ᛃ) (looking at this now I think the Rúnvættir are telling me it's about time I wrote this book).
The Read: Reversed Ear: As stated above it is time to quit stalling and make your move. Make those first steps towards that goal, project, initiation, or dream you have been working towards.
Ing: The message of Ear above is your seed, it is planted. Tend to it, nurture it and let it grow.
Jera: When the time comes you will reap the benefits of following through with your desires. As long as you invest fully, you will receive back fully.
The Rúnvættir and Runes tend to be beings of few words and rather blunt, often using the least amount of Runes to convey guidance. In the example here, I was able to form a cohesive read from four sentences. It is not always the case, but do not be surprised when conducting readings yourself that you’re not writing paragraphs or essays on what the Runes are telling you.
This is the most basic and general version of how I read. Many Rune Casters don't conduct their reads this way, and choose to leave the Runes in the order they are pulled, and don't read the reversed version of Runes, and that's okay. It doesn't make them any less qualified, or any less in their relationship with the Runes or Rúnvættir. We all do things differently, and who knows? Maybe someday you could be conducting intuitive Rune castings like myself, or even giving readings from your own Runic tattoos. My point being that, in the practice of Runic Divination, we are all as varied as the strings in the Web.