Runes As Alphabets
For thousands of years, people have used signs to represent objects,
feelings, and actions. A series of lines painted in red ochre on
the front of a mammoth skull dating back 14,000 years resembles
runic and alphabetic characters. In Europe, 7,000 years ago rock
carvings included pre-runic symbols that may have had the same
meaning as later runes, such as the cross and the solar wheel.
Alphabets stem from ancient rock carvings and picture-writing but,
unlike runes, they are used to represent language sounds, not energies.
For example, in Greek mythology, Hermes, the messenger god, was inspired
to create the alphabet after seeing a flock of cranes flying. He realized
that their different shapes could be arranged to represent sounds. Unfor-
tunately, while the phonetic values of letters have remained intact, their
original magical sound associations have been lost.
Like other Western alphabets, such as the Greek alphabet, the runes were
given to humankind by the gods. It was the god Odin who gave the runes to
people for the first time. He gave them to us so that we would have a means
of communicating with the divine-the divine within and without. Each rune
has a name that is a meaningful word, and usually the name begins with the
sound that the rune represents. In this way the rune, its name, and its
phonetic value are all intimately connected.
Runes have several layers or levels of personal as well as universal
meaning. Their depth of meaning can only be truly appreciated by using
them. Because of this, runes match-and in some ways-outdistance, the
Hebrew, Enochian, Greek, and Phoenician as one of the great esoteric
alphabets of the world, even though they were not designed in an alpha
format. Every runic letter is a storehouse of knowledge and meaning that
can be written by anyone, but its energies can be fully understood and
accessed only by those who study them. They represent the fundamental
structure of creation, life, death, and rebirth.
The oldest name written in runic script, "Blithgund," was found on a
weaving implement. By the third century, the runic alphabet was the only
one used in Scandinavia. However, it fell out of use in middle Europe with
the expansion of Christianity thanks to the legally enforced preference for
Latin. It is interesting that as late as 1611, though people were persecuted
and put to death by Christians for using runes, there were still attempts to
get runes adopted as the official alphabet of Sweden. Runic tradition has been
impossible to destroy, and recently there has been a resurgence of interest in
the runes and their magical uses.
Arranged in rows, runes are unlike alphabets in that they don't follow in
alphabetical sequence. Rune rows are called "futharks" because they begin
with the runes Fehu, Uruz, Thurisaz, Ansuz, Raidho, and Kenaz-"F,"
"U," "TH," "A," "R," "K." The oldest-known full rune row, the
Elder Futhark, is considered the most powerful of all rune rows. This is
the rune row that provides the basis for this book. Like the Greek alphabet,
the Elder Futhark has 24 runes in a specific sequence.
Other rune rows have more or fewer runes in them, but are still ordered
according to the aettir. For example, the Frisian Futhark, frequently used
for magic, has 28 runes. The Anglo-Saxon Futhark has 29 runes, while the
Northumbrian Futhark has 33 runes divided into four aettir, plus a final rune,
"Gar." During the eighth century, the Younger Futhark, with its 16 runes,
emerged from Scandinavia. The Danish Futhark and Swedish-Norse Futhark
were adapted from the Younger Futhark. Mixed runes, Gothic runes, dotted
runes, and Armanen runes are further rune row variations.
As you can see, runes have evolved over time. By the thirteenth century,
they were being written on parchment by scribes, and the runic shapes be-
came more rounded. The runic system has a dynamic and evolving nature, and
its archtypes are constantly being expressed in fresh ways. This makes per-
fect sense when you consider that runes are visible representations of the
innate energies in life and the cosmos.
Traditional Runic Practices
Buildings With Runes
Writing Runes
Secret Runes
Bindrunes
Rune Categories
The Runes
Elder Futhark's Three Aettir
Rune Interpretations
Divination With Runes
Rune Meditation Techniques
Rune Dreaming Techniques
The Magical Uses of Runes
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