I've been practicing Norse Paganism for nearly 4 years now and one way i found that helped me memorize and learn the depth of runes is everyday or once a week or however often i could spare, i would pull out a random rune from my bag and spend about an hour or two researching and deep diving into the rune. Taking notes on everything i learnt, finding associations, watching videos, whatever i could find on that particular rune i would just memorize. After i pulled the rune, it would go into a new bag. After a month or two, i had worked through every rune. After i had finished the bag, i would make it a daily activity to pull a random rune, recall everything i could remember and just read over my notes. It's a long process but it's defiantly a fun way to memorize. It also helped me connect with each rune as i would spend time with each individual rune.
For me I mediated on each rune for 9 days, after the 9th day you wrote down what the feeling comes to the rune for yourself. Obviously take the common meaning into consideration. with your feelings.
For books I used mostly Edred Thorrison's rune books because he covers so much on all runes. Diana paxson is another author I read. Also krasskova: Theory and practice.
As a person new to Norse Paganism (mostly learning right now) I was always drawn to runes. So I have been learning the pronunciation, story, and meaning of runes. I haven't even touched bind runes, but in learning of this faith, runes were the first thing that drew me to learning
This was my wooden spoon smack! I had a feeling I wasn't ready for the runes and this confirms it. I have so much more to learn and I'll always keep learning. Thank you!
I've also described the runes as building blocks of the universe. I often say they are almost like a periodic table for the elements of the universe you cannot see, or touch.
multi verse (many songs, many gods many realities) uni verse (one song, one god one overall oneness reality), universalism is more a dualistic human view, evident in Judaic cults and originated in zoroastrianism. Heathenry and all pagan cultural dreaming is a multiversal concept of everything. layers
This was FASCINATING! My rune work lead me experience the runes as an introspective tool that caused me to ask probing questions of myself in order to lead me to the answers I sought. It was like the information was in me, and the runes drew the answers out. I'd be interested to hear if that has been your experience as well.
ive been binge-watching a lot of your videos recently, theyve basically replaced my daily routine of "play relaxing nature music, play video games, onto the next day." and since im starting my long, but beautiful journey, i noticed people using runes and "pulling runes" so before i made an impulse purchase for a tool i have no idea how to use, i need guidance. im so glad your channel has information pertaining to everything ive been curious about so far. Skal, brother!
I have Lisa Chaimberlians book. I really like her interpretations. I also have made my own runes from a fallen birch branch I found on a nature hike. I use those runes more than my stone runes. I used a wood burner. :D Also with blood I caution using blood, Mainly because I am sensitive to spirits, and I've had neg spirits hijack my blood. If you use blood, Cast the ciricle and use protection always when using blood. I also activated mine by putting them under the full moon and asked the moon to bless them. Shrugs. lol.
I've been watching a lot of your videos lately and they are always SO educational, entertaining, and inspirational. Your passion for the gods is so overwhelming and I'm glad to say I have your videos to help guide me through this path if need be. Thank you for all the amazing content.
I left my runes out for 9 days of sunlight and 9 days of moonlight, timed to end on a full moon. Then I blew gently on each one three times before placing them back in the bag. I kept them with me for nine further days. This just felt right to me. I've not used them yet as I fell ready and plan to read a lot more before even considering it. This video was very useful as your others have been. Greatly enjoying the channel sitting here on a rainy autumn day in England.
I love how this video goes into multiple views and sources. It is not the end all source, but an introduction. Blood practice also lowkey freaks me out, but I will be looking into safe blood practice in this religion. Thank you for this source!
This is such a great video and I wish it was longer. The Runes have been calling me for so long and I have finally listened but feel so overwhelmed and a bit over my head. What you said makes sense and resonates with me so much!
Thank you for helping me transition back into the faith. I first learned about the faith in prison. I'm taking a new look at it after I have been out for years now and am feeling the pull back in this direction.
I have that same book by Lisa Chanberlain, and another book called “Icelandic Magic:Practical Secrets of the Northern Grimoires” by Steven Flowers. Which was a really interesting read it’s more academic than practical. Has a lot of Christian references and history of the craft in Iceland from the Viking age.
I made my runes on pebbles I picked up myself in the border of the sea. They feel so light it's incredible that they're made out of stones ! Love them !
Ive been faring forth and learing the runes for 8 years or so, i commited to it, moved to the forrest, every day, blood sweat tears, screams, joy , ecstasy. the runes came when my 6 month old son was taken from my (in a separation) his eyes dilated he screamed Algiiz!! algiez three times,, didnt blink stared into my soul. then his pupils went normal again. i said....yes, and i made my oath to do it. i gave everything up, burnt my things, killed my previous life, walked away from everything i knew. it took 4 years to start meeting the gods and other beings in their worlds. i often was visited by Odin and a few other gods here in trancework. then the astral work started happening. the first time i went to Asgard was full abduction i was a bit overwhelmed, tears and all, blew my mind out the back of my head. This is a huge path. indeed. sometimes i still wish to give up cause it requires so much sacrifice ,, but hey,,, for the greatness of my soul, of the multiverse (many songs) and all life and sentient consciousness beings. The jotnar, Alfar, Dweagar have their own runes, we use odins, there were human runes they were lost, u can re discover them. no one teaches them here, people do know, but its full occult secret stuff, i havent being that successful in that just yet, though i am learning different runes with Arianrhod. i was given 13. different magic entirely. Odins runes will get you through the door, help you deal with the paradoxes required to do it. the real stuff is given way after all that.
I have several sets of runes. I got interested in them when I was about 12, because I found an old photocopy of rune meanings (photocopying was one of the few ways to circle books soviet rule prohibited, so people would secretly photograph them and "pass it on" , super risky and you needed to truothe person you gave it to a lot). I made my first from sea tumbled local stone and their accuracy is scary. I often find mysf avoiding them when I know the answer in my heart and can't handle it said to me bluntly. Clay ones I've made don't seem to work for me. But I have had bone runes. We make meat jelly as Yule dish, and so I collected knuckle bones, boiled them over so they wouldn't mold and carved my runes in it. Unfortunately they got destroyed by mold. Now I am wiser and I'm currently collecting my next set to make them again. Sounds gruesome, but I don't know, they work well for me and they are leftover from cooking, so yeah, just a different use for bone. But, as tradition here, most sources suggest making the runes from a fruit tree.
Just wanted to say that its been a confusing journey learning about my Gods and new found faith. Youve been a huge help with a lot of questions ive had about the Old Gods and how to worship and stay bound to my beliefs. Thank you and hope to meet you one day, regardless if its in life, Helheim or Valhalla brother ✊🏻 keep doing your thing and praise to the Rune King for your guidance.
Great respect to you and people who find their mental healing in these rituals. I was drawn to the subject and curious about people practicing old rituals today. After viewing some of your video's I have to confess it saddens me a lot that we have come this far as humanity, but then again we get stuck on zealous practices within our religions that confine us to unrealistic boundaries and beliefs. Very painful to hear you talk about this as if your life depended on it. Some people are already going way to far with this judging by the comments. We,as human beings, need to mature and heal stronger to be able to focus on what's real, instead of fearing "god(s)". There's enough real stuff out there to fear.
Really helpful for me , I’m a tarot reader and relatively new to Norse paganism. I am drawn to the runes and this has been a great place to start. So thanks ✨
i recently started following the gods and i made my first set of runes yesterday and i can feel them calling to me. its a really cool feeling its like im drawn to them
This was a very interesting video. I grew a lancewood (NZ native tree) that my husband was going to cut out because it didn't look as healthy as the others. I asked him to cut it at ground level and keep it whole. At the time I was getting into carving wood so I was thinking of doing some carving things with it. But as I looked at it and saw that it was actually a healthy piece of wood I cut off two pieces to make music Claves. then I made a shaking stick with metal pieces from it carving runes of (wunjo) Joy and the anglo saxon rune (kamar) for creativity. Mainly because I have both Norse and anglosaxon blood in me. Then I decided to cut slices of them and make a rune set as I was studying the runes. I am in the SCA (kind of Medieval group) and only 2 years in it but during my journey in that group I have been looking into my Norse history and discovered the Viking Völva's (Seers) so I have been learning how to respect the runes how to understand them and not use them flippantly well before I started carving and drawing them into the pieces I wear on my person as my persona in the SCA - Im really appreciative of this video as I continue my journey in this area.
Thank you a lot for this video, this was very useful and full of explanations ! Lately, I’ve been looking for deities to invite in my home and started doing a lot of research, which led me Baldr and Norse paganism, which is very interesting to me as I’m half french half german. I typically use tarot as a divinatory tool, but I’m slowly feeling more and more interested in runes, your video was very great to give a base understanding of what they are! It was very well explained and it’s easy to see how much you take them at heart, it’s beautiful to see!
I've used the Runes for years. I use for guidance. My grandmother was Danish and I had a connection with them much more than Tarot. I dont use bindrunes yet.
I used runes to heal myself and wrote a book on how I did it called Druidic Rune Path. I found your channel today on accident, this vid just auto-played after another vid. Very interesting. I only use stone runes but they don't mind any natural materials. Thanks for sharing this information!
The Runes have always called to me. Even when I was younger. Now as an adult and more separated from other spiritual influence I’m revisiting them and I’m currently making my own.
You mention many books but not the HAVAMAL, which is the most important source to understand the runes. Also, many stanzas give insights about particular runes, AND the Havamal also gives a good foundation of ancestral advice (re: friendship, re: proper speech, against being a drunk, etc.) for rune workers.
Only recently found your account. I've been drawn to divination by entire life, literally since I was 6, it's only been recently I've realized its been Frigga calling to me. I was gifted a rune set and no clue about activating them or blooding them. I dipped right into readings, and they have been crazy accurate to my life and my husbands. Has anyone else experienced this?
I've always felt a calling to this even though my family didn't like the idea I did it anyway and now I just feel so much peace. Peace I never felt before I think it was Odin that guided me as I was always a knowledge seeker looking for every single word in the book.
Great video and the spoon smacks edits are hilarious. When you mentioned having runes made in natural materials you tried sticking to stuff like stone, wood, bone etc but remember that metal is also natural depending on what kind. Something like stainless steel I wouldn’t feel right but Gold and Silver and copper are more basic and less “man made”. Though just like you stated, if it’s a material that calls to you, go for it.
runes were actually my first foray into all things norse. i was drawn to ralph blum’s book (set). you remind me of his style of writing- he was presented with the information, but is by no means THE expert, or only author on the subject. i have since made my own set, from clay. for me it honors all the elements; clay, the earth from which we all are created, mixed with water and dried by air and finally hardened by fire. the ritual of creating and naming each piece (incising the rune on it) makes them intimately mine. i also do not allow anyone to use my set. if i am doing a reading for someone i may ask them to pick the rune(s) but i am the one reading them. i 100% agree on not using menstrual blood for any divination. its purpose is different than the blood coursing through your whole body. thank you for mentioning it. a friend drew a tattoo for me when my brother passed away. he knew i worked with runes and wanted to incorporate some into the image, so he pulled several, i read them as: (under his date of birth) the warrior’s strength flows and (by his death date) the journey(is at a) standstill. quite fitting. thanks for another great and informative video! skål
My mentor recommended me to start with “Nordic Runes: understanding, casting, & interpreting the ancient Viking oracle.” By Paul Rhys Mountfort. And I love it so far. My mentor learned them more like how your mentor did. He moved to a Scandinavian community in Norway or someplace for 15 years where he studied the old religion from people who live it.
I started painting the runes in white recently after connecting with them. I just started my journey with that and still don't mess with certain runes. I already painted one backwards by accident. It's still better than upside down, but philosophical speaking it might have been me walking out of the realm and back into reality. I plan to paint another one the correct way so I can have one foot in and one foot out!
I think with menstrual blood it would have to depend on how it's used and with what runes. I have done sigil working and have used menstrual blood and I have received great power out of it. I think for women it is an amazing source of power, Abrahamic religious beliefs veiw the menstrual cycle as unclean but I haven't come across that in any pagan belief system. I haven't gone through them all since there are hundreds of them but I think it would be a big source of energy and power
Haha I love the wooden spoon technique I got that lessen a couple times from my Ukrainian Gramma (sneaking food from the stove) my dad was a fan of the “cuff upside the head method” (I was an still am getting in trouble for my sarcasm hahaha)
My father gave me my first set of runes. And without knowing much about them, I felt called to bloody my runes then leave them under the sky for a few days.
I use both tarot and runes for a bit over 20 years. I agree with your teacher, but my experience with them both is that the only rule would be not to use one system to check if the other is correct in their response. I have several sets of both and I usually instinctivly know which I wish to use, as in that one is the one that has answer for me, if that makes sense? I treat them as live creatures in my care, and as with every family dynamics, if you start playing them against each other, they will retaliate. As long as they are all given equal chance to give you advice they will keep honest in their response and the one, who has the answer, will give you the zing.
Love your channel. I wonder if you know anything about the Odu (16 letters) of the oracle of Ifa, as there are many parallels between them and the runes, and between the two systems (there are also differences). For example, in Asatru there's Ice and Fire as the two primal foces, in Ifa there's Ogbe (light) and Oyekun (void / darkness), which I relate to expansion and contraction. Each odu has its runesongs, its mysteries and teachings. In Asatru, gods have a type of shrine known as horgs which are heaps of stones, in Ifa / Santeria the Orisha "dwell" in containers of sacred stones known as otanes--in both cases, sacrifices and libations to the deity are offered to the stones. Differences: Ifa uses the binary language like computers do, whereas runes are strictly 24 and there's no numerology that I know of. Also, babalawos (high priests of Ifa) claim to have a pact that helps protect people from women's magic / seidhr, whereas the runes don't but the rune Nied is scratched on men's nails to protect them from women's magic ... there are also curious parallels between European and African deities in Voodoo (Maman Brigitte is literally a Celtic Goddess who somehow made it into the Voodoo pantheon, and the Ghedes wear glasses with only one lens which reminds me of Odin) ... Not saying they're the same, but the parallels between the traditions remind me of how Odin was a Wonderer and traveled the world seeking wisdom.
I have made many sets of Runes. I have also made Rune Decks. Some sets have the 24 Runes and for Prayer I have 25th Blank Rune. I spread my Runes in 5 rows by 5 columns. The Blank Rune represents me and my place in Wotan's wisdom. Runes that are close to the Blank Rune has more effect while Runes far from the Blank Rune have less effect. I made several Rune sets out of Clay.
Books are a great boon! Yet I remind you the Runes are a mystery. You will never truly know the Runes, but the runes will know you and guide you for the rest of your life. I have been drawn to the Runes for more than 20 years and I am daily reminded that I KNOW NOTHING AND EVERYTHING! KEEP BREATHING
Oh, dear. Jacob, I've followed your endeavors from this channel's beginning and I really admire your enthusiasm and your talents for communication and forging community. In no way do I mean to insult you, your teacher, or anyone else who finds the methods in this video useful. But viewers need to know that this kind of runic mysticism has almost nothing to do with pre-Christian Scandinavia. It not at all ancient or historical, but a recently "invented tradition" which belongs squarely within the compass of modern Western occultism (much like the Tarot, which it not-coincidentally resembles). To simplify a great deal, the runes are first and foremost a set of alphabets used for all kinds of purposes in the ancient and medieval Germanic world, secular purposes very much included. Magico-religious inscriptions surely exist, but their power seems to have derived from their content, not so much from the fact of being written in runes rather than some other script. (And would it surprise you to know that most surviving inscriptions are explicitly Christian?) Unlike modern mystics who put a great deal of emphasis on single runes as occult symbols with intrinsic meanings, ancient and medieval people who wanted to charge objects with magical potency typically wrote sentences or multi-letter formulae, though they occasionally employed single runes or bindrunes as abbreviations. In short, runes were magical only insofar as all writing had something of magic to it (not a trivial matter, incidentally). The notion, which you put across late in the video, the runes are "building blocks of the universe" points directly to where modern rune mysticism ultimately comes from: an ahistorical borrowing from the Kabbalah by the seventeenth-century Hermeticist and antiquarian Johannes Bureus, who was trying to demonstrate the antiquity and greatness of Swedish and "Gothic" culture, for obvious nationalistic reasons. After Bureus, the next major period of runic mysticism comes with the Völkisch movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This is where we find Guido von List and other Nazi-adjacent personages, along with the privileging of the Elder Futhark (because it has more letters, and because older must be better) and many other spurious notions which still bedevil modern Norse Paganism/Heathenry/Asatru. Finally, in the 1980s Ralph Blum invented divination by randomly selecting runes, inspired by the I Ching. There's also the awkward little matter that the accepted "spiritual meaning" of each rune comes from interpretations of the Norwegian (YF), Icelandic (YF), and Anglo-Saxon (Futhorc) Rune Poems, but applied to a different alphabet (EF) used centuries earlier. Finally, we know (mainly from Tacitus) that the ancient Germans practiced divination by casting lots. They may have used pieces of fruit wood. Did they write runes on them? Did they anoint them with blood? We have no idea. We just don't know. Now, none of this history might matter to you. Magical and religious practices don't always have to be old to work well. If you find that modern rune divination works for you, then that's great! But know where it comes from, and recognize why those origins might seem a little dubious, not to say problematic. (I'd also say that any other formally isomorphic system ought to give the same results, but that's getting deeper into the theory of divination than I want to go.) If you are interested in a historically grounded discussion of the magical uses of runes (and of Nordic pagan religion generally), there's a very good blog out there by someone who calls himself Thorraborinn. You can find many of the relevant articles here: thorraborinn.tumblr.com/search/divination. The same blogger also has an excellent bibliography much more reliable than the list given in this video's description. (To be frank, Krasskova is no better than Thorsson/Flowers. Blum we've covered. I'm not sure about the others, but I'm not optimistic.) I'm putting down my wooden spoon now . . .
How do you explain the passages of Egil saga discussing carving runes? Or the large section of the Havamal discussing the runes? Or the one main section of Odins character being that of the runes? I know of the cult in which you speak, but have not heard of this connection with the runes.
@@TheWisdomOfOdin I don't mean to suggest that runes were never used for magical procedures, or that runic writing was not regarded as magical. As you note, Egill's Saga gives several examples of magical inscriptions (including a quite interesting one where ineptly carved runes bring sickness rather than health) -- one of Egill Skallagrimsson's several distinguished talents being his facility with runes. And of course Havamal gives both an account of the divine discovery of the runes and a more oblique discussion of their ritual uses. To be an expert in writing with runes probably did imply esoteric knowledge. My quarrel is with the way many contemporary pagans fetishize runes (always individual letters, not inscriptions) as mystical emblems, while giving short shrift to the basic fact that they were after all a writing system. Worse, they obfuscate the fact that runic divination is not some survival from antiquity, but a modern neopagan invention based on the Kabbalah, Theosophy, and Hermetic "Magick". I've seen that same obfuscation used to justify all kinds of weird innovations, from "rune yoga" to a spurious "galdr" consisting of nonsense vocalizations. If somebody finds value in meditating on, say, *Uruz, while tracing its shape in blood, then more power to them, but please be aware that there's no convincing evidence that anyone else ever did that until recently. Incidentally, I'm not sure what "cult" you are referring to in your last sentence. Krasskova's "Northern Tradition"? Thorsson's "Rune Gild"? Nazi occultism? Early modern Rosicrucianism?
@@nathanmauk9387 Very interesting things to consider. I also agree that a lot of neo-pagan/new age "woowoo" seems to have been melded with the reconstructionist faiths. Personally, I don't think there is one one "right way" to do something, and no one faith is the end all be all. I find diverse faiths and belief systems which follow multiple paths when looking for "the answers" to be very interesting, as there's always "more than one way to skin a cat", as it were.
I'm familiar with the history of divination with runes and was shocked to find out years ago how many rune alphabets there actually are. However, what the runes were is not what the runes are. Today I was reading about the history of tarot cards. They morphed from gaming decks into a fortune telling parlor game, and were later given esoteric meanings by the ceremonial magic orders, somewhat in the manner of occult flashcards. However, today thousands of people effectively use tarot for divination, as well as for spiritual development. I'm not saying you're wrong, this is just how I reconcile the fact that runes and tarot work.
A very informative and interesting video. I have read the books you suggest as well as several more, you are absolutely right in the sense that one needs to read and understand as many as possible.
So this is a very important question for me that I hope you see (or someone who can give me guidance on this. So I guess listening to this I've had a very atypical journey into paganism, at 17 I have only been at this for about five days but I am taking some of the teachings of the Hedge Witch path with Norse Paganism as it is my belief that my workings are best suited to helping people, when I tried to find the ceremony involved with creating them and came up with nothing. It was the Runes that initially called to me, their power always felt right, even before I began my journey. I made my own set and have yet to truly activate them and have adopted a method of using them for castings in order to feel the way that they weave the pattern of the world and sometimes when I've done serious castings (as serious as one can when only having introduced it to their friends 5 days ago) I actually get the sensation of seeing these threads and the realization of these massive forces. I feel intensely connected to my Runes and plan on expanding my knowledge and bond with each of them to hopefully feel that even more. I even used them in sigil crafting without necessarily realizing what I was making were Bind Runes (a new term for me) in order to make a protection sigil for my book of shadows as I wasn't happy with the ceremonies I found, and one I gave to my friend as a charm to assist her in making decisions because she was having a rough time in life and was really really frazzled. I guess this is a whole lot of context for not a lot of question but is it wrong for me to be using the Runes in this way? I have an intense amount of respect for them and feel an incredible connection with them so I was only doing what felt natural in a sense. I'm probably overthinking this but I just found this religion that already aligned with every belief I had and I'd really hate to have made a mistake so early in my practice
a few days ago a thing happened to me. it was a very weird thing but my heart was racing and something inside of me felt like there was another presence surrounding me. i have always had a relatively strong connection with the spirit world and i was humbly curious and cautious as i recognized that there could be a danger within interaction, especially not knowing what it was or who, but it called to me. it happened after i watched one of your videos on tiktok and i quikly turned off my phone and put my head down and closed y eyes and demanded that it make itself known to me, and i had visions and pictures and words flew through my mind and my heart started racing. among these scenes in my mind were things that felt familiar but ive never seen before, like symbols, peoples faces, and words, 2 of which i was drawn too. apon researching these words it took me straight to a bunch of historical links to germanic european history and my ancestry. i already knew my family came from northern and eastern europe but the words i saw and the symbols i saw led me there and as soon as i read the name of Tyr i was drawn to him and as i read more i felt a very personal connection to him. i am patiently eager to learn more as i transition to this way of life as i know i am called to my destiny.
Another word of warning concerning one of the authors. I looked through the comments, but couldn't find it yet. Geza von Nemenyi is a racist and nazi and here in Germany every selfrespecting Pagan, Heathen on Witch avoids him as best as they can. He also actually tried to proclaim himself head of all German Pagans - something we understandably didn't appreciate at all. In my Pagan bubble, he is a persona non grata, not only because of his authoritarian attempts at power, but foremost because he advocates white suppremacy in a form that even most europeans aren't "white" enough for him, let alone 99,9 percent of all humans. That has nothing to do with Pagan values whatsoever and I will not throw my money down that stinkhole. Thank you so much for your videos, Jacob! Sometimes the Gods find strange ways to talk to us, like the infamous RUclips algorithm ;) Blessed be!
Now you see LOTSSSS of rune sets on different crystals.. I’d recommend rune sets carved into crystals as it combines the mystical power of the rune and the power of the crystal seems to bind and bring it to life. In my opinion.. I have lots of rune sets of different types of crystal.
The best book I've found, is De Magiske Runene by Helge S.R. Grønli & Gorm Rudschinat. It's only available in Norwegian, so you need to be fluent in that language.
i mainly use tarot cards and at some point i found a list on which gods and myths and events in norse mythology correspond with cards in the major arcana im interested in learning about runes and maybe make my own runes at some point, but i know that i'm not ready for them yet
@@thisisdumbaf69 i cant find the list i found online but in the screenshot i have saved to my phone they cited a book called Norse Tarot by Clive Barrett
It's weird, I've always heard wood and bone runes are best, but got stone ones. The first set were lapis, and I didn't connect. I ended up gifting them. Then years later I got an obsidian set, and I love them! They have never steered me wrong.
I totally cut myself while making my runes, accidentally. Something told me to add it to the paint I was using. So I did, couple of hours later I watched this video! Wow
I was blown away when you read from a book that said don’t use menstrual blood for runes because it’s considered someone else’s, that’s disgusting. If it comes from MY body, it is MY blood. I don’t plan on doing that, but it still really irked me.
Both Elder Futhark and Younger Futhark are alphabets. One is just older than the other. And both have been referenced for magical spells. YF's creation has nothing to do with the "end of a magical era", its simply an evolution of alphabet and language.
I actually find elder futhark way better suited for spelling, as you have more letters available, which are more analogous to English and dutch letters than YF
@@AxelanderNewts well you cant really spell English or dutch stuff properly with Elder Futhark or Younger Futhark. Its a phonetic alphabet tied to proto-germanic and old norse.
I’ve googled the not using menstrual blood part and lots of conflicting information came up on this, I’d be interested in knowing more about why you shouldn’t. Great Channel I’ve been watching non stop! I’m a tarot reader but I’ve recently been called to the runes x
You dont need research, you just need some common sense. Those who say that using menstrual blood as an offering to a very poweful highly respected forces are DEFINITELY WRONG. Your coochie juice is dirty and impure so its only common sense that it would be very insulting and highly inapropriate to give as an offering to the gods
Hit me up! I have a lot of reading stuff for you ☺️ I have a bachelor degree in Norse and Celtic studies and really want you to get more information. It hurts alot when you say "make" runes. You carve them, or "risset" - "risse"
Started using the runes as a divination tool. Asked them the intent of someone called upon the Norns and got the Odin rune. Which according to the book I got means unknown. So I'm interpreting it as I'm not meant to know.
i once tried to force control over the runes which did lead to them opening up and showing me a frejya bindrune that lead me to utter madness and then after that everything changed around me and i saw magick synbols in certain logos and signs that i had never noticed before. Which at first was amazing until it got to a point all i could see was magick symbols everywhere even when i closed my eyes i got no rest from them.
I have been an atheist for a long time (Christian upbringing) and although I am interested in the faith, it is hard for me to connect to it without feeling something personally connecting me to the gods or having some sort of divine experience, and in that respect I have no idea where to begin. Do you have any tips for someone like me on how to achieve that connection?
I just started reading, then took the leap and tried praying to them. That first year or two was amazing, sign after sign. Now they're my family, and part of daily life.
I would like to ask you do another video. One on lore about the Norse Gods. I follow Wicca and when I was really starting to get into the practices I was pulled towards the Norse Gods. Many of the older religions have stories of the Gods coming to the mortal realm and sleeping with humans, weather they want to or not. I mostly think of the Greek Gods when I say that, as Zeus is very well known for having done that. However, my knowledge on weather or not Odin or any of the other Norse Gods had ever done that is quite spotty. It may not be a video you wish to do, but if you would give it some thought, I would be really interested to know what you might find. I myself am still researching and learning, but two heads are better than one after all.
Consider that idea that Tarot was originally "used only as playing cards", was actually a hidden hermetic teaching disguised as playing cards. So that the people practicing the Tarot didnt get persecuted. Just a thought! I also wonder if this could have been what happened with Runes. Perhaps if they were ever advertised solely as " just an alphabet "... that it was disguised as that, so that the people could continue using them. ♡
Thank you for sharing your notes from your mentor As that is extremely hard to find these days at least for me anyway thank you for helping me at least to understanding Norse paganism I live in America and born here but I’m Italian Swedish Danish and Irish But I am extremely drawn to Norse paganism and love love love learning about our ancestry and am intrigued by the magic of our culture Can you give me some advice on bloodening rune sets and thank you for all of your insight and sharing this info, I am forever thankful Tak skal du have (Danish) (Thank you very much)
Tarot are for fortune telling. Wicca is goofy, based on a book from the 1800's. Cartomancy are fortune telling with either standard 52 card playing deck. Also 36 card decks by Mlle Labor and Lenormand and other psychics. I have made a 52 card cartomancy deck. Of course, I have my crystal ball (8") and then you can use many different items. I have used marbles or as I call them, small crystal balls. Bones can be used. But what ever you use, that is fortune telling. Runes were discovered by The Allfather to share his wisdom with use. They can be used as an oracle, but The Allfather gave them to us as both an alphabet for simple communication; but more for The Allfather to share his wisdom to us for guidance . When I need the wisdom of the Gods and Goddess of Asgard, I use runes. I either draw one Rune or three runes for getting guidanse . For praying, however, I always use all 24 Elder Futhark Runes plus the Blank Rune. Runes are not for fortune telling! You may use them for such, but I never would because I believe that is an insult to Wotan. But, you are free to use them as you choose. Bind runes are purely made for magic and curses ! Praise to the Gods and Goddess of Asgard!
I think part of the deal with not using menstrual blood for the runes could be because it's old and mostly mucous? Period blood doesn't come from your heart or your bloodstream it's just blood and mucous from shed lining.
I've been practicing Norse Paganism for nearly 4 years now and one way i found that helped me memorize and learn the depth of runes is everyday or once a week or however often i could spare, i would pull out a random rune from my bag and spend about an hour or two researching and deep diving into the rune. Taking notes on everything i learnt, finding associations, watching videos, whatever i could find on that particular rune i would just memorize. After i pulled the rune, it would go into a new bag.
After a month or two, i had worked through every rune. After i had finished the bag, i would make it a daily activity to pull a random rune, recall everything i could remember and just read over my notes. It's a long process but it's defiantly a fun way to memorize. It also helped me connect with each rune as i would spend time with each individual rune.
For me I mediated on each rune for 9 days, after the 9th day you wrote down what the feeling comes to the rune for yourself. Obviously take the common meaning into consideration. with your feelings.
For books I used mostly Edred Thorrison's rune books because he covers so much on all runes. Diana paxson is another author I read. Also krasskova: Theory and practice.
Thats wonderful
As a person new to Norse Paganism (mostly learning right now) I was always drawn to runes. So I have been learning the pronunciation, story, and meaning of runes. I haven't even touched bind runes, but in learning of this faith, runes were the first thing that drew me to learning
This was my wooden spoon smack! I had a feeling I wasn't ready for the runes and this confirms it. I have so much more to learn and I'll always keep learning. Thank you!
Haha I was literally scribbling them all down in my notebook when you said the books were in the description 😅
Same here
Mee toooo
I was over here switching apps back and forth as he said them and I could have just copied and pasted 😂
You should sell Wooden Spoons on your website.
I've also described the runes as building blocks of the universe. I often say they are almost like a periodic table for the elements of the universe you cannot see, or touch.
multi verse (many songs, many gods many realities) uni verse (one song, one god one overall oneness reality), universalism is more a dualistic human view, evident in Judaic cults and originated in zoroastrianism. Heathenry and all pagan cultural dreaming is a multiversal concept of everything. layers
This was FASCINATING! My rune work lead me experience the runes as an introspective tool that caused me to ask probing questions of myself in order to lead me to the answers I sought. It was like the information was in me, and the runes drew the answers out. I'd be interested to hear if that has been your experience as well.
ive been binge-watching a lot of your videos recently, theyve basically replaced my daily routine of "play relaxing nature music, play video games, onto the next day." and since im starting my long, but beautiful journey, i noticed people using runes and "pulling runes" so before i made an impulse purchase for a tool i have no idea how to use, i need guidance. im so glad your channel has information pertaining to everything ive been curious about so far. Skal, brother!
I have Lisa Chaimberlians book. I really like her interpretations. I also have made my own runes from a fallen birch branch I found on a nature hike. I use those runes more than my stone runes. I used a wood burner. :D Also with blood I caution using blood, Mainly because I am sensitive to spirits, and I've had neg spirits hijack my blood. If you use blood, Cast the ciricle and use protection always when using blood. I also activated mine by putting them under the full moon and asked the moon to bless them. Shrugs. lol.
I've been watching a lot of your videos lately and they are always SO educational, entertaining, and inspirational. Your passion for the gods is so overwhelming and I'm glad to say I have your videos to help guide me through this path if need be. Thank you for all the amazing content.
I love this. Your respect and the gravity that you give this endeavour speaks well of you and brings honour to your teacher. Thank you.
I left my runes out for 9 days of sunlight and 9 days of moonlight, timed to end on a full moon. Then I blew gently on each one three times before placing them back in the bag. I kept them with me for nine further days. This just felt right to me. I've not used them yet as I fell ready and plan to read a lot more before even considering it.
This video was very useful as your others have been. Greatly enjoying the channel sitting here on a rainy autumn day in England.
Neat, I love that! ♡
I love how this video goes into multiple views and sources. It is not the end all source, but an introduction. Blood practice also lowkey freaks me out, but I will be looking into safe blood practice in this religion. Thank you for this source!
This is such a great video and I wish it was longer. The Runes have been calling me for so long and I have finally listened but feel so overwhelmed and a bit over my head. What you said makes sense and resonates with me so much!
Great video!! And your friend is very wise. I'm glad she was able to help with this video. Hope to hear more from her soon
Thank you for helping me transition back into the faith. I first learned about the faith in prison. I'm taking a new look at it after I have been out for years now and am feeling the pull back in this direction.
I have that same book by Lisa Chanberlain, and another book called “Icelandic Magic:Practical Secrets of the Northern Grimoires” by Steven Flowers. Which was a really interesting read it’s more academic than practical. Has a lot of Christian references and history of the craft in Iceland from the Viking age.
I made my runes on pebbles I picked up myself in the border of the sea. They feel so light it's incredible that they're made out of stones ! Love them !
Thankyou for this video, it's the most respectfull and informative one I have came across 😊
I love how on every videos I've watched on this channel has no dislikes! You earned it. Keep em coming :D
Ive been faring forth and learing the runes for 8 years or so, i commited to it, moved to the forrest, every day, blood sweat tears, screams, joy , ecstasy. the runes came when my 6 month old son was taken from my (in a separation) his eyes dilated he screamed Algiiz!! algiez three times,, didnt blink stared into my soul. then his pupils went normal again. i said....yes, and i made my oath to do it. i gave everything up, burnt my things, killed my previous life, walked away from everything i knew. it took 4 years to start meeting the gods and other beings in their worlds. i often was visited by Odin and a few other gods here in trancework. then the astral work started happening. the first time i went to Asgard was full abduction i was a bit overwhelmed, tears and all, blew my mind out the back of my head. This is a huge path. indeed. sometimes i still wish to give up cause it requires so much sacrifice ,, but hey,,, for the greatness of my soul, of the multiverse (many songs) and all life and sentient consciousness beings. The jotnar, Alfar, Dweagar have their own runes, we use odins, there were human runes they were lost, u can re discover them. no one teaches them here, people do know, but its full occult secret stuff, i havent being that successful in that just yet, though i am learning different runes with Arianrhod. i was given 13. different magic entirely. Odins runes will get you through the door, help you deal with the paradoxes required to do it. the real stuff is given way after all that.
I have several sets of runes. I got interested in them when I was about 12, because I found an old photocopy of rune meanings (photocopying was one of the few ways to circle books soviet rule prohibited, so people would secretly photograph them and "pass it on" , super risky and you needed to truothe person you gave it to a lot). I made my first from sea tumbled local stone and their accuracy is scary. I often find mysf avoiding them when I know the answer in my heart and can't handle it said to me bluntly. Clay ones I've made don't seem to work for me. But I have had bone runes. We make meat jelly as Yule dish, and so I collected knuckle bones, boiled them over so they wouldn't mold and carved my runes in it. Unfortunately they got destroyed by mold. Now I am wiser and I'm currently collecting my next set to make them again. Sounds gruesome, but I don't know, they work well for me and they are leftover from cooking, so yeah, just a different use for bone.
But, as tradition here, most sources suggest making the runes from a fruit tree.
Just wanted to say that its been a confusing journey learning about my Gods and new found faith. Youve been a huge help with a lot of questions ive had about the Old Gods and how to worship and stay bound to my beliefs. Thank you and hope to meet you one day, regardless if its in life, Helheim or Valhalla brother ✊🏻 keep doing your thing and praise to the Rune King for your guidance.
Great respect to you and people who find their mental healing in these rituals. I was drawn to the subject and curious about people practicing old rituals today. After viewing some of your video's I have to confess it saddens me a lot that we have come this far as humanity, but then again we get stuck on zealous practices within our religions that confine us to unrealistic boundaries and beliefs. Very painful to hear you talk about this as if your life depended on it. Some people are already going way to far with this judging by the comments. We,as human beings, need to mature and heal stronger to be able to focus on what's real, instead of fearing "god(s)". There's enough real stuff out there to fear.
Really helpful for me , I’m a tarot reader and relatively new to Norse paganism. I am drawn to the runes and this has been a great place to start. So thanks ✨
i recently started following the gods and i made my first set of runes yesterday and i can feel them calling to me. its a really cool feeling its like im drawn to them
You done lost your mind
This was a very interesting video. I grew a lancewood (NZ native tree) that my husband was going to cut out because it didn't look as healthy as the others. I asked him to cut it at ground level and keep it whole. At the time I was getting into carving wood so I was thinking of doing some carving things with it. But as I looked at it and saw that it was actually a healthy piece of wood I cut off two pieces to make music Claves. then I made a shaking stick with metal pieces from it carving runes of (wunjo) Joy and the anglo saxon rune (kamar) for creativity. Mainly because I have both Norse and anglosaxon blood in me. Then I decided to cut slices of them and make a rune set as I was studying the runes. I am in the SCA (kind of Medieval group) and only 2 years in it but during my journey in that group I have been looking into my Norse history and discovered the Viking Völva's (Seers) so I have been learning how to respect the runes how to understand them and not use them flippantly well before I started carving and drawing them into the pieces I wear on my person as my persona in the SCA - Im really appreciative of this video as I continue my journey in this area.
Thank you a lot for this video, this was very useful and full of explanations !
Lately, I’ve been looking for deities to invite in my home and started doing a lot of research, which led me Baldr and Norse paganism, which is very interesting to me as I’m half french half german. I typically use tarot as a divinatory tool, but I’m slowly feeling more and more interested in runes, your video was very great to give a base understanding of what they are! It was very well explained and it’s easy to see how much you take them at heart, it’s beautiful to see!
I've used the Runes for years. I use for guidance. My grandmother was Danish and I had a connection with them much more than Tarot. I dont use bindrunes yet.
I used runes to heal myself and wrote a book on how I did it called Druidic Rune Path. I found your channel today on accident, this vid just auto-played after another vid. Very interesting. I only use stone runes but they don't mind any natural materials. Thanks for sharing this information!
Something that helps me be ready for this was using the runes in the alphabetical since first
You should sell “Wōden Spoons”
I am so happy you were shown to me. Blessings,
The Runes have always called to me. Even when I was younger. Now as an adult and more separated from other spiritual influence I’m revisiting them and I’m currently making my own.
You mention many books but not the HAVAMAL, which is the most important source to understand the runes. Also, many stanzas give insights about particular runes, AND the Havamal also gives a good foundation of ancestral advice (re: friendship, re: proper speech, against being a drunk, etc.) for rune workers.
Only recently found your account. I've been drawn to divination by entire life, literally since I was 6, it's only been recently I've realized its been Frigga calling to me. I was gifted a rune set and no clue about activating them or blooding them. I dipped right into readings, and they have been crazy accurate to my life and my husbands. Has anyone else experienced this?
I've always felt a calling to this even though my family didn't like the idea I did it anyway and now I just feel so much peace. Peace I never felt before I think it was Odin that guided me as I was always a knowledge seeker looking for every single word in the book.
Great video and the spoon smacks edits are hilarious. When you mentioned having runes made in natural materials you tried sticking to stuff like stone, wood, bone etc but remember that metal is also natural depending on what kind. Something like stainless steel I wouldn’t feel right but Gold and Silver and copper are more basic and less “man made”. Though just like you stated, if it’s a material that calls to you, go for it.
runes were actually my first foray into all things norse. i was drawn to ralph blum’s book (set). you remind me of his style of writing- he was presented with the information, but is by no means THE expert, or only author on the subject. i have since made my own set, from clay. for me it honors all the elements; clay, the earth from which we all are created, mixed with water and dried by air and finally hardened by fire. the ritual of creating and naming each piece (incising the rune on it) makes them intimately mine. i also do not allow anyone to use my set. if i am doing a reading for someone i may ask them to pick the rune(s) but i am the one reading them.
i 100% agree on not using menstrual blood for any divination. its purpose is different than the blood coursing through your whole body. thank you for mentioning it.
a friend drew a tattoo for me when my brother passed away. he knew i worked with runes and wanted to incorporate some into the image, so he pulled several, i read them as: (under his date of birth) the warrior’s strength flows and (by his death date) the journey(is at a) standstill. quite fitting.
thanks for another great and informative video! skål
Casey is SMOKIN'
My mentor recommended me to start with “Nordic Runes: understanding, casting, & interpreting the ancient Viking oracle.” By Paul Rhys Mountfort. And I love it so far. My mentor learned them more like how your mentor did. He moved to a Scandinavian community in Norway or someplace for 15 years where he studied the old religion from people who live it.
Great book. I'm currently working with it. I love his short but powerful visualization for each rune.
I started painting the runes in white recently after connecting with them. I just started my journey with that and still don't mess with certain runes. I already painted one backwards by accident. It's still better than upside down, but philosophical speaking it might have been me walking out of the realm and back into reality. I plan to paint another one the correct way so I can have one foot in and one foot out!
Will confirm menstrual blood is a whole other, bigger force. Don't know if it would insult the runes, but it's not an appropriate application
I think with menstrual blood it would have to depend on how it's used and with what runes. I have done sigil working and have used menstrual blood and I have received great power out of it. I think for women it is an amazing source of power, Abrahamic religious beliefs veiw the menstrual cycle as unclean but I haven't come across that in any pagan belief system. I haven't gone through them all since there are hundreds of them but I think it would be a big source of energy and power
Haha I love the wooden spoon technique I got that lessen a couple times from my Ukrainian Gramma (sneaking food from the stove) my dad was a fan of the “cuff upside the head method” (I was an still am getting in trouble for my sarcasm hahaha)
My father gave me my first set of runes. And without knowing much about them, I felt called to bloody my runes then leave them under the sky for a few days.
Crazy how the Bluetooth symbol is a bindrune.
I use both tarot and runes for a bit over 20 years. I agree with your teacher, but my experience with them both is that the only rule would be not to use one system to check if the other is correct in their response. I have several sets of both and I usually instinctivly know which I wish to use, as in that one is the one that has answer for me, if that makes sense? I treat them as live creatures in my care, and as with every family dynamics, if you start playing them against each other, they will retaliate. As long as they are all given equal chance to give you advice they will keep honest in their response and the one, who has the answer, will give you the zing.
Love your channel. I wonder if you know anything about the Odu (16 letters) of the oracle of Ifa, as there are many parallels between them and the runes, and between the two systems (there are also differences). For example, in Asatru there's Ice and Fire as the two primal foces, in Ifa there's Ogbe (light) and Oyekun (void / darkness), which I relate to expansion and contraction. Each odu has its runesongs, its mysteries and teachings. In Asatru, gods have a type of shrine known as horgs which are heaps of stones, in Ifa / Santeria the Orisha "dwell" in containers of sacred stones known as otanes--in both cases, sacrifices and libations to the deity are offered to the stones. Differences: Ifa uses the binary language like computers do, whereas runes are strictly 24 and there's no numerology that I know of. Also, babalawos (high priests of Ifa) claim to have a pact that helps protect people from women's magic / seidhr, whereas the runes don't but the rune Nied is scratched on men's nails to protect them from women's magic ... there are also curious parallels between European and African deities in Voodoo (Maman Brigitte is literally a Celtic Goddess who somehow made it into the Voodoo pantheon, and the Ghedes wear glasses with only one lens which reminds me of Odin) ... Not saying they're the same, but the parallels between the traditions remind me of how Odin was a Wonderer and traveled the world seeking wisdom.
Thanks guys im looking forward to the journey
Another good one friend. Very informative about the rune ritual to deactivate. Lots of enthusiasm.
I have made many sets of Runes. I have also made Rune Decks. Some sets have the 24 Runes and for Prayer I have 25th Blank Rune. I spread my Runes in 5 rows by 5 columns. The Blank Rune represents me and my place in Wotan's wisdom. Runes that are close to the Blank Rune has more effect while Runes far from the Blank Rune have less effect. I made several Rune sets out of Clay.
Books are a great boon! Yet I remind you the Runes are a mystery. You will never truly know the Runes, but the runes will know you and guide you for the rest of your life. I have been drawn to the Runes for more than 20 years and I am daily reminded that I KNOW NOTHING AND EVERYTHING!
KEEP BREATHING
Oh, dear. Jacob, I've followed your endeavors from this channel's beginning and I really admire your enthusiasm and your talents for communication and forging community. In no way do I mean to insult you, your teacher, or anyone else who finds the methods in this video useful. But viewers need to know that this kind of runic mysticism has almost nothing to do with pre-Christian Scandinavia. It not at all ancient or historical, but a recently "invented tradition" which belongs squarely within the compass of modern Western occultism (much like the Tarot, which it not-coincidentally resembles).
To simplify a great deal, the runes are first and foremost a set of alphabets used for all kinds of purposes in the ancient and medieval Germanic world, secular purposes very much included. Magico-religious inscriptions surely exist, but their power seems to have derived from their content, not so much from the fact of being written in runes rather than some other script. (And would it surprise you to know that most surviving inscriptions are explicitly Christian?) Unlike modern mystics who put a great deal of emphasis on single runes as occult symbols with intrinsic meanings, ancient and medieval people who wanted to charge objects with magical potency typically wrote sentences or multi-letter formulae, though they occasionally employed single runes or bindrunes as abbreviations. In short, runes were magical only insofar as all writing had something of magic to it (not a trivial matter, incidentally).
The notion, which you put across late in the video, the runes are "building blocks of the universe" points directly to where modern rune mysticism ultimately comes from: an ahistorical borrowing from the Kabbalah by the seventeenth-century Hermeticist and antiquarian Johannes Bureus, who was trying to demonstrate the antiquity and greatness of Swedish and "Gothic" culture, for obvious nationalistic reasons. After Bureus, the next major period of runic mysticism comes with the Völkisch movement of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This is where we find Guido von List and other Nazi-adjacent personages, along with the privileging of the Elder Futhark (because it has more letters, and because older must be better) and many other spurious notions which still bedevil modern Norse Paganism/Heathenry/Asatru. Finally, in the 1980s Ralph Blum invented divination by randomly selecting runes, inspired by the I Ching.
There's also the awkward little matter that the accepted "spiritual meaning" of each rune comes from interpretations of the Norwegian (YF), Icelandic (YF), and Anglo-Saxon (Futhorc) Rune Poems, but applied to a different alphabet (EF) used centuries earlier.
Finally, we know (mainly from Tacitus) that the ancient Germans practiced divination by casting lots. They may have used pieces of fruit wood. Did they write runes on them? Did they anoint them with blood? We have no idea. We just don't know.
Now, none of this history might matter to you. Magical and religious practices don't always have to be old to work well. If you find that modern rune divination works for you, then that's great! But know where it comes from, and recognize why those origins might seem a little dubious, not to say problematic. (I'd also say that any other formally isomorphic system ought to give the same results, but that's getting deeper into the theory of divination than I want to go.)
If you are interested in a historically grounded discussion of the magical uses of runes (and of Nordic pagan religion generally), there's a very good blog out there by someone who calls himself Thorraborinn. You can find many of the relevant articles here: thorraborinn.tumblr.com/search/divination. The same blogger also has an excellent bibliography much more reliable than the list given in this video's description. (To be frank, Krasskova is no better than Thorsson/Flowers. Blum we've covered. I'm not sure about the others, but I'm not optimistic.)
I'm putting down my wooden spoon now . . .
How do you explain the passages of Egil saga discussing carving runes? Or the large section of the Havamal discussing the runes? Or the one main section of Odins character being that of the runes?
I know of the cult in which you speak, but have not heard of this connection with the runes.
@@TheWisdomOfOdin I don't mean to suggest that runes were never used for magical procedures, or that runic writing was not regarded as magical. As you note, Egill's Saga gives several examples of magical inscriptions (including a quite interesting one where ineptly carved runes bring sickness rather than health) -- one of Egill Skallagrimsson's several distinguished talents being his facility with runes. And of course Havamal gives both an account of the divine discovery of the runes and a more oblique discussion of their ritual uses. To be an expert in writing with runes probably did imply esoteric knowledge. My quarrel is with the way many contemporary pagans fetishize runes (always individual letters, not inscriptions) as mystical emblems, while giving short shrift to the basic fact that they were after all a writing system. Worse, they obfuscate the fact that runic divination is not some survival from antiquity, but a modern neopagan invention based on the Kabbalah, Theosophy, and Hermetic "Magick". I've seen that same obfuscation used to justify all kinds of weird innovations, from "rune yoga" to a spurious "galdr" consisting of nonsense vocalizations. If somebody finds value in meditating on, say, *Uruz, while tracing its shape in blood, then more power to them, but please be aware that there's no convincing evidence that anyone else ever did that until recently.
Incidentally, I'm not sure what "cult" you are referring to in your last sentence. Krasskova's "Northern Tradition"? Thorsson's "Rune Gild"? Nazi occultism? Early modern Rosicrucianism?
I think the best thing I can say is I will continue to do my research, and ponder what you've said.
@@nathanmauk9387 Very interesting things to consider. I also agree that a lot of neo-pagan/new age "woowoo" seems to have been melded with the reconstructionist faiths. Personally, I don't think there is one one "right way" to do something, and no one faith is the end all be all. I find diverse faiths and belief systems which follow multiple paths when looking for "the answers" to be very interesting, as there's always "more than one way to skin a cat", as it were.
I'm familiar with the history of divination with runes and was shocked to find out years ago how many rune alphabets there actually are. However, what the runes were is not what the runes are. Today I was reading about the history of tarot cards. They morphed from gaming decks into a fortune telling parlor game, and were later given esoteric meanings by the ceremonial magic orders, somewhat in the manner of occult flashcards. However, today thousands of people effectively use tarot for divination, as well as for spiritual development. I'm not saying you're wrong, this is just how I reconcile the fact that runes and tarot work.
A very informative and interesting video. I have read the books you suggest as well as several more, you are absolutely right in the sense that one needs to read and understand as many as possible.
So this is a very important question for me that I hope you see (or someone who can give me guidance on this.
So I guess listening to this I've had a very atypical journey into paganism, at 17 I have only been at this for about five days but I am taking some of the teachings of the Hedge Witch path with Norse Paganism as it is my belief that my workings are best suited to helping people, when I tried to find the ceremony involved with creating them and came up with nothing. It was the Runes that initially called to me, their power always felt right, even before I began my journey. I made my own set and have yet to truly activate them and have adopted a method of using them for castings in order to feel the way that they weave the pattern of the world and sometimes when I've done serious castings (as serious as one can when only having introduced it to their friends 5 days ago) I actually get the sensation of seeing these threads and the realization of these massive forces. I feel intensely connected to my Runes and plan on expanding my knowledge and bond with each of them to hopefully feel that even more. I even used them in sigil crafting without necessarily realizing what I was making were Bind Runes (a new term for me) in order to make a protection sigil for my book of shadows as I wasn't happy with the ceremonies I found, and one I gave to my friend as a charm to assist her in making decisions because she was having a rough time in life and was really really frazzled.
I guess this is a whole lot of context for not a lot of question but is it wrong for me to be using the Runes in this way? I have an intense amount of respect for them and feel an incredible connection with them so I was only doing what felt natural in a sense. I'm probably overthinking this but I just found this religion that already aligned with every belief I had and I'd really hate to have made a mistake so early in my practice
Would you be so kind as to provide us with the activation ritual that your teacher gave you?
Just checking out your channel now and am relieved to hear *at least* a content warning concerning Thorsson/Flowers.
a few days ago a thing happened to me. it was a very weird thing but my heart was racing and something inside of me felt like there was another presence surrounding me. i have always had a relatively strong connection with the spirit world and i was humbly curious and cautious as i recognized that there could be a danger within interaction, especially not knowing what it was or who, but it called to me. it happened after i watched one of your videos on tiktok and i quikly turned off my phone and put my head down and closed y eyes and demanded that it make itself known to me, and i had visions and pictures and words flew through my mind and my heart started racing. among these scenes in my mind were things that felt familiar but ive never seen before, like symbols, peoples faces, and words, 2 of which i was drawn too. apon researching these words it took me straight to a bunch of historical links to germanic european history and my ancestry. i already knew my family came from northern and eastern europe but the words i saw and the symbols i saw led me there and as soon as i read the name of Tyr i was drawn to him and as i read more i felt a very personal connection to him. i am patiently eager to learn more as i transition to this way of life as i know i am called to my destiny.
i am only 17 and i know i should research and learn but i am also confused as where to start and i dont know what to do
Another word of warning concerning one of the authors. I looked through the comments, but couldn't find it yet.
Geza von Nemenyi is a racist and nazi and here in Germany every selfrespecting Pagan, Heathen on Witch avoids him as best as they can. He also actually tried to proclaim himself head of all German Pagans - something we understandably didn't appreciate at all. In my Pagan bubble, he is a persona non grata, not only because of his authoritarian attempts at power, but foremost because he advocates white suppremacy in a form that even most europeans aren't "white" enough for him, let alone 99,9 percent of all humans. That has nothing to do with Pagan values whatsoever and I will not throw my money down that stinkhole.
Thank you so much for your videos, Jacob! Sometimes the Gods find strange ways to talk to us, like the infamous RUclips algorithm ;) Blessed be!
are you italian?
@@andrea4268 No, I'm German
@@omikrondraconis5708 I thought you were Italian couse u wrote persona non grata
@@andrea4268 Ah, my fault. I assumed the term "persona non grata" for someone who is not welcome were internationally common, not just here 😆
@@omikrondraconis5708 in Italy we say "persona non gradita" which is very similar btw how old r u? I need new norse pagan friends
Now you see LOTSSSS of rune sets on different crystals.. I’d recommend rune sets carved into crystals as it combines the mystical power of the rune and the power of the crystal seems to bind and bring it to life. In my opinion.. I have lots of rune sets of different types of crystal.
Honestly I started to learn the Runes w/ Edred Thorsons Futhark & Nine Gates to Midgard
The best book I've found, is De Magiske Runene by Helge S.R. Grønli & Gorm Rudschinat. It's only available in Norwegian, so you need to be fluent in that language.
i mainly use tarot cards and at some point i found a list on which gods and myths and events in norse mythology correspond with cards in the major arcana
im interested in learning about runes and maybe make my own runes at some point, but i know that i'm not ready for them yet
Could you name the source of that list? As a tarot user myself, I would love to read it!
@@thisisdumbaf69 one sec, i have a picture of it saved on my phone so i have to go looking for the website again
@@thisisdumbaf69 i cant find the list i found online but in the screenshot i have saved to my phone they cited a book called Norse Tarot by Clive Barrett
@@xxsnowberryxx4336 Thank you, then I start to dig on this path :)
It's weird, I've always heard wood and bone runes are best, but got stone ones. The first set were lapis, and I didn't connect. I ended up gifting them. Then years later I got an obsidian set, and I love them! They have never steered me wrong.
I love your channel. Keep the videos coming.
I totally cut myself while making my runes, accidentally. Something told me to add it to the paint I was using. So I did, couple of hours later I watched this video! Wow
I was blown away when you read from a book that said don’t use menstrual blood for runes because it’s considered someone else’s, that’s disgusting. If it comes from MY body, it is MY blood. I don’t plan on doing that, but it still really irked me.
Great information. I ordered some "Hammer-forged" runes made by the guy on Etsy you recommended.
Been called to the Runes, saw them in a dream, no idea why, I am more into meditation and yoga.
I made my my first set of runes out of seashell fragments i found on the beach at the gulf of mexico.
Both Elder Futhark and Younger Futhark are alphabets. One is just older than the other. And both have been referenced for magical spells.
YF's creation has nothing to do with the "end of a magical era", its simply an evolution of alphabet and language.
Yes! Correct! A thousand times yes!
Also, the EF was pre-viking-era, the YF was used during the viking era.
I actually find elder futhark way better suited for spelling, as you have more letters available, which are more analogous to English and dutch letters than YF
@@AxelanderNewts well you cant really spell English or dutch stuff properly with Elder Futhark or Younger Futhark. Its a phonetic alphabet tied to proto-germanic and old norse.
I’ve googled the not using menstrual blood part and lots of conflicting information came up on this, I’d be interested in knowing more about why you shouldn’t. Great Channel I’ve been watching non stop! I’m a tarot reader but I’ve recently been called to the runes x
You dont need research, you just need some common sense. Those who say that using menstrual blood as an offering to a very poweful highly respected forces are DEFINITELY WRONG.
Your coochie juice is dirty and impure so its only common sense that it would be very insulting and highly inapropriate to give as an offering to the gods
Call of the runes is such a good beginner book!
Amazing video thanks you for the insight , so much to learn but is knowledge is wisdom 🤲
I HAVE LISA PESCHEL - A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO THE RUNES
Hit me up! I have a lot of reading stuff for you ☺️ I have a bachelor degree in Norse and Celtic studies and really want you to get more information. It hurts alot when you say "make" runes. You carve them, or "risset" - "risse"
i feel like your being a bit petty just because of a small word choice.
I hope you see this 🙂
I am very curious about whether you would compare runes more to tarot or oracle cards!
Great. Thank you Jacob
Thank you so much....your videos are extremely helpful!!!
Started using the runes as a divination tool. Asked them the intent of someone called upon the Norns and got the Odin rune. Which according to the book I got means unknown. So I'm interpreting it as I'm not meant to know.
i once tried to force control over the runes which did lead to them opening up and showing me a frejya bindrune that lead me to utter madness and then after that everything changed around me and i saw magick synbols in certain logos and signs that i had never noticed before. Which at first was amazing until it got to a point all i could see was magick symbols everywhere even when i closed my eyes i got no rest from them.
I have been an atheist for a long time (Christian upbringing) and although I am interested in the faith, it is hard for me to connect to it without feeling something personally connecting me to the gods or having some sort of divine experience, and in that respect I have no idea where to begin. Do you have any tips for someone like me on how to achieve that connection?
I just started reading, then took the leap and tried praying to them. That first year or two was amazing, sign after sign. Now they're my family, and part of daily life.
Oh, and I was also raised in a sect of Christianity that made me extremely deity-shy.
I would like to ask you do another video. One on lore about the Norse Gods. I follow Wicca and when I was really starting to get into the practices I was pulled towards the Norse Gods. Many of the older religions have stories of the Gods coming to the mortal realm and sleeping with humans, weather they want to or not. I mostly think of the Greek Gods when I say that, as Zeus is very well known for having done that. However, my knowledge on weather or not Odin or any of the other Norse Gods had ever done that is quite spotty. It may not be a video you wish to do, but if you would give it some thought, I would be really interested to know what you might find. I myself am still researching and learning, but two heads are better than one after all.
Thumbs up on the warning about Edred Thorson. Avoid Ralph Blum. And maybe you want to check out "Taking up the Runes" by Diana Paxson.
GREAT VIDEO!🐈⬛️🧙🏽♀️🐈⬛️
As a witcher 3 fan, that wooden spoon haunts me. If you know you know
Ew
Consider that idea that Tarot was originally "used only as playing cards", was actually a hidden hermetic teaching disguised as playing cards. So that the people practicing the Tarot didnt get persecuted. Just a thought! I also wonder if this could have been what happened with Runes. Perhaps if they were ever advertised solely as " just an alphabet "... that it was disguised as that, so that the people could continue using them. ♡
Thank you for sharing your notes from your mentor
As that is extremely hard to find these days at least for me anyway thank you for helping me at least to understanding Norse paganism I live in America and born here but I’m Italian Swedish Danish and Irish
But I am extremely drawn to Norse paganism and love love love learning about our ancestry and am intrigued by the magic of our culture
Can you give me some advice on bloodening rune sets and thank you for all of your insight and sharing this info, I am forever thankful Tak skal du have
(Danish) (Thank you very much)
The wooden spoon method is aggressive as you say,young master Jacob. Negative reinforcement does actually work.
Well now I know why Odin gave me only 4 runes to practice. I accidentally used elder futhark when writing my poem for him 😬
Tarot are for fortune telling.
Wicca is goofy, based on a book from the 1800's.
Cartomancy are fortune telling with either standard 52 card playing deck. Also 36 card decks by Mlle Labor and Lenormand and other psychics. I have made a 52 card cartomancy deck. Of course, I have my crystal ball (8") and then you can use many different items. I have used marbles or as I call them, small crystal balls. Bones can be used. But what ever you use, that is fortune telling. Runes were discovered by The Allfather to share his wisdom with use. They can be used as an oracle, but The Allfather gave them to us as both an alphabet for simple communication; but more for The Allfather to share his wisdom to us for guidance . When I need the wisdom of the Gods and Goddess of Asgard, I use runes. I either draw one Rune or three runes for getting guidanse . For praying, however, I always use all 24 Elder Futhark Runes plus the Blank Rune.
Runes are not for fortune telling! You may use them for such, but I never would because I believe that is an insult to Wotan. But, you are free to use them as you choose. Bind runes are purely made for magic and curses ! Praise to the Gods and Goddess of Asgard!
Loved the video Jacob, Skål!
Very informative video, thank you!
Thank you for sharing this info!
Metal doesn't have a connection to the Earth....? They are the veins of the world, my friend.
Metal is the Ether element in ancient Chinese understanding.. maybe that's what he meant by metal being non-Earthy?
Thank you for the video.
I think part of the deal with not using menstrual blood for the runes could be because it's old and mostly mucous? Period blood doesn't come from your heart or your bloodstream it's just blood and mucous from shed lining.
It's very alive, and healing substance. Don't underestimate it
@@Hollyhock7 i was only giving my take on why people say not to use it for runes. I never said anything about underestimating it???
@@Hollyhock7 it doesnt matter if its powerful its a fact that its mostly mucous. I was just saying maybe thats why its not used for runes specifically
Ok I understand. I just thought you were downplaying it because you used the words old , and mucous. But I think I understand now. ♡
Awesome Thank you!
I would like to know more about why you shouldn't use menstrual blood for runes, specifically rune sets?
That's cool!