Runic divination: Difference between revisions
Content deleted Content added
WeniWidiWiki (talk | contribs) m →See also: Runic Alphabet |
←Changed redirect target from Runic magic#Modern systems to Runic magic Tags: Redirect target changed Manual revert Mobile edit Mobile web edit |
||
| (81 intermediate revisions by 26 users not shown) | |||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
#REDIRECT [[Runic magic]] |
|||
'''Runic divination''' is a modern practice of [[divination]] based on interpretation of the [[ideograms]] contained within the [[Proto-Germanic]] [[Elder Futhark]] and other [[Runic alphabet|Runic systems]]. Runic divination as it is now practiced is unattested for in the historical sources. Some modern authors like [[Stephen Flowers]] have attempted to reconstruct the practice from extant material, while others like Ralph Blum have fabricated their runic divination methods from modern [[Self-help]] and [[New Age]] techniques. |
|||
==Historicity== |
|||
Historically it is known that the [[Germanic]]s used numerous forms of divination and seeking omens. [[Tacitus]], an [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] historian, detailed a second-hand account of [[Germanic peoples|Germanic tribesmen]] using divination by lot in Ch 10 of his ''[[Germania (book)|Germania]]'': |
|||
:Augury and divination by lot no people practise more diligently. The use of the lots is simple. A little bough is lopped off a fruit-bearing tree, and cut into small pieces; these are distinguished by certain marks, and thrown carelessly and at random over a white garment. In public questions the priest of the particular state, in private the father of the family, invokes the gods, and, with his eyes towards heaven, takes up each piece three times, and finds in them a meaning according to the mark previously impressed on them. If they prove unfavourable, there is no further consultation that day about the matter; if they sanction it, the confirmation of augury is still required.[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin///ptext?lookup=Tac.+Ger.+10] |
|||
Other oft cited sources for the practice of runic divination are Ch.38 of [[Snorri Sturluson]]'s [[Ynglinga Saga]], were [[Granmar]], the king of [[Sudermannia|Södermanland]], travels to the [[Temple at Uppsala]] for the seasonal [[blót]]. "There, the chips fell in a way that said that he would not live long" (''Féll honum þá svo spánn sem hann mundi eigi lengi lifa'').[http://wikisource.org/wiki/Ynglinga_saga#Orusta_Ingjalds_konungs_og_Granmars] Another source is in the [[Vita Ansgari]], the biography of[[Ansgar]] the [[Archbishopric of Bremen|Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen]], written by a monk named [[Rimbert]] wherein he details the custom of casting lots by the pagan Norse.(Ch 26-30)[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/anskar.html] |
|||
==Modern usage== |
|||
===Stephen Flowers=== |
|||
[[Stephen Flowers]] [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D]], writing under the pen-name ''Edred Thorsson'' wrote a trilogy of books in the 1980s which detailed a reconstructed method of runic divination loosely based on historical sources and [[hermeticism]]. These books were entitled ''Futhark: A Handbook of Rune Magic'', ''Runelore: A Handbook of Esoteric Runology'' and ''At The Well of Wyrd'' which was later reprinted & retitled ''Runecaster’s Handbook: The Well of Wyrd.'' Runic divination is a component of the "esoteric runology" course offered to members of the ''Rune Gild'', as detailed in ''The Nine Doors of Midgard: A Curriculum of Rune-Work.'' |
|||
===Ralph Blum=== |
|||
The modern usage of the runes was popularized by Ralph Blum in his [[self-help]] book ''The Book of Runes'' which was marketed with a small bag of "rune cookies" or 25 round tiles with runes stamped on them. Blum's expertise on the runes is unknown, but numerous critics have noted a correlation between Blums' divinatory attributions and the [[I Ching]]. [http://www.pendamoot.co.uk/blankrune.html] Since his first foray into the runes, Blum has written ''Ralph H. Blum's Little Book of Runic Wisdom,'' ''The Relationship Runes'', ''The Healing Runes'' and ''The Serenity Runes'' the latter two books having a distinct Christian self-help approach. Blum has also written books on [[Unidentified flying object|UFO]]'s, [[Zen]] and the [[Tao Te Ching]]. |
|||
==Modern discrepancies== |
|||
[[Image:Runes.jpg|thumb|300px|Runic divination using ceramic tiles, a modern invention.]] |
|||
Many modern authors advocate the use of divinatory runes made of clay or stone tiles. Historical accounts always described the use of fruit-bearing trees in divination. "[[Rune stone]]s" were always large monuments, which had nothing to do with divination. Modern authors like Ralph Blum sometimes include an ahistorical ''blank rune'', which breaks the significance of the 24 staves and 3 Aetts of the Elder Futhark. Several authors - most notably [[Freya Aswynn]] and [[Diana Paxson]] - have attempted to draw a direct correlation between runic divination and [[Tarot]] cards. They routinely discuss runes in the context of "spreads" and advocate the usage of "rune cards", which are a direct borrowing from Tarot cards. |
|||
==See also== |
|||
*[[Runic alphabet]] |
|||
*[[Icelandic magical staves]] |
|||
==Literature== |
|||
*Ralph Blum, ''The Book of Runes : A Handbook for the Use of an Ancient Oracle: The Viking Runes with Stones'', St. Martin's Press; 10th anniversary ed edition (1993), ISBN 0-312-09758-1. |
|||
*Edred Thorsson, ''A Handbook of Rune Magic'', Weiser Books (1983), ISBN 0-87728-548-9 |
|||
*Edred Thorsson, ''A Handbook of Esoteric Runology'', Weiser Books (1987), ISBN 0-87728-667-1 |
|||
*Sweyn Plowright, ''The Rune Primer'', Lulu Press (2006), ISBN 1-84728-246-6 |
|||
==External links== |
|||
*[http://home.ica.net/~runesmith/bibliogr/myst.html Mystic Uses of the Runes] bibliography |
|||
*[http://sunnyway.com/runes/meanings.html Meaning of the Runes] |
|||
*[http://www.mackaos.com.au/Rune-Net Esoteric Runology] |
|||
[[Category:Runes in Germanic mysticism]][[Category:Divination]] |
|||
Latest revision as of 07:03, 30 August 2024
Redirect to: