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Runes: Divination and Magic

With their origins in ancient Germanic cultures, runes (meaning “mystery”) have long been used for casting spells and foretelling the future.  They were used throughout Scandinavia, the British Isles, and most of Europe.  It is believed that the original runes were burnt onto pieces of wood, then scattered on the ground.  A priest or wise woman then would read the symbols for the village or individual.  Often the elder family member would cast runes and read for kin in private.

As with tarot cards, runes are used as an oracle.  The querent poses a specific question and the runecaster reads the “story” the runes have to tell.  Runes often hint at things to come, but it is important to understand that the future is not “set,” and that the seeker can take charge of her own life path. 

Runes have symbols that indicate sounds or words, and each rune has unique properties and meanings associated with it.  The Elder Futhark runes are perhaps the most well-known, followed by the Younger Futhark and Anglo-Saxon systems.  Consisting of 24-33 runes, depending upon the time period the runes are associated with, the Futhark rune system is read from right to left (or visa versa), and the manuscripts can be quite complex and cryptic as a result.

An excellent website for rune charts is <http://www.sunnyway.com/runes/origins.html >.  This is the source of the description below of the Fehu rune:


Fehu (F: Domestic cattle, wealth.) Possessions won or earned, earned income, luck. Abundance, financial strength in the present or near future. Sign of hope and plenty, success and happiness. Social success. Energy, foresight, fertility, creation/destruction (becoming). Fehu Reversed or Merkstave: Loss of personal property, esteem, or something that you put in effort to keep. It indicates some sort of failure. Greed, burnout, atrophy, discord. Cowardice, stupidity, dullness, poverty, slavery, bondage.