Thursday, April 21, 2011

RUNE NOT JUST A NAME

Rune is my husbands name but Runes are also an ancient Germanic alphabet, used for writing, divination and magick. They were used throughout northern Europe, Scandinavia, the British Isles, and Iceland from about 100 B.C.E. to 1600 C.E. Runic inscriptions of great age have even been found in North America, supporting stories that the Vikings arrived in the Americas long before Columbus.
RUNE
Minnie-ism for today:

"You got a question, ask Rune. He thinks he knows everything"

Runes are an oracle from which one seeks advice. They work best if you detail your current circumstances and then ask a specific question. Rune readings are sometimes obscure. They hint toward answers, but you have to figure out the details. This is when the rune casters intuition becomes paramount. Some times the Runes just "sing", and their meaning becomes instantly clear.
Since ancient times, runes have been used for divination and magic, in addition to writing. The word "rune" actually means mystery, secret or whisper. Each rune has esoteric meanings and properties associated with it, beyond its mundane meaning and phonetic value. Each translates into a word or a phrase signifying concepts important to the early peoples who used them, representing the forces of nature and mind. Each rune has a story attached to it, a relationship to a Norse God.
Odin, the Norse High God of the Aesir, hung from the world tree, Yggdrasil, impaled on his own spear, for nine days and nights in order to gain the knowledge of runes. When the runes appeared below him, he reached down and took them up, and the runic knowledge gave him power . He later passed on this knowledge to the Vanir goddess Freya. She, in turn, taught him the magic of seidr. Heimdall, the god who guarded the Rainbow Bridge, taught the runes to mankind.The Runes are divided into three Aettir or groups of eight. One who aspires to become adept with runes must have some knowledge of the mythology, history, and culture of ancient Europe and Scandinavia.

I first recieved my Runes from a dear friend, who sad to say died fighting a battle against cancer. Runes come in many different forms; stones, gems and wood are often used. My Runes are hand carved on to Carnelian stones and look something like this. I would take a picture but I don't have the equipment yet to do so.
Many sources report that Carnelian be a powerful activator to the second Chakra, called the Sacral Chakra, which relates to a sense of Self... along with the five senses, creativity, reproduction, sexuality and self-gratification.

Carnelians were used in Ancient Egyptian magick as protection for both the living and the dead.  A Carnelian in the form of the "tjet," symbol of Mother Isis, was placed on the neck of a mummy to ensure the protection, safe passage, and rebirth of the spirit in the afterlife.  Another Carnelian amulet was the Eye of Horus, which is still believed to offer protection against the evil eye.  In Roman times, Carnelian was engraved with the head of a lion or a great leader.

Magickal uses of Carnelian include using it as a focus for past life work and for finding a "twin soul" or family.  It is good for all love and sex rites, especially to rekindle or increase passion that has begun to fade.  Fire magick is also more effective if you circle a red candle with several Carnelians.

Mentally, Carnelian can improve analytical abilities and can clarify perception.  It removes extraneous thoughts during meditation and sharpens concentration.  Emotionally, this stone is a powerful protector against envy, rage and esentment...yours or other people's.  It calms anger and banishes negativity, replacing it with a love of life.  Anne knew me well enough to know that this was the stone I needed for my Runes.

 Do you find this interesting? If so I can write more about the Runes and the magick of stones later.
On another note: I would like to welcome my new muses, some of you make it hard for me to find you becaue you do not comment and you do  not have a link to your blog or email address. If you have not heard from me that is the case because I do want to learn all I can about my muses :)

17 comments:

Ellie Garratt said...

Another fascinating post. Is Rune your husbands first or second name? It sounds so unusual!

Ellie Garratt

Anonymous said...

I am fascinated and i never knew Rune was a surname either. It is also moving about your friend. The legacy of such beautiful runes is a special reminder. :O)

Unknown said...

To answer your questions, Rune is my husbands first name :) As you will see tomorrow, I should have married a man with the name Thor. All in all I am pretty happy with Rune also known as "saw man"...Some of you know what I mean.

Sue said...

Siv, sometimes I read your posts and don't know how to respond, I don't have the words, and putting what I want to say will be clumsy at best. But today I'll try...my logical 'western' brain is very sceptical of things like this...the older brain senses that there's so much we don't understand, and it resonates. I fence sit (poor expression) and go from saying "of course" to "crazy" but I love that you're doing your best to explain. thankyou. Sue@JumpingAground (Alliteration & drabbles)
Sue@traverselife(Workplace bullying)

Michelle in a shell said...

Oh! What interesting info. I love learning about random tidbits like this (not this its necessarily random but random as in general). And what a unique name!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Didn't know all of that about Runes.
And as I stated, my publisher created the book trailer - so nothing I can do about the text.

Unknown said...

I'm a glutton for this. I've been vaguely interested in runes but never knew exactly what they were, how they worked etc. You've got me hooked. I'd love to know more if you have the patience. The ones in the picture are really beautiful - Carnelian stone, hmmmm... Off to Google!

Thor tomorrow YAY! (But today's Thursday :( )

Unknown said...

No silly tomorrow is S...Ok kind of a Thor thing, since she was married to him :P

Manzanita said...

I've always been interested in esoteric subjects and although I've heard of the Runes, I knew nothing about them. Your post aroused that interest again and I would look forward to more posts about them.
Thanks and take care. Manzanita

Desiree said...

This is fascinating, Siv! It touches on the esoteric side of life and my piques my interest in magic and mystery ;)

Laura Eno said...

I love runes and weave them into my stories, but you've just added to my superficial knowledge. I'd love to hear more about them!
Minnie cracks me up - do she and Rune get along?

Anonymous said...

I didn't know the Norse had Runes. I have more knowledge about the Celtic beliefs in these things. It is def interesting. I don't personally use these things but am fascinated with the concepts! Thanks for making me more curious. Now I'm gonna have to go do some research or wait for you to post more! hmmm. That's sounds like a better idea. I'll let you do the work then claim the knowledge. haha

Empty Nest Insider said...

Congratulations on having over 300 muses! I can't believe you've only been blogging for a few months! Very interesting post on Runes. Glad to have found you. Julie

Unknown said...

Okay, I was wondering how I cold get my hands on some runes until I got ot the part about Odin. I'm simply not willing to do that.

Lucy

Southpaw said...

Very cool information.

Michael Di Gesu said...

What a great name your husband has....

Runes are fascinating as well as the stones they are carved upon.

I'd love to learn more.

Anonymous said...

I really enjoyed reading your blog about the runes , it's been a few years since I actually played with any stones. I used to when I felt the need. For a while I was having a difficult time in life and so I just quit doing anything, almost gave up. Alot of my things were stolen as I was hoping from place to place,in a bad relatiomship. But things are better now,I have a goood man and my life seems to be back on track. I just sometimes wish I had some of the tools that had been givin to me, I had a set of Ivory runes in a leather pouch but like I said alot of things were stolen.. I don't get upset over it anymore because Karma will do what is needed to those indivduals.Bad juju always comes back if your doing wrong things. Anyway, Thank you for the info.Looking forward to reading more.
carlaself51@yahoo.com