The Runes: Thurisaz ᚦ

I know it's been awhile since the last video on the runes, but better late than never :p I do hope you enjoy this video dear friends.

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Norse Symbols are not Symbols of Hatred

Nowadays watching Norse/Germanic pagan symbols on a necklace, tattooed on someone's skin or anyother place such as a wall, a book and so on, still leaves people somewhat uncomfortable, probably in fear at some point, but why does this happen?
Well, Norse/Germanic symbols weren't symbols of hatred, the Germanic peoples used the runes (The Elder Futhark) as much as the Norse (Younger Futhark) as their own alphabet, for divination, spiritual rituals, magic and so on, certainly they weren't white supremacists or racist skinheads, but somehow people still fear those symbols. Well in truth it is easy to know why, during the Third Reich the Nazis used a lot of Norse/Germanic symbols, for example the Hagall rune was very much present on the SS Totenkopfring or even the two Sowelu runes for the very SS symbol, and of course the Swastika, a major symbol used by many cultures including the many European cultures such as the Slavic ones, Germanic, Norse and Lusitanian, but again, these weren't racist people, but during the Third Reich, these symbols left a negative mark in the hearts of the European and watching those symbols again, brings the memory of horrible times, but the symbols themselves aren't hate symbols, it was the Nazis that  brought terror along with those.
Obviously it's not just the Nazis fault, for centuries we live on a society that has been for too long obsessed by Classical Antiquity, and we treasure it as the most important source of ancient European history, which left all the other European cultures in the shadow and forgetfulness. In general, all that people knew about Norse/Germanic symbols came from the Nazis and nothing more and the problem also is that the Neo-Nazis still use these symbols and they don't know the true meaning of those symbols, they only focus on the hatred brought by the Nazis. Another major problem is that many people with Christian backgrounds still feel that heathen convictions, faith and religious symbols may be dangerous, especially if associated with Norse/Germanic culturs. Whatever your religion may be, as a child we have all been educated in schools long dominated by Christians that such symbols are linked to the Nazis only, and the only Ancient European civilisations that are taught are the Classical ones, such as the Greek and the Roman.
In my point of view, we should start teaching our children the other side of history especially when it comes to powerful symbols that they might find all over the place their entire life, they will probably be ignorant about it and think that a lie, or omiting the truth, is the only truth available.

For example, the Bluetooth technology on every mobile phone, take a close look at the symbol there, It is actually a bindrune, that is two blended runes, the Hagall and Bjarkan. These two represent the initials of the 10th century viking king Harald Blåtand (Bluetooth), who ordered the Jelling stones to be erected. I really doubt that the Bluetooth team are a hate group, they certainly aren't racists, and their rune logo doesn't scare people away I'm sure.

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The Art of Reading the Runes

The runes of the Elder Futhark can be read in many ways.
Many people prefer to draw a single rune to provide a complete reading in itself. Others literally cast the runes onto a plain, white cloth and allow their intuition to guide them. There is also a more formal technique in which the runes are arranged in various meaningful patterns ( these arrangements are correctly known as "shoats").


How to Begin

It doesn't really matter whether you are reading the runes for yourself or for someone else, because the mental process for the rune reader remains the same in either case. Take a few deep breaths to help you to calm your system and clear any extraneous thoughts from your mind. Allow yourself to drift into a passive mental state as you play with the runes to mix them. If you keep your runes in a bag, then at this point you should be shaking the bag to make sure that they are randomly jumped together. If you use rune staves, then you can simply hold them in your hand at this point.

When you are content that you are in a receptive frame of mind and that the runes are well mixed, you may then either cast them or pick some out and lay them in one of the set patterns. If you are rune-reading for someone else, he or she will have to mix the runes together thoroughly before you do this. If you have, or the person you are reading for has, a specific question, this query should be thought about while the runes are being mixed. It may be helpful to ask this question out loud just as the runes are laid down, but this is not strictly necessary if privacy is an issue.

Note: Remember and keep in mind , you can make your own runes, with stones or pieces of wood. Dont buy runes made out of plastic, those have no power, nor any connection with nature, so those will not work. Plastic runes are hollow, they havent been part of nature in any time, so the powers of nature were not absorbed by the plastic runes, but the wooden runes or stone runes have.

Wyrd: The blank rune

Many modern rune readers have introduced an extra, blank rune to the accepted symbols of the Elder Futhark. However, since the runes are essentially an alphabet, and each rune represents a letter, there is very little justification for this.

After all, each letter signifies a sound, or combination of sounds, and even in the modern alphabet there is no symbol that represents silence. In addition, there is no historical evidence whatsoever that the rune masters of the past ever included a blank stone or stick either in their divinations or in the runic calendar.

Some modern practitioners of runic divination have given the blank rune the name Wyrd, a word that literally means "fate". The norns were said to weave the web of Wyrd, in other words, creating the destiny to which we are all individually bound. In turn, according to some myths, the Norns were the daughters of a mysterious goddess called Wyrd, who seems to be little more than a personification of their collective function. One interpretation of the blank rune is that it signals that fate has taken a hand in your affairs and that you should look no further into the reading. However, this is a function that is already present in the Elder Futhark, found under Pertho. The function of fate as a necessity can likewise be found within the meaning of the rune Nauthiz. In summary, the Wyrd rune does not belong to any of the three aetts of the Elder Futhark.

For those who wish to use the blank rune in their readings, however, here are a few suggestions as to its possible interpretation. The Anglo-Saxons and other races of northern Europe believed in a universal force that they called Orlog. Orlog, which literally means "doom" or "destiny", governed the fate of nations and entire populations ( in fact, there is a Dutch word, oorlog, which means "war" ). In terms of this rune, Orlog should be taken to mean the individual fate that is our birthright. In expresses the karmic debt, which many believe has been carried over from a previous life. According to this view, most of the important elements if life are already predestined and nothing can be done to change them. When the blank rune turns up, it means that you are reaching such a point and that there is absolutely nothing you can do to change it. Although free will exists, at this moment events will go as they have been ordained.
If the blank rune turns up as the answer to a specific question, the answer is that this is not the right time to ask it.
The blank rune also indicates major changes in your life. Some even suggest that a bereavement is likely. However, since the rune has no symbolic associations, it would be difficult to work out if this is the case.
In my opinion, the use of Wyrd, the blank rune, is not necessary to runic divination, and is simply a modern addition to the ancient practice of rune-casting.

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The "New" Runes

I Probably should have written this before i started writing about the Runes but now, with all the knowledge i have shared here about them, i hope you have enjoyed and learned something. For now i will make a pause, and talk about the "New" Runes, and then i will go back to the Older Runes of the Elder futhark. Its almost at an end, but i will show you before that end, the nine ( 9 ) "New" Runes, they may help you as well.

Before i write this, i will speak in a "superficia"l way about the runes.

Introduction

The runes were once the sacred alphabet of the Germanic peoples of northern Europe. They were also used as a system of divination in a similar manner to the more modern Tarot cards.
The very name "rune" derives from the ancient Gothic "runa", meaning a secret or a mystery. However, unlike the cards, the runes literally "spelled" words of power to be carved on amulets, rings and weapons, and also as inscriptions on tombstones.
In fact, the verb "spell" may come from ancient rune masters because it means "to make magic" and "to set out the letters of a word properly".

The most ancient complete runic alphabet comprises a series of twenty-four angular figures and is called the Elder Futhark. Just as the ancient Greek letters alpha and beta give us the word alphabet, the word "futhark" derives from the names of the first six runes. As time went on, the languages of certain Germanic peoples altered, causing an equivalent alteration in the written forms of theur runic symbols. The yourger Futhark has only sixteen runes, while the Northumbrian Futhark used in northern England began to include elements of Celtic culture and increased in size to thirty-three. In other places, the runic tally was increased to thirty-six. However, the Elder Futhark is the only rune-row directly to relate to the seasons of the year, the hours of the day, the directions of the compass and many other concepts of symbolic importance to our ancestors.
In today's world, the runes are usually drawn or carved onto a variety of small objects, sucj as slivers of wood or pebbles, or even moulded into plastic "rune stones". There are many types of rune, or even rune cards available commercially. However, the rune masters of old would undoubtely have recommended making your own set of runes by carving them with care into the wood of a fruit-bearing tree or painting them in red on small stones, or, failing that, by drawing them ( again in red ) on pieces of card.

New Northumbrian Runes

Whatever your own personal runes happen to be made of, you should begin by familiarising yourself with the simple shapes that make up the runic letters themselves. As i have written here at my blog and you can see in the label called "Runes", i have fully described each of the runes, together with the symbolic images, such as the animals, trees, herbs and celestial phenomena, associated with them. The myths of the viking gods are also included in the label called "Gods and Mythology " to give a flavour of each of the individual runes. The more familiar you are with these stories, characteristics and related concepts, the easier you will find it to read the runes properly and to use them as a sort of springboard for your own intuition.
It is important to remember that the runes are special and should be treated as such. Part of this specialness should be expressed in the way you keep your runes when they are not in use. Traditionally, runes should be kept in a drawstring bag to preserve them from hostile vibrations. It is also a good idea to keep a plain, white square of cloth in your runebag. This cloth should be placed on the table before you begin your reading to create a symbolic background to your rune-casting.