Reading the Runes: The Five Directions Method

The Five Directions Method


This simple runic arrangment utilises five randomly chosen runes. This is another pattern that is laid out in a cross-like formation. Start at the bottom of the cross shape. The second rune goes on the left and the third at the top. The fourth rune is placed on the right and, finally, the fifth in the centre. This type of reading is suitable for answering a specific question. All of the runes should be placed face down and turned over one by one until the reading is completed.

Position 1 - The past and its influence on the query.
Position 2 - Problems and potential obstacles in your path.
Position 3 - Strokes of luck and other benefical influences working in your favour.
Position 4 - The immediate outcome.
Position 5 - This rune represents both the eventual outcome and the lesson that you should have learned from the experience.

Divination with Runes: The Nine-Rune Cast Method

The Nine-Rune Cast Method

This is a method that is very close to the classical rune-casting written about Tacitus. Although there is no formal arrangment of the runes in this method, it is nevertheless a very revealing way of consulting the mysteries of fate. Although your intuition is the most important factor when consulting the runes in this way, there are certain rules that will help you to make sense of the fall of the runes. The best way to do this is to make a note of each rune in turn and possibly also to sketch their relative positions in your notebook.

STEP ONE

Randomly pick nine runes from your pile. Hold them in your hands while allowing a question to form in your mind. When you consider yourself to be in a receptive mental state, cast the nine runes onto a white cloth. You will find that a number will land face upwards, while other will be inverted. Those that are upright should be read first (remember to make a note of them in your rune notebook). These runes will reveal the situation that you find yourself in, as well as showing the factors in the past that have led to it.

STEP TWO

Once you have done this, look at the runes that lie face up at the centre of the cloth. Runes in the centre are very important, and you should take your time interpreting them. They may advise you on what decisions to make, warn you of future pitfalls or reveal hither to unknown influences in your life.

STEP THREE

Now look at the runes that are lying face up on the edges of the cloth (if some have left the cloth entirely, their importance is diminished to the point at which they can be ignored). The general rule is that the further a rune is from the centre, the less important it will be. These runes will show the influence of others on your question.

STEP FOUR

Now look at the runes that have landed face down. These represent the future and should be read in the order that you turn them over, ensuring that they remain in the same position relative to the other runes. You will find that another level of reading is now possible because the individual runes will form groupings. Some will be found in pairs, others singly or in threes. You can then apply the rules of the single-rune and three Norns methods to find out more about the hiddden meanings of the runic symbols.

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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