Runes:
A magical language from Pre-Christian Europe.
The issue of a magical language for the Neo/Pagan community
has been debated for some time by the memebers
of the Wiccoid Pan
Paganites. Some feel quite comfortable using
the Quaballistic
system of the Judaic peoples. While others feel
that this system
is infused with thousands of years of
patriarchy and tis and what
as you will it to exist and work as you you will in this and create
that which taints it by the dark ka in the minds of those who do
not want or don't seem as a point to others in intrusions or not
desire to use it.
There have been a number of languages that have
been uncovered
in the past century. Ogham, the Celtic written
language is one
choice, but using this system is problematic
because the
tradition it came from (as with many of that
time) was oral and
the Druids (teachers of the Ogham alphabet)
were destroyed along
with the Library at Tara by the overzelous St.
Patrick. The
information surviving to this day on the Ogham
alphabet is mostly
recreated by people who do the most with what
they have...but the
inner knowledge of the Ogham system has been
lost.
The runic language, however, was created by the
Teutonic
peoples of the Continent and Scandinavia was
able to last as a
magical system alive and intact because the
Christian influence
came at a later time and those people were not
destroyed but rather
were converted.
The Teutonic Runic system was used
by the Goths, the
Visigoths, the Vandals and many other Teutonic
Tribes of the era
of the fall of the Roman Empire, the
Norse/Vikings of the 10th
through the 12th century, the Saxons who
invaded the isle of Great
Brittan, and many tribes of Teutons not known
to history
for their military expeditions. By this we see
that the runic
system was in use from approximately 500 c.e.
until at least
1,200 c.e. and there are many examples of runic
talismans from
which to investigate.
Other examples which aid in a good
understanding of what the
rune system was and how the magical archetypes
were fused both in
the minds of the Vitki (the name of a runic
magician {Thorrson1})
and in the shapes of the runic staves are a
wealth of writings
from those who used the system (the Poetic Edda
and the Prose Edda)
and from some of the Roman historians Tacitus,
Virgil and others.
These two main sources give an perspective to
the study of the
runic system. That of the participant and that
of the
observer. One who is interested in working with
the any magical
system is both of these a participant and an
observer.
There have been a number of revivals of the
runic system in
modern times. Both occured in Germany, the
center of the Teutonic
tribes. The first was an intellectual/magical
revival in which a
number of occulthis ists worked with the system and
added to the
available knowledge though innovation and study
of folklore and
history. The second was a manipulation of the
archetypes of the
runes to control a population, popularly known
as Nazi Germany.
The Nazis used ideas, archetypes, and the pride
of the Teutonic
peoples to control them magically. This is not
to say that the
German people are no responsible for their
actions is not the point
I offer. Rather that some of the runes that
were used by the Nazis
will be seen in the runic system and that one
should
attempt to disinherit the short and horrid
imposition from the
beauty and power of Nature that is inherant in
the symbols and
has been for hundreds of years.
The last of the runic revivals is
the current one. The
interest in the runes has increased vastly in
the last ten years.
One of the reasons is the writings of Edred
Thorrson, and the
institution by him of the Rune Guild. The books
written by this
man are heavily researched and relatively easy
to read and follow.
There are other writers on the runic system,
but they are
all different, using different runic alphabets,
and seem to be
a mish-mosh of the four different runic
alphabets. The amount
of work to be done on the runic system is
great, but the rewards
of working with the system are as great,
enlivening, and exciting.
There are four basic runic alphabets. The Elder
Futhark,
Younger Futhark, Anglo-Saxon Fothark, and the
Frisian Futhark.
The most complete of the forms is the Elder
Futhark, of twenty-four
staves. The other forms either are missing
staves or have
staves that are mixtures of two staves. Think
of the scientific
Table of the Elements. The form that has the
greatest number of
the most basic forms is the best place to start
because you can
make as many combination from these with great
understaning of what
forces are at work in the compilation.
The Elder Futhark also is the oldest form known
as being a
complete alphabet. There are some earlier
examples of the use of
the runic symbols, but 500 c.e. is the earliest
compiled,complete
futhark.
The studying this author has done on
the runic system has been
with the Elder Futhark, using Edred Thorrsons's
books. They
are a great beginning although being a bit on
the patriarchal side
for my taste. He offers a wealth of information
which any
user of magical formuli can combine and find
further understanding
of the runes. I recommend his books highly as a
resource from which to do one's own research. I
also recommend reading the Edda's and writings by Virgil,
Tacitus and other Roman historian on the subject of German/Teuton
society.
The amount of information available about the
runes for the
pagan who is seeking a magical alphabet with
which to scribe,
cypher, or to expand consciousness is
exceptional for an ancient
lettering. Unlike the Quaballah it is not
connected with the
Judeo/Christian reality, but unfortunately is
connected with
patriarchy.
The breakdown of the dieties in the
Teutonic/Norse tradition
is reflective of the history that is shared by
almost all of the
religions in Europe. The earliest god/desses of
the region were
originally thought to be from the Lake Van in
Anatolia (where
modern day Turkey is). The pantheon of dieties
was known as the
Vanic dieties. This was basically a Nature
based religion common
in Europe before the patriarchal era began.
Many of the goddess
and god names are recognizible as being a part
of the Aesir.
Goddesses like Freya, Iduna, Sif, Hella; and
the god Frey are all
names I had heard before I read my first book
on runes.
The group of dieties usually attributed to the
Norse/Teutonic
people are the Aesir. The well known pantheon of Odhinn, Thor,
Tyr, Loki, The Fenris Wolf,
the Giants (thurs'), and many more.
The accepted historical
explination of the change is the invasion
of the Scandinavian areas by
the Teutonic Tribes of the Continent.
Many of the god/desses were
eliminated from popular practice and
relegated to less visible
and less important realms of influence. The
most powerfull
god/desses were married into the pahtheon of the
Aesir, Freya (meaning
"Lady"), Hella, Iduna, Frigga (an alternate
personality of
Freya), Frey (meaning, "Lord"), and others.
The historical change from a Goddess
based nature religion
to a martial God based religion had very a very
strong impact
on the region. The change in concepts aided in
the justification
of the raiding and invading of various Teutonic
tribes throughout
the first and second centuries of the Common
Era (C.E.). It also
spread the runic system throughout Northern
Europe and England.
The negative side of this warlike attitude is
the desire of many
Pagans to use a system for the
spreading of peace and of the
healing of the Earth Mother. Much of the
information in the texts
available deal with the battles and
conquests of the Teutons and
their God/desses, not quite the
place for a peace-loving pagan to
find power and solace. However
the main battle in the runic sagas
(Eddas) is the battle
between conscious action and non-conscious
action.
The Aesir and Vanir
in alliance against the Thurses or forces of chaos.
The law and
chaos dealt with are not the social "law" and anarchy
that most of
the status-quo fear, but rather the law of the natural order
and the
chaos of non-natural or artificial destruction of the
natural law
for reasons with no wisdom.
It seems to this author that the
"battle" engaged in the mystical
realm of the Norse/Teutonic multiverse
is closely alligned with the
battle that we face today against the
wholesale corporate destruction
of the ecology of the
planet which I think we can all agree is a
plan without wisdom.
With a good deal of hard work and
perseverence with the runic
system, it seems that the Vanic God/desses can
be reintegrated into the system. A rebalancing
of the pantheon to allow for the modern
view that the god and
the goddess influence should be in perspective...
even.
Reprinted From the Winter Solstace Will and Word 1990 EV