Oct
Knowing the Runes
Yesterday’s discussion concerned knowing the Gods, as opposed to merely knowing about them. The Gods can be known by direct experience. The Runes can also be experienced. Over the last year, I ran a series of exercises to help people experience the Runes.
The Runes and the Gods are not mere intellectual abstractions. They exist and can be experienced. The Runes are more than a bunch of magickal signs. Each Rune has an operating principle and an essence. Many of these principles correlate to natural laws that can be observed. All Runes have a practical component. Even if the Rune itself cannot be perceived, the results of its actions are perceptible. For instance, you cannot weigh and measure the essence of the Raido Rune, but you can see it in action through transportation.
Books are an accumulation of facts and ideas. Those books that describe old lore, Runes and Gods are the reports of their authors. They are second-hand information to the reader. Books can help, but the real work is in having your own personal experiences. Reading about Runes is rather dry when compared to consciously experiencing them. The whole idea of learning the Runes is to know them from direct and conscious contact. Books are like signs that point the way. A book is nothing more than that. The goal is not in studying the signs, but finding the thing to which they point.
You can know the Runes. As with the Gods, it is better to know the Runes than know about the Runes. Knowing “about” is like knowing the signs. When you know the thing to which the signs point, then you know the thing itself.
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We gave one lesson every seven to nine days, starting with Fehu and working our way through the Elder Futhark. Look through the archives to find the exercises intended to help people actually experience each Rune in turn.
