I’ve been reading Tarot for over twenty-five years, but my experience with runes is just a few years old. I resisted exploration of the runes for a long time, even during the 80s when those cheap rune sets seemed to be the fashionable accessory for every would-be witch.

But it was inevitable that I eventually encounter the runes face to face. I’ve always had a love of glyphs, sigils and symbols, and it is an interest that has deepened, especially over the last few years. It was only natural that I would be drawn, sooner or later, toward the Futhark runic system.

The first time I held the runes I had an immediate sense of how they wanted to be cast, to be used, to be read. Each individual symbol evoked a reaction in me, and spoke its meaning, even before I did any reading on the subject. I’ve read many books and articles since then; some of the methods and meanings resonate with me, and help me enhance my rune-castings, rune magick and divinations. Some don’t.

This book did.

Edred Thorsson (aka Stephen E Flowers) is a contentious figure in the pagan and occult world. When he’s not being decried as an evil Satanist, he’s being hailed as a scholarly genius. For some, he can do no wrong, and for others, it seems he can do nothing right. How could I not seek out literature written by such a controversial figure?

Futhark: A Handbook of Rune Magic is one of his better known books (many would call it a classic in its field), and it approaches the runes from a magical perspective, more than as a system of divination.

In a concise, clear manner, Thorsson describes a workable method of utilising the runes as elements of magic, and so far it has managed to increase the effectiveness of my own personal method a great deal.

The first chapter gives a brief historical outline of the development of the futhark runes, and explores definitions and lore associated with the runes.

The second chapter examines each rune in turn, giving the names, phonetic value, meaning, magical uses and more for each one.

Subsequent chapters cover the theory and practice of rune magic. There are also several appendices that include such subjects as pronounciation, poetics, and a table of correspondences.

A lot of people accuse Edred Thorsson of thinking he’s the be-all end-all of rune lore, magic and divination, but I didn’t get that sense at all from this book. There are several instances where Thorsson encourages the reader to form his/her own opinions according to his/her own experiences. My own experiences with the runes indicate to me that the runic system of divination and magic is a living system, and as a living system forms an intimate dialogue with the vitki, witch, magician or seer who uses them. Nothing I read in the book detracted or negated my own personal experience with the runes.

I think that Futhark: A Handbook of Rune Magic, is an excellent source of information for both beginners and those with more experience with the runes and rune-work. Though the book is more focussed on runic magic, there is much that can be gained from it for ones divination practices as well.

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