A recent thread on a similar subject reminded me of this article I wrote for an e-zine on a now defunct site. Hopefully some will find it useful, and perhaps some will share how they cast runes.
HOW TO CAST RUNES
There's really no wrong way to cast runes, and many right ways. The Roman historian Tacitus tells us that the ‘slips of wood cut from a fruit-bearing tree' were cast like lots upon a white linen cloth (although no specific mention of runes is made, it is generally accepted that runes are of which he speaks). In different books, you'll find as many different layouts for runes as you'll find for tarot. Are these traditional? In some cases, probably not; in other cases, absolutely not. Does this invalidate these methods? For the most part, I'd say no. In my experience, where problems in interpretation might occur using, say, a Celtic cross layout is in trying to ‘pigeonhole' each rune to fit a certain perspective. I have a friend that used to email me each morning after he had done his daily layout with his rune cards; he'd inevitably be frantic because he couldn't understand how this rune or that rune represented an obstacle or a past action or so on. I would simply read the runes (nothing to do with fitting a rune into a pre-conceived notion) and give him a coherent interpretation. Now, that said, everyone doesn't find this a problem; if your background is strong in tarot or similar forms of divination, you'll probably have an easier time with layouts than someone lacking that experience.
So, on to some of the more common methods of rune casting...
The One Rune Draw
Obviously, this is the simplest method... just pull a rune from the bag (or if you don't have a bag, turn ‘em all face down, stir ‘em around like you would dominos, then pick one). Many people use this as their ‘rune for the day.' It's good for some quick, simple guidance, or to get the ‘feel' of a situation.
The Three Rune Draw
With this method, most people will assign a past, present or future context to each rune drawn (usually in that order as they're drawn), but you don't have to be locked into that (remember, runes are runes, sometimes it's best to just read ‘em).
The Four Rune Draw
The four rune draw can be used to associate each rune with a cardinal direction, and the element etc associated with that direction.
The Five Rune Draw
Most of the people that I know that use a five rune draw see it as a sort of variation on the three rune draw, just giving you a little more information (the extra two seem to fill the role of clarifiers).
The Nine Rune Draw
This method associates each rune with one of the Nine Worlds in Northern mythology (if you're not familiar with this, just google; you'll get far more info than we have time to cover here)... or just read ‘em...
The Year Ahead Draw
This one is as simple as it sounds. Draw twelve runes, and then apply them in order to the months of the calendar beginning with the current or next month.
The Full Cast
The full cast is the one that I use most often. Simply take all twenty four runes in your hands, think of your question, hold them above your reading surface, and then let them fall and land as they will. Now, you ask, how do I interpret this jumble? Again, there's no wrong way, but here's how Rick does it: I begin with the rune that is face up and closest to the person for whom I'm reading. I look for patterns, ‘paths' if you will, in the upturned runes. The runes that I read are those that are face up and those face down that a face-up rune is covering, or being covered by. There's always a path, a flow to follow; it may not always be apparent at first, but with a little practice the eye soon picks out these patterns. Now, others might only want to read the runes that fall face up. That's OK. This is the part of the process where intuition comes into play. I'll sometimes be drawn to turn over a face-down rune that under other circumstances I wouldn't consider; it's like they sometimes are yelling (or whispering) "Hey, look at me!"
In summation, let me reiterate, there's really no wrong way to cast runes, just some that may be more traditional than others. Use your imagination, and have fun.
Happy runing!
HOW TO CAST RUNES
There's really no wrong way to cast runes, and many right ways. The Roman historian Tacitus tells us that the ‘slips of wood cut from a fruit-bearing tree' were cast like lots upon a white linen cloth (although no specific mention of runes is made, it is generally accepted that runes are of which he speaks). In different books, you'll find as many different layouts for runes as you'll find for tarot. Are these traditional? In some cases, probably not; in other cases, absolutely not. Does this invalidate these methods? For the most part, I'd say no. In my experience, where problems in interpretation might occur using, say, a Celtic cross layout is in trying to ‘pigeonhole' each rune to fit a certain perspective. I have a friend that used to email me each morning after he had done his daily layout with his rune cards; he'd inevitably be frantic because he couldn't understand how this rune or that rune represented an obstacle or a past action or so on. I would simply read the runes (nothing to do with fitting a rune into a pre-conceived notion) and give him a coherent interpretation. Now, that said, everyone doesn't find this a problem; if your background is strong in tarot or similar forms of divination, you'll probably have an easier time with layouts than someone lacking that experience.
So, on to some of the more common methods of rune casting...
The One Rune Draw
Obviously, this is the simplest method... just pull a rune from the bag (or if you don't have a bag, turn ‘em all face down, stir ‘em around like you would dominos, then pick one). Many people use this as their ‘rune for the day.' It's good for some quick, simple guidance, or to get the ‘feel' of a situation.
The Three Rune Draw
With this method, most people will assign a past, present or future context to each rune drawn (usually in that order as they're drawn), but you don't have to be locked into that (remember, runes are runes, sometimes it's best to just read ‘em).
The Four Rune Draw
The four rune draw can be used to associate each rune with a cardinal direction, and the element etc associated with that direction.
The Five Rune Draw
Most of the people that I know that use a five rune draw see it as a sort of variation on the three rune draw, just giving you a little more information (the extra two seem to fill the role of clarifiers).
The Nine Rune Draw
This method associates each rune with one of the Nine Worlds in Northern mythology (if you're not familiar with this, just google; you'll get far more info than we have time to cover here)... or just read ‘em...
The Year Ahead Draw
This one is as simple as it sounds. Draw twelve runes, and then apply them in order to the months of the calendar beginning with the current or next month.
The Full Cast
The full cast is the one that I use most often. Simply take all twenty four runes in your hands, think of your question, hold them above your reading surface, and then let them fall and land as they will. Now, you ask, how do I interpret this jumble? Again, there's no wrong way, but here's how Rick does it: I begin with the rune that is face up and closest to the person for whom I'm reading. I look for patterns, ‘paths' if you will, in the upturned runes. The runes that I read are those that are face up and those face down that a face-up rune is covering, or being covered by. There's always a path, a flow to follow; it may not always be apparent at first, but with a little practice the eye soon picks out these patterns. Now, others might only want to read the runes that fall face up. That's OK. This is the part of the process where intuition comes into play. I'll sometimes be drawn to turn over a face-down rune that under other circumstances I wouldn't consider; it's like they sometimes are yelling (or whispering) "Hey, look at me!"
In summation, let me reiterate, there's really no wrong way to cast runes, just some that may be more traditional than others. Use your imagination, and have fun.
Happy runing!
So far I'm mostly on one rune, still trying to get acquainted with the runes. Thanks for sharing it!
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