Pagan

[Arwen]

Merc goes retro 11/6 and direct 11/26. Please hold on to your horses and try not to show your asses.

[Bit]

Originally Posted by Arwen

Merc goes retro 11/6 and direct 11/26. Please hold on to your horses and try not to show your asses.

BUT... butbutbut....but they're such CUTE asses....

[Parker]

I have a question for those that use and work with runes pretty regularly - or at least are pretty familiar with them.

Way back in the day, before I could do searches on the interwebs, I used 2 books for my basic Wiccan/Pagan needs: Scott Cunningham's Wicca: A Guide For The Solitary Practitioner and Raymond Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft.

The information on runes in Buckland's book was all about alphabets and I used that mainly for spelling out my name when I carved it into my athame or whatever; but the information on runes in Cunningham's book was what I used for divination, carving runes into candles, etc.

One of the things I did was to create rune necklaces for myself and for a few close friends - basically a little wood piece onto which I would etch and burn a rune or two with a burning tool - usually something like comfort on one side and health on the other - or whatever.

Again, in those instances, I would use Cunningham's rune meanings:




Well, I lost my own necklace years ago - or I gave it to someone - whatever, my memory sucks - but what matters is that I am in the process of making myself a new one and when I was googling around looking at runes online, I found that it appears that either Cunningham's info is wrong or obsolete because instead of finding the same meanings for runes that he had in his book(s), I am finding things like this site and this site.



I understand that there are 3 main/well-known/most used rune meanings (Elder Futhark, Anglo-Saxon Futhorc, and Younger Futhark) and that those meanings are all somewhat similar (and some of Cunningham's rune meanings match those other site's meanings), so I guess what I am asking is (a) do you consider the meanings behind the runes Cunningham provided in his book obsolete or incorrect, and (b) which rune meanings do you follow when doing rune work and/or divination and why?

Thanks for hanging in - that was a long way to go for that question! lol

[JustLovelyJenn]

Originally Posted by Parker

so I guess what I am asking is (a) do you consider the meanings behind the runes Cunningham provided in his book obsolete or incorrect, and (b) which rune meanings do you follow when doing rune work and/or divination and why?

Thanks for hanging in - that was a long way to go for that question! lol

While I haven't had a decent set of runes for a few years and have used other forms of divination, I used to read them quite frequently. I also found that many of the meanings varied to some degree depending on the source. So I fell back on the advice given to me by my first mentor.

The meaning is important only in that YOU are consistent. If you are most comfortable with Cunningham's meanings then they will work for you. If some of the other sets ring more true for you, use those. All of them have truth, because they are the meanings that were passed down to that person from whomever taught them. Your own intention is the most important determination of any magic.

[Parker]

Last night I made a rune necklace like the one I was talking about in my last post - this one was for practice because I damaged it when I screwed the eyelet into the top of it, but you get the idea:







I used my Dremel drill to cut the wood (approx .75" x 1.25") and also used it to sand the edges so they were beveled a bit and not straight. Then I used a burning tool to burn the sides (as a sort of frame the runes) and also to burn the runes into the wood.

[Sachita]

Originally Posted by JustLovelyJenn

While I haven't had a decent set of runes for a few years and have used other forms of divination, I used to read them quite frequently. I also found that many of the meanings varied to some degree depending on the source. So I fell back on the advice given to me by my first mentor.

The meaning is important only in that YOU are consistent. If you are most comfortable with Cunningham's meanings then they will work for you. If some of the other sets ring more true for you, use those. All of them have truth, because they are the meanings that were passed down to that person from whomever taught them. Your own intention is the most important determination of any magic.

Long time wiccan/pagan goddess here who is now eclectic. I've walked many paths and have taken a little bit of everything that works for ME. Symbolism has been used since the beginning of time to invoke a state of being or focus for manifestation. There is belief that a collective set of beliefs gives it more power but I can't honestly say this is true unless that collective is all focusing at the same time on the same thing. If that makes sense lol

So for all intent and purposes you could devise your own symbols but the meaning would need to be clearly defined, remembered and only you can give them power. This is why many adopt traditions of others.

Scott Cunningham's symbols have been around a long time. They are clean simple lines.