Runes.  My favorite. The idea of using Runes for divination seems to bring out a lot of eye rolling. There are many forms of divination and it doesn’t really matter which one you choose. It only matters how good you get at using them. Not every Witch is skilled at any kind of divination either. Using Divination tools doesn’t make you a Witch.

When I show people my Crystal Ball, they sit back as if it is going to zap them with a lightening bolt. They ask for a Reading and I bring out a little bag of stones with some weird symbols on them and they give me a weird look. When I give them a reading with Runes, they usually wonder how I get all that from a simple symbol. Often, they don’t understand the Runes or how divination works and therefore are confused when the information I give them is personal, private and accurate.

Honestly, if you want to impress people and make money with a divination tool, Most people understand and accept Tarot Card Readings. Somehow, complicated art is easier to accept that it can hold a message than a single symbol that looks like a letter of the alphabet. It is easier to say, it’s not my message, it is the cards fault. Other forms of divination such as the Runes are a bit harder to blame. I often get the question, “and you get all that from a Rune?”.

Why my divination tool of choice is a set of Elder Futhark Runes? Good question.

Everyone has a reason as to why they have chosen a specific tool for whatever they do. Here is my reason for my choice.

Runes are symbols. They are an alphabet. They resemble letters of the English alphabet. I have recollections of these symbols since my very early childhood. They were shown to me in dreams and in things I saw in my waking life. I have always seemed to have a connection to letters. I could read before I ever went to kindergarten. No one can tell me how I learned to read before I was 5 years old but I could none-the-less.

Because I don’t know the answer to how I was “taught” I can only guess it is a gift that comes naturally to me. Like painting came to Michael Angelo. Like singing was to Elvis Presley. Everyone has a gift. It may be undiscovered, but everyone has one.

I learned how to crochet as a 7-year-old child. Today, I can not knit a single stitch. I have tried and it is something I just can not do.  Although crochet and knitting are similar, these two techniques are not the same. Tarot and Runes are similar in how they work but they are not the same. I am trying once again to get Tarot cards to speak to me. I am really struggling with the cards but when it comes to the Runes, it is natural and easy for me.

I am very good with horribly misspelled words but when it comes to Emojis, I can’t even guess what it means. The universal instructions with pictures are lost on me. I would have an easier time learning to interpret an unfamiliar language that uses similar letters than I will ever be able to decipher a coded message composed of pictures.

Simply put, Runes have meaning to me, pictures don’t.

The key to divination is intuition and interpretation, not the tool or medium used.

My first tool I tried was a deck of beautiful Tarot Cards. I chose the Tarot Cards because those are the most popular. Just sitting with someone and using my own skills was not socially acceptable. It was perfectly fine to have something physical to point at and say, it isn’t me it is the ____________.

When I do a practice reading, I often tell the querent not to disclose the question but to blow the thought onto the cards, runes, whatever I am using. Ask the Runes so the Runes will tell me the answer. The more open the querent the easier it is to read for them. There are some who are so guarded, shielded and cut off that I will never be able to read for them no matter how hard I try.  Yes, sometimes when you just don’t want to know, it is refreshing to just not know.

If you are drawn to the Runes, go with it. Give it a good try. If they don’t work for you, try something else. Keep trying until you find what works for you. The power isn’t in the Runes themselves, it is in you. It isn’t in the tool, it is how the tool works for you and how well you work with the tool.

In Love and Light and Second Sight,

Summer Song