A Handbook of Saxon Sorcery & Magic: Wyrdworking, Rune Craft, Divination & Wortcunning - Alaric Albertsson 2017

Rúncræft
Runes and Rúncræft

Often when people today think of runes, they immediately think of the use of runes in the practice of wiglung (augury or divination). This is indeed a valid use for the runes, and we will explore this use in a later chapter. Wiglung is a valuable skill for any wyrdworker, but, while it is a magical skill, it does not conform to the definition of active magic that we are using in this book. It does not directly create any change. The word rúncræft means “rune skill.” In a broad sense, rune skill would include wiglung when runes are the means of divination (in contrast to Tarot or scrying or some other method). However, in this chapter we will be using the word rúncræft in reference specifically to the use of runes in active magic.

If you have been working through this book chapter by chapter, you have probably already made some use of the runes. After reading the chapter on tools, you may have carved runes into your wand or your myse to empower these tools. You may have carved runes into the hilt of your seax, or applied them to the blade using the process of Weland’s Transfer. After reading about the different systems of runes, you may have made your own set of divinatory runes. As you will soon see, rune sets such as these can also be useful for active rúncræft. Let us now look at how we can use these old symbols to shape our wyrd (destiny) with spells and various charms.

The last few chapters have hinted at these uses. In the description of each rune and its mystery, I have included combinations of runes that can be used when crafting runic charms. There are even a few simple spells. Turn back to the leaf and root runes and read again the description of eolh, where a quick and useful protection spell is given making use of that rune. Wyrdworkers who specialize as a rúnwitan, or rune sorcerers, will eventually develop personal spells similar to this to suit their needs.

Four More Runes

I use only the twenty-nine runes described and defined in the Rune Poem, but I have not written this book to tell you how to practice my own craft. You should be aware of four other Anglo-Saxon runes: calc, gár, cweorth, and stán. Whether or not you make use of these in your practice of rúncræft and wiglung is your own choice.

I do not make use of these four runes because there is no surviving lore to explain their mysteries, or even to indicate if they had any meaning at all. It is possible that these other four runes were used only for writing. None are found in the Elder or Younger Futharks. All four evolved in the Anglo-Saxon culture to accommodate the Old English language. The only hints we have as to what they may have meant (if anything) to the early, pre-Christian people are found in the names and shapes of these runes. Therefore any interpretation or meaning you give to these runes must necessarily be drawn primarily from your own intuition. You may find descriptions of these four runes elsewhere accompanied by extensive interpretations, but you should know that the interpretations are simply the product of another person’s intuition, which may or may not prove to be valid for you.

Calc means “chalk” in Old English. When we look at the shape of the rune there is not much resemblance to a piece of chalk, but there is no question as to the meaning of the word itself. Related words are found in Old English referencing chalk pits and chalk ravines, as well as chalk stone (cealcstán). Chalk was used to make plaster or cement, and the word calc was also used for these materials, as well as for the raw stone.

Look again at the shape of the rune. Taking the concept of plaster into consideration, we can see the rune as a rough illustration of timbers or beams. Plaster holds the beams together where they intersect at the center of the symbol. It is possible that the mystery of calc involves construction or mending. It may indicate the materials necessary to initiate and complete a project. Or it may mean nothing of the sort. As I have said, to work with these four runes, you will have to rely on your own intuition.

Gár means “spear.” The shape of the rune is an enigma. It looks like calc without the central upright mark. Again, as I have said, these last four runes may have no mystic meaning. What we see in their names and shapes may be nothing more than conjecture.

If we focus on the name of the rune, a word meaning spear, we should bear in mind that æsc also means spear. Thus, to establish a meaning for this rune, we need to consider how it differs from æsc. One word emphasizes the material a spear is made from, ash wood, while the other may emphasize the shape of the spear. If we assume this to be true, then gár can be used for any pointed weapon: a spear, a javelin, even an arrow. The spear was the primary piercing weapon wielded by the early Saxons. The mystery of gár may be related to piercing or pointing, but how this applies in wiglung or in rúncræft is anybody’s guess. Again, you must depend on your intuition.

Cweorth is without question the rune we know the least about. We can to look to the names of calc, gár, and stán for some understanding of the mysteries those runes may have embodied, but even the name of cweorth is uncertain. It is often interpreted as “fire-drill,” meaning a tool used for starting a fire with friction. However, this interpretation is speculative. We do not really know what cweorth means, other than as the name for a runic character representing the “kw” sound or, as we are more familiar with it in Modern English, “qu.”

In form, cweorth is similar to the éoh rune. This indicates a sense of balance. The opposing hooks at the upper and lower ends of the éoh rune are, in the cweorth rune, V-shaped angles that suggest divinity. If the yew (éoh) connects us to the earth below and the sky above, perhaps cweorth connects us to the divinity within the earth and the sky. Assuming cweorth does mean fire-drill, the mystery of this rune could also involve initiations and beginnings.

Stán is a word found throughout Old English literature. Stán means “stone.” We may not know for certain if the early Saxons used a cweorth to start a fire with friction, but we do know for certain that a fýrstán—a fire stone, or flint—was used for starting a fire by striking a spark. We know that the early Saxons enjoyed something akin to a sauna, known as a stánbæþ or “stone bath,” creating vapor by pouring water over hot stones. Stones could be cut from a stánhýwet (quarry) or gathered in a stándenu (rocky valley). These stones were shaped into stánfætes (stone vessels), used as stánflóra (paving stones), and for constructing stángetimbres (stone buildings). With more than seventy permutations, stán is one of the most common concepts found in Old English.

The plain, simple meaning of this name is reflected in the shape of the rune. It is a complete enclosure, suggesting solidity. It reminds us that stone is unyielding, yet reliable. If stán is a symbol for any mystery, its meaning almost surely includes these qualities.

Including these four runes—calc, gár, cweorth, and stán—in your work is entirely optional. I never use them. I do not believe they had any mystic significance to the early Anglo-Saxons, but I could be wrong. Next week an ancient document may turn up in an old European church or library to reveal four more passages of the Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem that have been lost until now. And even if that does not happen, you may find personal meaning in these symbols even though we know nothing of what they meant to people fifteen centuries ago.

Now you have looked at all thirty-three of the Anglo-Saxon runes—the twenty-nine that are described in the Rune Poem and four others we know very little about. The runes are your tools. How do you make use of them?

In the first chapter of this book, we discussed the difference between spirituality and magic and how these two sometimes overlap. I believe rúncræft is a place where spirituality is a very appropriate part of one’s magic work. The runes—the mysteries behind the symbols—are a gift from Woden. We are told in the Hávamál that Woden (known to the Scandinavians as Odin or Odhinn) hung on the World Tree for nine days, a sacrifice to himself, in order to grasp the runic mysteries. For this reason, I always begin any significant rune work with a brief prayer:

Woden, Wise Wanderer,

Lend me the power of the runes.

Ic bidde thé nu.

The final words, pronounced “eech bidda they noo” are Old English for “I ask you now.” As you can see, this prayer does not ask Woden to intervene for me or provide whatever it is I am attempting to gain. It simply acknowledges him as the master of the runes. The prayer is a way of honoring the god Woden while simultaneously centering myself for the work ahead.

If your need—the goal you are working toward—is extremely urgent, you might extend the prayer and ask Woden or another deity for help. There is nothing wrong with this, so long as you have established a relationship with the deity through devotional offerings. Just be sure that you have put something into the relationship before trying to pull something out of it. For the most part, I try to refrain from asking help from the gods unless I really need it. We have all heard the story of the boy who cried “wolf”; I do not want to ask for help so often that my pleas begin to fall on deaf ears. For most of my rune work, I use nothing more than the brief prayer given here to honor Woden.

Runic Spellcasting

Rúncræft can be worked with spells or by crafting talismans in the form of staves, bindrunes, or helms. Which approach to take depends on your need. Runic talismans are better for long-term goals, but they take time to create. When your need is immediate, a runic spell is often the better choice.

This book presents one technique for casting a runic spell, but over time the experienced rúnwita will devise other, personal techniques. Often these will incorporate other magical skills. The very word spell, evolved from the Old English verb meaning to speak or sing, suggests the inclusion of galdor, the magic of the spoken word.

The technique presented here includes galdor as well as some creative visualization. It consists of two parts that we can think of as the Layout and the Process. The Layout creates a focus to keep the rúnwita centered on his or her work; the Process is the active element of the spell.

Layout

For the Layout you will need your myse (working surface), your set of runes, a new red candle, and a holder for the candle. A red candle is used because red is the color of blood, and blood is a substance of power; due to the Law of Sympathy, a red candle has intrinsic power. Because of the Law of Contagion, you will want a new candle that has never been used for any other purpose. The candle need not be large; I favor small votive candles.

When we use runes to divine future possibilities—to perceive wyrd—the symbols are drawn or cast at random. Here you are going to intentionally select the runes and lay them down to declare your will. Select three runes to define your purpose. One of these should be your primary rune, representing your essential goal, and the other two should be chosen to refine this definition.

Take some time to think about what you are doing. You must identify your needs precisely in order to select the most appropriate runes for your work. Most people envision their needs in vague, imprecise terms. They will express a desire for love or money or happiness without defining exactly what they want.

Let us suppose you want a new job. This is not an unusual or unreasonable goal, but to select the appropriate runes, you need to know exactly what you are looking for. You need to know exactly what influences you want to evoke. Why do you want a new job? What do you need or want that you do not currently have? It can be helpful to sit down and make a list of all the positive and negative qualities of your current situation. You may discover that you want a new job for reasons you were not completely aware of. You may even discover that you do not really want another job at all. Our society tends to glamorize some occupations and treat others with disdain. There is no such thing as a “bad” job in any honest work. It is only bad if you are not suited for the work. Do not let social conventions dictate what you should or should not be doing.

After you have given it some thought, you may decide that the real problem with your current job is that it does not satisfy your need for human interaction. Again, the job itself is not necessarily “bad.” Many people find comfort in occupations that afford privacy and seclusion. But we are assuming for the moment that you are not one of these people. You need lively social interaction throughout the day, so you choose mann as your primary rune. Mann fosters community relationships and urges us to cherish those relationships.

For your secondary runes you might choose feoh and wynn. Feoh is important because you want to draw the primary influence—community relationships—into your professional life in some way. These relationships will be a part of the exchange of goods or services producing an income. Wynn fosters happiness and, of equal importance, will help you recognize when you have achieved that goal.

Can you see how these three runes address a specific purpose? If you wanted a new job because you needed more money or less stress or a creative outlet, your choice of runes might be entirely different.

Or perhaps what you are searching for is a long-term romantic partnership. The exact same principles apply here. First, identify your needs. Gyfu will undoubtedly be among the runes you choose, since you are defining a permanent partnership, but what is the purpose of this partnership? What are your needs? Do you need an ally (eh), or are you looking for someone to ease your feeling of loneliness (mann)? Is it more important that your partner be athletic (ur) or intellectual (os)?

As you consider your actual needs, you may find that a spouse is not among them at this time. Social pressure can lead us to believe that we are somehow incomplete if we do not have a life partner. If you can look beyond this myth and examine your real needs, it may be that a few new friends or even a kitten might fulfill them. But let us suppose for the moment that a kitten is not enough, and that you have selected three runes defining exactly what you want to bring into your life. The spell described here will work equally well regardless of whether your purpose involves your career, romance, or something else entirely.

First, place the red candle on your myse. Now place your primary rune, whatever this may be, directly in front of the candle. The other two runes are placed to the left and right of the primary rune. Pause for a moment to contemplate each of these runes and why you have chosen them. Focus your mind on your specific desire.

Your Layout is complete.

Process

For the Process, you will need your telga (wand) and the Modern English translations for the passages in the Rune Poem that correspond to the runes you have chosen. You can find the latter in the preceding chapters of this book. Your intention is set out before you in your Layout. Now you will activate it.

Light the candle and give honor to Woden with a brief prayer.

Focus your attention on the primary, central rune. Consider again your reasons for choosing that rune and the influence you intend to evoke. For the moment, ignore the other two runes. All of your attention should be directed to the central rune.

Now read aloud the passage from the Rune Poem that defines the mystery of this primary rune. Your words should be strong and purposeful.

You may want to read the passage in its original Old English form or its Modern English translation. There are arguments for either approach. Old English is the language the Anglo-Saxons spoke, and using it creates a connection with that culture. On the other hand, when you speak in Modern English, you are emulating the Anglo-Saxons, who spoke in the language that was contemporary for their time. Ultimately the correct approach should be whichever is more empowering for you. Although I often use short Old English expressions in my spellwork, I prefer to use Modern English when reading complete passages from the Rune Poem.

After you have read the passage from the Rune Poem, take up your telga and draw the rune over the candle flame. Envision the shape of the rune as you draw it. See it crackle with power. Imagine the power of the candle rising up and flowing through the rune as you speak its name in a commanding voice.

Turn your attention to the rune to the left of your primary rune. Repeat the above steps, contemplating the mystery of this rune, reading the corresponding passage from the poem, and then drawing the rune with your wand above the candle flame.

Then turn to the last rune, the one to the right of the primary rune, and go through these steps again.

Complete the spell by extinguishing the candle flame as you say, again in a commanding voice, “ic spellige nu” (eech spell-ee-yeh noo). The candle should be discarded unless you intend to use it at a future time for the exact same spell. If so, be sure to label it in some way so you will remember the influences it has been imbued with. The simplest way to do this is to carve the three runes into the wax itself.

Rune Staves

Runic talismans are most often constructed in the form of staves. These are series of three or more runes chosen for their influences, just as you might choose three runes for spellcasting. Most staves (sometimes called “scripts”) consist of either three or five runes. In northern magic, odd numbers are believed to be more dynamic than even numbers. The Rune Poem itself consists of twenty-nine passages, an odd number. One rune by itself is an odd number, but it is not really a script. Three or five runes are easiest to manage. Anything longer than this can be confusing; your runic statement will work better if you keep it simple and bold.

The first thing to consider is whether your talisman is to be a permanent charm or if it is intended to have a finite effect. The spell we gave as an example for attracting a new job opportunity would be a finite effect. The spell is intended to create or attract an event. After the event occurs, the spell is done and the talisman has no further purpose. A finite talisman should be removed from the world after the desired effect has taken place. Thus, the ideal medium for a finite talisman is either paper or wood, which can be easily burned. Using our previous example of a talisman to create a new career path, the runes mann, feoh, and wynn could be marked on a sheet of parchment paper and carried in the purse or wallet as a talisman to attract a satisfying job opportunity with social interactions.

However, these same runes could be used in a permanent charm. When used in this way, their meaning shifts in subtle but important ways. The permanent charm is not intended to create an event; instead the runes are used to attract general influences. In this case, the charm would be attracting community, prosperity, and contentment. It is not directed toward a specific need. Obviously a durable medium is ideal for a permanent charm. Wood can be used, but antler, bone, or even metal are also good choices. If you choose to use metal, remember that lead is a “cursing” material. Silver or brass are more suitable for permanent charms with positive intentions.

Whether your talisman is finite or permanent, be sure to lay out your runic proclamation in a linear pattern. In our previous example, casting a spell with a set of runes, mann was chosen as the primary rune. It was set down, and then two secondary runes were placed to the left and right. But the primary rune was set down first, before the other two. There is no temporal order when marking rune staves, so their spatial order becomes important. To use the same runes on a stave, you would place mann at the beginning of the script. This would be at the left, assuming you are inscribing the runes from left to right. But runes can be inscribed in either direction. The runic proclamation of mann-feoh-wynn can be written both of these ways:

Keep in mind that nearly half of the runes of the Futhorc have no front or reversed position, they look identical whether inscribed forward or backward. When using only these runes, it is important that your runic statement make sense—a sense that expresses your intention—regardless of the direction you read them in.

What distinguishes the script on a charm from an ordinary runic script employed for mundane purposes? The runes mann, feoh, and wynn can be used in rúncræft, but they have no mystic meaning when a Saxon woman by the name of Mary Frances Wilder marks her initials in runes on her personal belongings to identify them. The runes are not just magical tools, they are also a functional alphabet. When using these symbols in a charm, they must be infused with power. They must be infused with your wód (inspiration). Your willa (willpower) comes into play also, but one attraction of the runes is that the symbols themselves are partially instrumental in directing raw, primal power.

Since the shape of each rune is important, they should be carefully marked out before any attempt is made to empower them. If you are creating a finite talisman with paper, the initial marking can be easily accomplished with pencil and perhaps a ruler. Do not be afraid to erase and correct any slips of the hand. At this point, you are merely delineating the form.

When crafting a wood talisman, begin by drawing the shape in pencil. Then use a wood burner to permanently mark the symbols into the wood. For bone or antler talismans, use a rotary engraving tool for this purpose. Again, you are just delineating the form, although I think it helps to keep your desired effect in mind while engraving or burning the shapes of the runes into your charm.

You can empower the talisman once you have marked the shapes of your runes and are satisfied with their order and composition. You will be doing this by coloring them while speaking a galdor. You will probably want to color your runes with red pigment, but the truth is there is no Mystic Brotherhood that will assault you for using the wrong color. I know a man who marks his runes with green and seems to have significant success, but the color red, as we discussed earlier, has an innate power of its own.

A red marker is the most practical tool when creating a finite talisman from paper. When using anything engraved—wood, antler, bone, or metal—paint may be more effective, although I have used fine-tipped red markers on antler.

While marking each rune, recite the relevant passage from the Rune Poem. This is your galdor, your verbalization, to imbue the rune with power. Further galdor can be used to empower the charm as a whole, but we will examine that in the next chapter. Further galdor is not essential or even useful if you find the technique to be awkward in any way. Always keep in mind that wyrdworking is an art, not an exact science. Only use those techniques that resonate for you.

Depending on their function, rune staves or runescripts can be kept on your person, slipped under pillows or mattresses, hung over doorways, or placed almost anywhere so long as they will remained undisturbed to do their work. I believe it is a good idea to master this skill fully before going on to work with bindrunes or helms.

Bindrunes

A completed bindrune consists of a number of runes superimposed over each other. The end result is, or should be, a unique mystic symbol. In many ways, creating a bindrune is similar to creating rune staves. The primary difference is that you are marking the runes directly on top of each other, rather than in a linear style. Whether an even or odd number of runes are employed is less important. The final outcome will be one symbol, and the number 1 has the dynamic potential the rúnwita desires.

Decide whether the bindrune is to be a permanent charm or if it will have a finite effect, and choose the appropriate medium to work with. Then, on a separate slip of paper, draw out the runes, superimposed as you intend to bind them, and consider the final form carefully. What do you see if we combine mann, feoh, and wynn in a bindrune like this?

As you can see, wynn disappears into mann, and this is perfectly all right. The fact is, mann consists of two wynn runes facing each other, and this in itself has meaning. However when we attach feoh on the right side of mann, do you see where an eolh rune appears in the final design? At this point we must ask ourselves if eolh is appropriate for our intention. Do we want the protective barrier that this rune evokes?

This is why bindrunes are tricky. Other runes can slip into the charm, and they will have their effect regardless of whether you intended them to be there. If eolh has slipped into your pattern, it should be welcomed and fully empowered. If you do not wish to do this, then eolh should not be in the final design at all.

This is also why the is rune is never used in a bindrune. Not intentionally, anyway. In truth, the rune (being a straight line) is found everywhere, and this is intrinsic to its mystery. Is tells us that things are not as they seem. Like the potential dangers it warns us of, the rune itself is hidden wherever we look.

We discussed laying out your runic proclamation in a linear, spacial order. The symbols of your bindrune will be marked in a similar way, but in a temporal order. The first symbol in your bindrune is clearly marked, and then the second symbol superimposed over this, and so on, until all symbols in the design have been empowered. You will want to mark out or delineate the final design before you begin coloring the bindrune and empowering it with galdor.

There is no special situation or circumstance where bindrunes are more effective than rune staves, it is just another technique. In my experience the bindrune tends to have more power, but I think this is at least partially because it requires more thought to design a good symbol that says what you want and only what you want. For most purposes, rune staves are sufficient.

Helms

The multi-spoked helms tend to be more powerful than rune staves, yet easier to formulate than bindrunes. A helm, which I have also heard referred to as a shield, is a circular symbol consisting of four, six, or eight spokes radiating from a central point. At the outer end of each spoke is a rune or runes. Many examples of runic helms have survived from before the Christian era, especially in Iceland, where they are often quite ornate.

Helms are especially useful for protecting or warding. The very word helm suggests a sort of psychic armor.

A helm with four spokes usually creates a fifth rune, gyfu. For this reason, the four-spoked helm lends itself to any effect involving a partnership. This can be a business partnership, and deep and lasting friendship, or a marriage. It does not matter if the spokes of the helm are drawn as an X, as seen in the gyfu rune, or if they form an upright, equal-armed cross. Just as a rune can be inscribed either forward or backward, tilting the image one way or the other does not change the meaning of the symbol. A newly formed business partnership could be protected with a runic helm such as this:

In this image you can see four thorn runes radiating from a central point. The primary strokes of these runes—the spokes of the helm—form a gyfu.

In the same way, a helm with six spokes forms a seventh rune, this time ior, the rune of adaptability. This creates a very different statement. Let us use six thorn runes instead of four, to create this helm:

This helm makes no comment about protecting a partnership. Instead it infers adaptability. It states that there will be protection on multiple levels. Use a six-spoked helm when you are not particular about the details but want to ensure complete coverage with whatever effect you intend to evoke. The runic helm is the exception to the “odd number rule.” Helms always have an even number of spokes. Historically, eight spokes seem to have been favored, perhaps because they do not create an additional rune the way a four-spoked or six-spoked helm does.

As with other talismans, the helm should be drawn or otherwise marked carefully before it is empowered with color and galdor.

Impromptu Rúncræft

Once in a while, you may feel a need for some additional runic protection. For some reason this never happens for me when I have an extra hour or so to draw, mark, and empower a protective talisman. And while I probably have time to work a spell with my divinatory runes and a candle, either the candle or my rune sets will often be inaccessible. I can still make use of the runes in a more spontaneous fashion. Impromptu rune work can be applied to almost any purpose, but protection is one need that very often comes with a sense of urgency. Most of your other needs can wait until you have access to your proper tools and time to perform more efficacious work.

I would like to say something about protective magic before we look at the impromptu techniques here. You will not need this nearly as much as you might think. For the most part, I work protective magic when I am intentionally putting myself in an unusually vulnerable position. It makes sense to work a runic spell over my truck before embarking on a long trip, for example, but I do not do this every time I drive to the grocery store. Runic protection also makes sense for those who work with seething (trance states), as we will discuss later in this book. One thing I have learned over the past four decades, though, is that I rarely need to worry about some other wyrdworker magically attacking me. Sorcerers—the effective ones anyway—use their arts to improve their own lives and the lives of their folk. Skilled sorcerers of any merit will have one of two reactions to you. Either they (1) like you, or (2) could not care less about you. Admittedly, a sorcerer may work toward a goal that conflicts with your own, as when two people are vying for the same job or love interest. But skilled sorcerers are simply not going to waste their time actively cursing you. This is not because witches and druids are exceptionally good people (although many of us, of course, are delightful to know); it is because we are more interested in our own success and the success of our folk than we are in someone else’s personal downfall.

Protective wards are relatively simple to erect and maintain. If people really are psychically attacking you, it is likely that they have not fully grasped how wyrd functions, and thus do not present very much of a threat. Elves (natural spirits) can react with hostility if insulted, but their ire is usually brief. Still, even a fool can wreak havoc for a short time, and any of us can inadvertently insult or annoy one of the Elves, so it is good to have a few techniques to sweep away temporary bursts of negativity.

I have already mentioned one of these techniques while discussing the rune eolh earlier. Eolh is a protective or defensive rune, but I think its position in the Futhorc—among the twenty-nine runes—gives it a special power of its own. It is the central symbol in the Futhorc, with fourteen runes before it and fourteen following. This gives it a sense of balance, in addition to its basic protective influence. Eolh can be used alone for a quick warding combining a simple galdor with an equally simple somatic gesture. The words for the galdor are eolh weardath me (AY-olch WAY-ar-dath may), which is Old English for “eolh protect me.” The somatic gesture marks the three strokes of the rune. Refer back to page 108 if you do not remember what eolh looks like.

Stand boldly and raise your right hand. Drop your hand sharply (a movement that symbolically dissipates any hostility directed at you) as you say “eolh!” In your mind’s eye, see a strong crackling energy follow your hand as you make the downward movement, drawing the main stroke of the rune.

Now raise both of your hands to the midpoint of this crackling line of power. With a dismissive gesture, flip your right hand up and out to the right, as you flip your left hand up and out to the left, marking the two smaller strokes of the rune. As you do this, say “weardath mé!” In your mind’s eye, see the same crackling energy follow your two hands as you brush away any hostility that would hinder you.

Stand up and try this several times right now, until you can make the gestures and speak the words easily. There is no need to banish or unwork the rune afterward. Keep at it until you know the words and gestures.

Another technique was given to me by my friend West Hardin, who tells me he received it in a dream from the god Ing. This second technique makes use of two defensive runes, eolh and thorn. This one, too, uses both a somatic gesture and a galdor.

For the somatic gesture, touch your middle finger to your thumb. If you look directly at your hand, you will now see a rough eolh rune. Turn your hand sideways and you will see your finger and thumb creating the point of the thorn rune. When using this technique, point this outward and speak the galdor, which is simply the sound that thorn represents, “th.” I find it more effective to give this sound sharply, rather than as a drawn out lisp.

In all of these techniques—candle spells, rune staves, bindrunes, helms, and impromptu work—we have included some level of galdor. This practice, using words and sounds to shape wyrd, was an important component of early English magic. In the next chapter, we will look at how to use sound most effectively in your work.

Review

1. In Saxon belief, who discovered the runic mysteries?

2. In which direction should the runes be written: left to right or right to left?

3. What danger or difficulty does a rúnwita need to guard against when creating a bindrune?

4. Why is the is rune never used in a bindrune?

5. What special quality is often inherent in a four-spoked helm?