Runes Oracle – Beyond Divination
Yes, the title is tongue-in-cheek. Sort of.
I’ve worked with the runes since I was seventeen, which was about 35 years ago. I came to them as most American settlerists did–as a system of divination. We don’t have consensus on what ‘divination’ means. For some folx it refers to working with an oracle to learn the future, or working with an oracle to gain medicine or insight into a dynamic. In a more broad use, some folx use the term divination to include all manner of approaches to appeal to the spirit world. I have issues with all of the above (for myself), which is why I eventually had to start coming into relationship with the runes a different way.
Beyond Divination
All of this is open to interpretation and each our own mileage. I can only speak for myself and how my relationship with the runes has shaped. I met with a few stumbling blocks in my early acquaintance with them, foremost among them not jibing with the foremost Blum resources that was available. It literally was the only widely accessible text for a decade or more. The 80s and early 90s total lack of cultural context in presentation of the runes was deeply lacking for me, and I felt the absence of it in my education when I worked with the runes. Another obstacle for me was that I quickly found them to be more suited for open-ended dialogues rather than point-blank inquiries. Also, I found them clearer on collective matters rather than individual ones. The final big hurdle in my developing intimacy with the runes was discovering that they needed place-based roots to really tune into me and the dynamics I presented them with. To that end, I realized that just sitting and casting them wasn’t the way for me, and I began working with them in season.
I started writing The Weekly Rune approaching June Solstice in 2012. Around that time, the work of Nigel Pennick (and others who have since outed themselves as deeply problematic that I won’t mention here) revealed the Elder Futhark as something much begger than I ever imagined. Let me back up for a second. Pennick is one of the first pagan authors that I read as a young teen. His book, The Pagan Book of Days was seminal in shaping my spirituality. When I read his Runic Astrology, it ignited my need for a devotional approach to working with the runes. Hence, Runic Book of Days. Imagine my surprise when Nigel wrote the foreward for it.
Runes Oracle
About this tongue-in-cheek thing: I had a conversation with my Data Norn (she who helps me with the digitals of my practice), who had run a semrush assessment on my website to determine what keywords would improve its visibility and conversion rates. I wasn’t joking when I said she’s a Data Norn. She knows how to weave that wyrd. Anyway, the top keyword made my blood boil: runes oracle. *blink* Most of you probably know where I’m going with this, but the nerfing the Elder Futhark to being only a runes oracle is such a misnomer and is total disregard for their animistic history and legacy. The runes were an alphabet used throughout most of continental Europe between 300-500ish CE. Some recent findings date them even older. What I have always found relevant in that history is that the runes weren’t imbued with a magickal origin until much later, coinciding with the decline of animism indigenous European traditions. I’ve never found that a coincidence. When the ensoulment of All Things was on the chopping block, the runes were reborn as magickal.
I explained this to my friend and why it griped my ass for the runes to be reduced this way, and how easy it is to enter something incorrectly on the Internet, then it gets perpetuated that way (by humans AI) until everyone just accepts it as the whole truth. She quickly concurrued and stated I could confront that and improve my visibility by writing a blog post on why the keyword is bad. So, this is my attempt to reclaim that phrase from the Internet and signal boost more inclusive visibility. Share with all your friends.
The other top keyword she found was ‘viking runes’, and I’m just not even going there.
Runevaettir & Landvaettir
In Runes for Change we’ve been gathering monthly for a class on working with the runes as animists. We focus on working with the runes alongside your ecosystem Nature Spirits and cosmology. Each class we spend some time discussing the topic for that gathering, then have an open discussion about our relationship to it. Join us! Gain more insight into the runes, learn to elder well with ancient wisdom, and cultivate a strong spiritual path. Our next class is this weekend!
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Meet Kelley
S. Kelley Harrell, M. Div.
Kelley Harrell is an animist, author, deathwalker, and death doula held by Tuscarora, Woccon, and Sissipihaw land. For the last 30 years, through Soul Intent Arts she’s helped others ethically build thriving spiritual paths. Her work is Nature-based, and centers soul tending through the Elder Futhark runes, animism, ancestral tending, and deathwork. She hosts the podcast, What in the Wyrd, and also writes The Weekly Rune as a celebration of the Elder Futhark in season. Work with her in the Runes for Change community or in her intensive soul tending training, The Spirited Path. Full bio.
#beyourcommunity ~ #youareecosystem
elder well, die well, ancestor well
We don't heal in isolation
but in communityGift of the Dreamtime Reader’s Companion
~S. Kelley Harrell