Quick Answer
Rune casting is a divination practice using the Elder Futhark or other runic alphabets to gain insight into life situations, questions, and energetic patterns. Each of the 24 runes represents a specific natural force, cosmic principle, or life theme. When cast or drawn with focused intention, the runes that appear are interpreted as reflecting the energetic landscape of the question asked. Rune casting is both an ancient Germanic tradition documented from at least the 1st century CE and a living wisdom practice used by millions of contemporary spiritual seekers worldwide.
Table of Contents
Key Takeaways
- Ancient Alphabet, Living Wisdom: The Elder Futhark runes date to at least the 2nd century CE and encode the worldview, cosmology, and life wisdom of Germanic peoples across 24 symbols.
- Three Aetts Structure: The 24 runes are divided into three groups of eight (aetts), each governing a different domain of life experience - physical-material, psychological-emotional, and transpersonal-cosmic.
- Intention Is Foundational: The quality of your question and the depth of your meditative state when casting directly determines the quality of the insight the runes can offer.
- Reversed Runes Add Depth: Merkstave (reversed) runes do not mean "bad luck" but indicate shadow qualities, blockages, or the lessons available through difficulty.
- Runes Are Not Fortune-Telling: Traditional rune reading reveals energetic patterns and possibilities, not fixed outcomes. The runes illuminate the forces at play so you can navigate with greater wisdom.
History and Origins of Runes
The word "rune" derives from Proto-Germanic *runo, meaning "secret," "mystery," or "whispered counsel." The runic alphabets emerged among Germanic peoples of Northern Europe during the 2nd to 3rd centuries CE, though scholars debate whether they developed independently or were influenced by the Etruscan or Old Italic alphabets encountered through Roman contact. The earliest confirmed runic inscriptions appear on objects from Scandinavia and Northern Europe dating to approximately 150-200 CE.
The Roman historian Tacitus, writing in his Germania around 98 CE, described a divination practice among the Germanic tribes that strongly suggests rune use: "For divination they have a special regard. Their procedure for drawing lots is always the same. They cut a branch from a nut-bearing tree and slice it into strips; these they mark with different signs and throw them completely at random onto a white cloth." While Tacitus does not name the symbols as runes specifically, the description of marked lots drawn for guidance is consistent with what later becomes documented rune practice.
The mythological account of the runes' origin is preserved in the Poetic Edda, in the poem Havamal, where Odin describes hanging upside down from Yggdrasil (the World Tree) for nine days and nights without food or water as a self-sacrifice to gain wisdom: "I looked down, I took up runes, screaming I took them, then I fell back." This myth encodes several important principles: the runes are not invented but discovered through sacrifice and altered consciousness; they are inherently linked to cosmic reality rather than human convenience; and working with them requires something of the practitioner in return.
The Three Runic Alphabets
Three major runic alphabets are used in contemporary practice: The Elder Futhark (24 runes, 2nd-8th century CE, the most ancient and widely used for divination), the Younger Futhark (16 runes, used in Viking Age Scandinavia, also called the Norse Futhark), and the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc (28-33 runes, used in England, expanded for the English language). The Elder Futhark is preferred for divination because its 24-rune structure is considered the most cosmologically complete expression of the runic system, encoding the fullest map of human experience within its symbol set.
Runes were used historically not only for divination but for inscriptions on weapons, memorials (runestones), protective amulets, and magical workings. The Bergen runic inscription from 13th century Norway, for instance, includes love spells and protective formulas carved in runes. The Eddic poems preserve numerous examples of runic galdr (chanted magic) and rune-worked objects. This historical record demonstrates that rune work was not merely a divination system but a comprehensive magical technology embedded in the lived spirituality of Northern European peoples.
The 24 Elder Futhark Runes and Their Meanings
The 24 Elder Futhark runes are organised into three groups of eight called aetts (families). The First Aett relates to physical and material life. The Second Aett governs psychological, emotional, and challenge-related themes. The Third Aett addresses transpersonal, cosmic, and transformational forces.
| Rune | Name | Core Meaning | Aett |
|---|---|---|---|
| ◢ | Fehu | Cattle, movable wealth, abundance, prosperity, energy flow | First |
| U | Uruz | Wild ox, primal strength, raw power, health, manifestation | First |
| þ | Thurisaz | Giant/thorn, defensive force, protection, disruption, necessary conflict | First |
| F | Ansuz | Message, Odin's rune, wisdom, communication, divine inspiration | First |
| R | Raido | Ride/journey, right order, rhythm, movement toward destiny | First |
| < | Kenaz | Torch, inner fire, creativity, knowledge, illumination | First |
| X | Gebo | Gift, exchange, partnership, sacred union, generosity | First |
| P | Wunjo | Joy, harmony, kinship, well-being, the good life | First |
| H | Hagalaz | Hail, disruption, upheaval, forces beyond control, necessary chaos | Second |
| + | Nauthiz | Need-fire, constraint, necessity, resistance, self-reliance | Second |
| I | Isa | Ice, stillness, standstill, concentration, ego preservation | Second |
| <> | Jera | Year/harvest, cycles, right timing, cause and effect, patience | Second |
| Y | Eihwaz | Yew tree, the World Tree axis, endurance, life and death, stability | Second |
| K | Perthro | Lot cup/womb, fate, chance, hidden forces, initiation | Second |
| Z | Algiz | Elk sedge, protection, divine guardian, higher self, sanctuary | Second |
| S | Sowilo | Sun, success, wholeness, victory, the guiding light | Second |
| T | Tiwaz | Tyr/justice, sacrifice, victory through right action, law, warrior spirit | Third |
| B | Berkano | Birch, birth, renewal, nurturing, new beginnings, the Great Mother | Third |
| M | Ehwaz | Horse, partnership, trust, harmonious movement, spiritual travel | Third |
| M | Mannaz | Mankind, the self, memory, human community, divine intelligence | Third |
| L | Laguz | Water/lake, emotion, the unconscious, flow, imagination, psychic waters | Third |
| O | Ingwaz | The god Ing, potential, fertile seed, internal growth, completion | Third |
| M | Dagaz | Day/dawn, breakthrough, transformation, the threshold moment | Third |
| O | Othala | Ancestral property, inheritance, homeland, clan, sacred enclosure | Third |
How to Perform a Rune Casting
The quality of a rune casting is determined primarily by the quality of intention and meditative presence you bring to it. Rune casting is not a mechanical process of picking random tiles; it is a conversation with a symbolic system that reflects the energetic pattern of your situation when you approach it with genuine openness.
Complete Rune Casting Method for Beginners
- Prepare your space: Create a quiet, undistracted environment. Light a candle if you wish - traditional rune work was often done by fire or candlelight. Have your rune set in its bag and a cloth or mat to cast upon. Some practitioners use a dedicated cloth marked with a circle or directional markers.
- Centre yourself: Spend 2-5 minutes in quiet meditation or deep breathing. The goal is to quiet the analytical mind and enter a receptive state where intuitive perception is available. This step is not optional; a scattered, hurried mind will produce a reading you cannot trust.
- Form your question: Clarity of question is directly proportional to clarity of reading. Open questions ("What energy is around my work situation?") often yield more useful readings than closed questions ("Will I get the job?"). The runes are better at describing patterns and energies than predicting specific events.
- Handle your rune bag: With your non-dominant hand (or both hands), handle the bag while holding your question clearly in mind. Allow yourself to feel that you are reaching toward something that genuinely wants to respond - an imaginative act that opens the intuitive channels.
- Draw or cast: Reach into the bag without looking and draw the number of runes your chosen spread requires. Alternatively, scatter all runes onto the cloth face down, move them around gently while holding your question, then turn them over to see which are face up.
- Place and orient: Place the drawn runes in their spread positions before turning them over to read. Note which are upright and which are reversed (merkstave) if you work with reversals.
- Read and record: Interpret each rune in its position, considering both the rune's core meaning and how it feels in relation to your question. Trust your first impression before consulting reference texts. Record your reading in a journal - the patterns over time are instructive.
- Close the reading: Return the runes to the bag. Some practitioners hold the bag and offer a brief word of gratitude. This act of closing honours the practice as something more than a mechanical exercise.
Rune Spread Layouts
Rune spreads determine how many runes are drawn and what positional meaning each holds in relation to the whole reading. Different spreads serve different types of questions and different depths of inquiry.
Common Rune Spread Layouts
- Single Rune Draw: Draw one rune as a daily guidance symbol, a summary answer to a simple question, or a contemplation seed for meditation. The most accessible practice for beginners. Drawing one rune each morning and working with it throughout the day is one of the best ways to learn the rune meanings experientially.
- Three-Rune Spread (Past-Present-Future): The most classic three-rune reading places the first rune as past influences, the second as present energies, and the third as the most likely outcome if current patterns continue. Can also be read as Situation-Challenge-Outcome, or as Mind-Body-Spirit.
- Three-Rune Runic Cross: A more nuanced three-rune format: first rune represents what is hidden or below the situation, second is the current visible situation, third is what is becoming or the higher perspective available.
- Nine-Rune Cast: Nine runes are scattered face-down onto the cloth and turned over. Those closest to the centre of the cloth are most immediately relevant; those at the periphery relate to background influences. Their orientation to each other (which runes point toward which) can be read for relational dynamics.
- Celtic Cross (adapted for runes): A six or ten-rune positional spread covering: present situation, crossing challenge, distant past, recent past, possible outcome, immediate future, internal influence, external influence, hopes and fears, final outcome. Best for complex life situations requiring thorough mapping.
- Norns Spread (Three Fates): Drawing three runes to represent what Urd (what has been), Verdandi (what is becoming), and Skuld (what shall be) are weaving into the situation. A deeply traditional spread honouring the Norse cosmological framework of the three Fates who sit at the base of Yggdrasil.
Understanding Reversed Runes (Merkstave)
When a rune is drawn in an inverted position relative to the reader, it is called merkstave (literally "dark stave" in Old Norse) or simply a reversed rune. Not all runic traditions or practitioners work with reversed meanings; some work entirely with upright runes and simply read the full spectrum of a rune's meaning in any position. This is a matter of personal practice rather than doctrine.
When reversed runes are used, they typically indicate one or more of the following: the energy of that rune is blocked or obstructed; the shadow or difficult expression of the rune's principle is active; there is something about this area of life that is being avoided or suppressed; or the lesson of the rune is being offered through challenge rather than through smooth manifestation.
Reversed Runes Are Not Bad Omens
A common misunderstanding is that reversed runes predict negative outcomes. They do not. They indicate energetic patterns that are inverted, challenged, or offering their teaching through difficulty. A reversed Fehu does not mean you will be poor; it may indicate a period of examining your relationship with money, generosity, or energy flow. A reversed Wunjo does not mean you will be unhappy; it may point toward identifying what is blocking your access to the joy that is available. Reading reversals as simple negatives produces shallow, fear-based readings that miss the genuine wisdom the runes offer.
Note that some runes appear identical whether upright or reversed (they are symmetrical) and are therefore always read as upright regardless of their orientation. These include Gebo, Hagalaz, Isa, Jera, Eihwaz, Sowilo, Ingwaz, Dagaz, and in some traditions Othala. Different runic schools handle these symmetrical runes differently, so be aware of the approach the reference system you are using takes.
Choosing and Consecrating Your Rune Set
The material of your rune set is less important than your relationship to it. Traditional rune sets were made from the wood of sacred trees or carved from river-smoothed stone, and making your own set remains a respected and enriching practice. Commercial sets in wood, stone, crystal, ceramic, bone, and even resin are all suitable starting points.
Consecrating a New Rune Set
- Physical cleansing: Wash stone runes with salt water if appropriate for the material. Smoke-cleanse wood or crystal runes with sage, cedar, or frankincense. Leave them in moonlight overnight.
- Initial handling: Spend time handling each rune individually, holding it and spending time with its form and feeling before reading its meaning. This establishes a sensory relationship with each symbol.
- Intention setting: Hold the entire set together and state your intention for the relationship: "These runes are my allies in seeking wisdom. I ask that they serve my highest understanding."
- First draw: Ask the runes to introduce themselves to you. Draw one rune without a specific question as a first communication. Note what arises in your intuition before reading about the rune.
- Regular relationship: Keep the runes in a cloth bag or wooden box. Some practitioners keep a small piece of quartz or other stone with the runes. Handle the bag regularly, even when not doing formal readings, to maintain the relationship.
Deepening Your Rune Practice
The runes are inexhaustible in their depth. What begins as a divination tool reveals itself, with continued study, to be a complete cosmological system, a map of the Norse worldview, a psychological typology, a meditative system, and a living mythological language. The following practices support the deepening of a rune practice beyond initial divination.
Advanced Rune Practice Approaches
- Rune meditation (runemal): Choose a single rune and meditate on it for 11-20 minutes daily for one week. Study its form, its historical inscriptions, its mythological associations, and its felt sense in the body. This "dwelling with" a rune produces understanding that no amount of reading can replace.
- Galdr (rune singing): Each rune has a traditional galdr - a chanted or intoned sound associated with its energy. Chanting the rune name or its associated sounds while visualising the rune form is a classical magical practice that activates the rune's energy within the practitioner.
- Rune journaling: Record every reading you perform, including the date, question, runes drawn, their orientations, your initial intuitive impressions before consulting references, and the reference meaning. Review past entries monthly to observe the accuracy and patterns of your readings over time.
- Study of primary sources: The primary sources for runic knowledge are the Poetic Edda, the Prose Edda, and the Anglo-Saxon rune poems. These documents, combined with archaeological and historical scholarship, ground rune study in its actual cultural context rather than modern romanticism.
- Runic body postures (stadha): Some traditions work with physical postures that embody each rune's form, used as meditative or energetic practices. These are documented in the works of Friedrich Marby and Siegfried Kummer (with the caveat that these 20th century authors have controversial political associations) and contemporary practitioners like Edred Thorsson.
The scholarly dimension of rune study is substantial and enriching. Works by academic runologists like Klaus Duwel, Michael Barnes, and John Haywood provide rigorous historical and linguistic context. Contemporary practitioner-scholars like Edred Thorsson (Stephen Flowers) and Diana Paxson have written extensively on the practice of rune work within a Heathen spiritual context. Balancing scholarly accuracy with living practice creates the most grounded and effective approach to working with these ancient symbols.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are runes used for in casting?
Rune casting uses the ancient runic alphabet (most commonly the Elder Futhark of 24 symbols) as a divination tool to gain insight into questions, life situations, and energetic patterns. Each rune represents a specific natural force or life principle; when cast or drawn, the runes that appear are interpreted as reflecting the energetic landscape of the situation being queried.
What is the Elder Futhark?
The Elder Futhark is the oldest form of the runic alphabet, consisting of 24 runes used by Germanic peoples from approximately the 2nd to 8th centuries CE. It is the most widely used runic system for contemporary divination. The runes are divided into three groups (aetts) of eight, each governing different domains of life experience.
How do you do a rune casting?
A basic rune casting involves entering a meditative state, holding a clear question in mind, reaching into a bag of rune tiles without looking, and drawing one or more runes. The drawn runes are then interpreted in relation to the question. More elaborate spreads involve casting all runes onto a cloth and reading those that land face up.
What does it mean when a rune lands reversed (merkstave)?
A reversed rune (merkstave) indicates that the energy of that rune is blocked, inverted, or expressing as its shadow quality. Not all rune readers use reversed meanings. When used, reversed runes typically suggest obstruction, the need to face something avoided, or the lesson the rune is teaching through challenge rather than smooth expression.
Which rune means love?
Gebo (the gift rune) most directly relates to love as the principle of exchange, partnership, and sacred relationship. Wunjo relates to joy and harmony in relationships. Berkano governs fertility, nurturing, and the receptive aspects of love. Laguz connects to the emotional depths and intuitive waters of romantic feeling. No single rune is exclusively "the love rune."
What is the blank rune?
The blank rune is a 25th tile sometimes included in commercial rune sets, representing the unknowable or the void. It has no historical basis in the runic tradition and was invented in the 20th century. Many traditional runicists reject it as historically inauthentic. Whether to use it is a personal choice based on whether you find it meaningful.
How do I choose a rune set?
Traditional rune sets were carved from wood or stone. Contemporary sets come in many materials. The material matters less than your connection to the set. Many practitioners recommend making your own set by carving symbols into river-washed stones or wood slices. Alternatively, choose a set whose material and aesthetic resonates with you, as you will handle it frequently in a meditative context.
Do runes have to be connected to Norse religion?
Not necessarily. While the runes emerged from Germanic and Norse cultural contexts, their use for divination and wisdom has been separated from religious practice by many contemporary practitioners. You can work with runes as an archetypal symbolic system, as a psychological tool, or as a historical practice without adopting Norse religious beliefs.
The Runes as Living Wisdom
The runes have survived 2,000 years because they describe something real about the architecture of human experience. They were not invented by philosophers sitting in academies; they emerged from people who lived close to the land, the sea, and the turning of seasons, who needed a precise and portable map of reality to navigate the genuine challenges of life. These are battle-tested symbols, not decorative ones.
Begin simply. Draw one rune each morning. Sit with it through the day. Notice where its energy appears in what you encounter. Let the runes teach you their language through lived experience rather than memorisation. The tradition was always oral, always experiential, always alive. Make it alive in you.
Sources and References
- Tacitus, C. (98 CE). Germania. (Mattingly, H. trans., 2009). Penguin Classics.
- Thorsson, E. (1984). Futhark: A Handbook of Rune Magic. Weiser Books.
- Aswynn, F. (1998). Northern Mysteries and Magick: Runes and Feminine Powers. Llewellyn.
- Paxson, D.L. (2005). Taking Up the Runes: A Complete Guide to Using Runes in Spells, Rituals, Divination, and Magic. Weiser Books.
- Blum, R. (1982). The Book of Runes. St. Martin's Press. [Historical note: popularised rune divination in Western culture]
- Duwel, K. (2008). Runenkunde, 4th ed. J.B. Metzler. [Scholarly reference on runic epigraphy]
- Larrington, C. (trans., 2014). The Poetic Edda. Oxford World's Classics. [Primary source: Havamal]