Rune Magick, Where to Begin? Options

I have decided that i would like to pursue rune magick but i have one problem, i dont know how or where to start, i am checking the local library after the march break and will also be checking the bookstore, but does anyone know anything that will satisfy my curiosity and anxiousness until then.

To be quite honest, runes are near and dear to my heart. The runes I work with are the conventional futhark runes handed down to me by my teacher. I was asked to painstakingly copy these runes, all their meanings and usages in my journal, where I then (on my own accord) rewrote them again and again until I felt I fully understood the practical applications of said magic(k)s. These magicks could not be used with the conventional alphabet without preliminary and painstaking research coupled with trial and error

To be quite honest, runes are near and dear to my heart. The runes I work with are the conventional futhark runes handed down to me by my teacher. I was asked to painstakingly copy these runes, all their meanings and usages in my journal, where I then (on my own accord) rewrote them again and again until I felt I fully understood the practical applications of said magic(k)s. These magicks could not be used with the conventional alphabet without preliminary and painstaking research coupled with trial and error

I apologize for my tactless entrance~ I didn't mean to offend you

I should have added the part that It's a long, painful trial and error to get anywhere in the field. I stand corrected.

I don't know much about nordic runes, but with my experience with traditional Chinese charecters (I was raised with the language) that certain languages and certain parts of languages have different degrees of potency. But I honestly feel that can apply to the way people see most things. I apologize for insulting your craft.

This post has been edited by kaboom13: Mar 16 2010, 03:20 PM

I apologize for my tactless entrance~ I didn't mean to offend you

I should have added the part that It's a long, painful trial and error to get anywhere in the field. I stand corrected.

I don't know much about nordic runes, but with my experience with traditional Chinese charecters (I was raised with the language) that certain languages and certain parts of languages have different degrees of potency. But I honestly feel that can apply to the way people see most things. I apologize for insulting your craft.

I absolutely agree with you, and with your earlier assessment as well.

We (the mod staff) also do not tolerate thoughtless offensive attacks on other members. If you disagree, then do tell us all why - comments like

You should be kicked in the head.

Don't get anyone anywhere, and amount to childish stone-throwing. You've been warned, Coyote. I like you, but have some respect for our forum, if not for the other members.


Ahem.

You said originally,

If we're discussing the use of runes in general, I think that the best place to start is with the English language. Runes, or at least Nordic (I think?) runes are more or less characters that are charged and empowered. The English language is pretty undervalued in many ways, and though its clearly ambiguous and young compared to others, its akin to a younger tree among the grove: flexible and fresh. I think the best way is to honestly focus upon your own use of written word, and study the flow that lies beneath it. From there, I believe that its inherently possible to go beyond the framework of runes.

This is enlightened thinking in my opinion. We have a tendency to look at a particular culture, their alphabet, etc., and become facsinated with their 'mystical' appearance, and the mythology that can be (not always legitimately) attached to their letters and numbers. Sometimes it was just a song to teach the alphabet.

But, magic isn't just attached to these some special things because they're interesting, and it's about more than a letter that also means 'ox', and therefore holds a magical meaning. Magic is the application of natural principles of the subtle world - principles which are manifested in the gross material world we can see and touch. Language, all languages, are a kind of natural bridge in a way. We speak, write, record, but what we invest in those letters is entirely non-physical. Words, letters, and numbers have therefore always been a powerful thing in every culture, and this can be equally true of english as well.

Look at how we use words, how some words share similarities to others and create fascinating philosophical connections between concepts that often give insight into both concepts that wouldn't be arrived at otherwise. The study of how words and letters are used in the english language, from a mystical point of view, would be a very telling endeavor, I believe.

This is something I will personally give some serious consideration and meditation.

peace

This is enlightened thinking in my opinion. We have a tendency to look at a particular culture, their alphabet, etc., and become facsinated with their 'mystical' appearance, and the mythology that can be (not always legitimately) attached to their letters and numbers. Sometimes it was just a song to teach the alphabet.

But, magic isn't just attached to these some special things because they're interesting, and it's about more than a letter that also means 'ox', and therefore holds a magical meaning. Magic is the application of natural principles of the subtle world - principles which are manifested in the gross material world we can see and touch. Language, all languages, are a kind of natural bridge in a way. We speak, write, record, but what we invest in those letters is entirely non-physical. Words, letters, and numbers have therefore always been a powerful thing in every culture, and this can be equally true of english as well.
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I am a novice at this type of magick, but I've honestly gotten results with every single alphabet I've learned. I don't think that any one set of runes is more magically useful than another. I've had equal results with Sindarin Tengwar (One of the modes of elvish from Lord of the Rings) and Cirth (Dwarf runes from Lord of the Rings). These are both fictional, but they've been effective. My staff is inscribed with Cirth runes to assist me with elemental and chaos magick, and it's extremely helpful. I use Sindarin Tengwar to cast illusions on people who look at it, for one thing - if I'm unsure about a test, I write something about it appearing correct to the reader on the top and I usually make mistakes that I can see that teachers have missed. I, as kaboom13 said, have had wonderful results with our own alphabet. I am able to, by handwriting things, store energy and emotion and what I'm writing that dispells into the person reading it - every single one of my english teachers has said I have a surplus of pathos, and two have even said that my writing almost brought them to tears. I have a feeling that my skill with these alphabets has less to do with the alphabets themselves than what I associate with them - I learned our alphabet first, so it's more charged with emotions for me than Sindarin, which evokes more of a feeling of a thin veil between me and another world; it brings me towards dreams (illusions, hence my skill with it). I associate Cirth with empowering objects, so that's what I use it for. I'm working on learning new alphabets at the moment, but that's my two cents. You can find the alphabets I've mentioned on Omniglot, my favorite site for leaning alphabets.