Runes, Tattoos, and Life Lessons
With a computer issue Friday night, and a birthday party to put together Saturday, I’d like to apologize for the lateness of my blog. I’ll be back on track this upcoming week, I promise.
There is a blessing in the tardiness of this week’s piece, though. My husband and I just returned to our house from part 2 of a 3 part class on Runes, giving me a little time to talk about this magical Norse alphabet that I work with.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Runes, the Elder Futhark (the set of Runes that I work with) is a writing style from Northern Germanic tribes from around the 2nd to the 8th centuries. There are 24 letters in this alphabet, and each carry a meaning and its own power. As myth goes, the Norse God Odin hung himself to Yggdrasil, the World Tree, pierced by his own spear, for nine days and nine nights. From the Well of Urd at the base of the tree, he beheld the Runes that the Norns carved into the tree to direct fate, bringing the information into this world. That’s, at least, how the story goes.
I believe my first real introduction to Runes was from my high school friend Robin (who, incidentally, also introduced me to Shamanism). I dabbled in working with them for years, using them for divination, and even using them to invoke energies in my life by having select Runes tattooed on my back. I’ve also always integrated them into amulets that I’ve made, finding their basic angular shape easy to draw or embroider, and their ability to move energy to be rather powerful.
My husband and I heard that Sali Crow, my mentor Sandy’s sister, was doing a three part class on Runic divination and magic recently. With both of us having interest in Runes, we decided to try it out. The first class was all about the meanings of Runes in divination, and different spreads to use. It was incredibly informative and added a whole new level of understanding for me to use in creating magical objects with them.
The second class was using them in healing, which was especially interesting to me as a Reiki Master. It included an energetic attunement to the Runes. Watching an attunement to a certain type of energy unfold is an interesting thing, especially when you can compare the way different people react. In my case, I get to experience it unfold within me, while watching how it unfold within my husband.
Soon, after the attunement, Sali began discussing using the Runes. As she mentioned writing Runes on you for magical effect, she then threw in a warning. “Unless you are really sure you want to enter into a life long contract with a Rune, don’t get them tattooed on your body!”
Well. Shit.
So, my overthinking mind went down the path of how the Runes tattooed on my back effect my life, and push me in the directions that I find myself pointed in. For the most part, they make sense. I did pick them for their meaning to me, so a life long contract with the Runes for Divine messages, balance, personal gifts, and protection aren’t the worse Runes to be stuck with, especially as a Healer and Mage. It does make we wonder what part of the things that have driven me is the part that chose those Runes, or are my life choices partly driven by the Runes on my back?
Then, there is the Rune that I thought was important at the time in my life that I decided to get it tattooed on my back above my other Runes. It’s a Rune that isn’t part of the Elder Futhark and I honestly can’t remember where I found it. I understood it as a Rune of necessary tribulation. After a little research recently, I found where the Rune was from. The Younger Futhark, a reduced form of the Elder Futhark that had come along centuries after the original. The Rune I had chosen was the newer version of Hagalaz, the Rune of hail. The Rune of disruption, destruction, and uncontrollable acts of nature. In other words, a tricky Rune to have a life long contract with.
Now, this Rune does have healing aspects, but none of them gentle… There is a connection to the dismemberment experience of the Shaman, and the destruction of the ego to make way for a better self. Good things, but not easy things. I’m still organizing my thoughts on all of this, but it is interesting to think about ways that the Runes I have may have shaped my life in ways unclear to me at the time. I’m sure I will have more to share as I unpack the implications a little more, while by body digests the Runic attunement. Perhaps the third class, which is on singing Runes in magic work, will clarify the situation a little more for me.
In part of my Rune work, I will soon have hand made clay Rune divinatory tiles on the website. Stay tuned. I will also make a few sets of Ogham divinatory tiles for you Druids out there who might be interested.
Until next week….
The Green Mountain Mage