Futhark: A Handbook of Rune Magic, New Edition (Weiser Classics Series)

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A new, updated edition of the essential guide to the practice of the runes as a magical tool for spiritual development.

In Futhark, rune master Edred Thorsson reinitiates us into our heritage, explaining the mysteries of a profound system of thought and practice that underlies our developing Western culture.

Futhark covers both the spiritual heritage of ancient runic lore and the practical steps we can take to draw on rune power. This complete book of rune instruction includes rune history and lore, its basis in metaphysical thought and mysticism, complete definitions of the twenty-four runes of the Elder Futhark, and the etymology, phonetic value, and interpretation of each rune. The reader will learn how to perform chants and rituals using runic energy, how to sign and send runes, and how to practice runic meditation. The author’s presentation of this powerful system is lucid and profound, and provides a valuable tool for spiritual transformation and self-development.

From the Publisher

From the Introduction

Much has been written about the runes and their magical power over the past several decades. However, this book was the first in the English language to delve into the practical magical uses of the ancient Germanic runes and the system they embody, and in which they are in turn contained. It was the avowed intention of this work to rectify the great lack of practical material on the runes in English, to deal with the operative side of the half-forgotten, much neglected runic system of magic and mysticism. This is still one of the most powerful forms of metaphysical thought available to the Westerner and one which he himself developed.

The roots of runic tradition have been hidden from our view for sev­eral hundred years, but now the long-awaited age has arrived, in which the power of the runic mysteries will again become manifest. Among English-speaking magicians, rune knowledge had been steadily on the decline since the days of King Cnute (died c. 1035), but their lore never completely died out—especially in Scandinavia, where runic incanta­tions (galdrar) continued to be practiced until fairly recent times.

This work is intended to invoke the runic force in the minds of all men and women, so that their lore and mysterious power may again be born to rise to the level of their former splendor in the English-speak­ing world. The runes embody the greatest and the smallest secrets of nature, and they are the keys to those secrets—for they are indeed the secrets themselves. Too long have these magnificent tools of magic been allowed to atrophy in dusty tomes. Now their ways are again made known to those who would be wise.

LORE OF THE ELDER FUTHARK

Fehu

Fehu is the raw archetypal energy of motion and expansion in the mul­tiverse. It is the force that flows from Muspellsheimr, the source of cos­mic fire, from which Midhgardhr was produced (see I-rune). The F-rune is the all-encompassing and omnipresent power symbolized by the charging bovine herd and by wildfire. The cosmic fire of Muspellsheimr is instrumental in the creation of the world, but it is also the principal agent in its destruction of Ragnarök. The firegiant, Surtr, spreads the flames of destruction over the world, thus destroying all but those gods and men who are to survive or to be reborn in the renewed world on the Idha plain (the shining plain). It must be remembered that fehu is not the undifferentiated power of the cosmic fire of Muspellsheimr but rather the mystery of its eternal working eminently throughout the multiverse.

Raidho

Raidho is the cosmic law of right and archetypal order in the multiverse. This is expressed by such natural phenomena as the daily path of the sun and the cycles of nature and humanity. The R-rune is the mystery of divine law, manifest in both the multiverse and in humanity.

Raidho came to be a symbol for organized religion, or better said, of Ásatrú, the ancient form of Germanic religion. In ancient times the external, self -conscious order of religion was much less fixed because of the internal, unconscious, and instinctual order of holiness. This internal order found expression in institutions that were a balanced blend of religion, magic, and law (politics). Today the R-rune is a symbol of the “way back to right,” through the conscious efforts of ásatrúarfólk to recover the essence of the primal order.

This rune represents the right order of the initiate’s journey through the paths of the Nine Worlds of Yggdrasill.

Naudhiz

Naudhiz is the cosmic force used by the powers that form the “fates” of mankind and the world. For an analysis of the Germanic concept of “fate” (ϕrlög) and these “shaping powers” (Nornir), see the P-rune. The N-rune does not represent ϕrlög; rather it embodies a cosmic force nec­essary to its formulation, that of resistance. It is a synthesis of an implicit thesis and antithesis that is expressed throughout the rune row. Naudhiz. is a two-pronged concept. It contains the idea of distress but also deliv­erance from that distress. This idea is well expressed in the pertinent stanza in the Old English Rune Poem:

(Need) constricts the heart,

tho to the bairns of men it often becomes

help and health nevertheless,

if they heed it in time.

The N-rune is the self-created fire, the need-fire, created by friction/resistance to serve the needs of man in the material as well as spiritual realms.

Stadhagaldr

This discipline is heavily indebted to the work of twentieth-century runic magicians of Germany who developed a system they call Runenyoga. In the writings of Siegfried Adolf Kummer, Friedrich Bernhard Marby, and Karl Spiesberger there is much concerning Runen-Asana, Runen-mudra, and so on. Indeed, they seem a bit too dependent on the kindred Indian discipline. Nevertheless, their practical experiments, invaluable clues, and ritual formulas are the basis for the following work.

The overall aims of stadhagaldr are:

1. Control of the body through posture (stadha)

2. Control of thought through song (galdr)

3. Control of breath

4. Control of emotion

5. Becoming aware of the rune realms of the self and of the world(s)

6. Control and direction of the will

Each of these aims should be striven for in turn, until all six have been mastered.

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The Weiser Classics Series
An introduction to the spiritual source of the beliefs and practices that have so profoundly shaped African American religious traditions. An herbal magick grimoire of philtres, elixirs, essential oils, incense, and formulas with dozens of recipes from a trusted author. A new, updated edition of the essential guide to the practice of the runes as a magical tool for spiritual development.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Weiser Books; New edition (April 1, 2020)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 192 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1578637007
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1578637003
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 10.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.6 x 0.6 x 8.7 inches