MIPC: How to Conduct a Rune Reading

 MIPC stands for Magic in Popular Culture and it is a series of posts in which I take a spell, ritual, tradition, or belief from a work of fiction such as television, a book, movies, or a comic book and analyze it against real world magical theory and practices.

The Spell or Belief

 

Runes are very spiritual stones. They are all beautiful and have metaphysical powers. You reach into the bag and take out a rune. They tell you where you are spiritually. They're not against God or anything. 

This is Strength, the rune of replacement and renewal suggesting that the time has come to change the life you're living. 

I Love You to Death (1990)

Commentary

I am not going to get into the history and development of Runes. Suffice it to say that Runes are 24 symbols that originated in Norse culture that have been (arguably) used as a system of divination and magic. 

This is a fairly straight forward and mostly correct instruction in how to conduct a Rune Reading. As divination tools, the Runes started out as symbols painted on stones or burnt onto small pieces of wood and in the modern era Rune Card Decks have been developed that added tarot-like imagery to the system of divination and magic reflecting their meanings and uses. 

However, you don't have to limit yourself to simply one Rune.  Many Rune readers use tarot spreads as a basis for their Rune readings. A very basic spread consists of thinking about a question or issue in our lives (or the lives of others) and drawing three runes (or cards) and putting them down before you in a line. 

• The first Rune represents the past. 
• The second Rune represents the present. 
• The third Rune represents the future. 

Another form of Rune Reading consists of holding the 24 Runes in your hands, thinking of a question or issue and then tossing the runes on a cloth before you. The Runes which fall face up and read in relation to their distance from you and each other. The Runes which are closest to you represent the past, those in the middle represent the present, and those furthest way represent the future. 

- Carolina Dean