by Royce Radcliffe

Created on: April 02, 2007   Last Updated: May 11, 2007

The word rune is derived from an Etruscan-Early Roman term meaning secret or mystery. Runes are a method of forecasting and performing magick using the future using the Greek alphabet. They were first used by the Goths in around 300. They derived the runes from Helleno-Italic writing. The runes were etched into stone in large and curving lines.

Runes were used throughout North Europe and England until the establishment of Christianity which swept over the region and almost snuffer the art out entirely. Runic practices were seen as pagan in nature and punishable by death.

Runes are seen as an oracle of sorts. But the differentiating characteristic is that runes show more of a general path that one might take, dependent on many variables. The belief here is that the future is not fixed. If the prediction is negative, you can use the warning to take action and change things. In this sense runes are very dynamic.

Today, runes have been popularized in new age circles as a symbolic system and have gained credit among them as a means of divination. Runes are more than just a different form of tarot. The art provides a vital key to understanding the beliefs of the ancient people who created them. They are from a time when man was more directly connected to nature and his own spirituality, and they are a way for us to reclaim our own.

To learn the specifics of actually casting the runes, complete with diagrams, please visit:

http://www.psychicworld.net/Runes.htm

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