Futhark Ordering

I’ve noticed people ordering the Runic alphabet in the order of the Latin alphabet. Sure, you can do that, champ, but it is not the traditional order. There is a compelling reason why you want things in this order. It would help you correspond the letters together if you were to write with them.

However, the original purpose of the ordering was not to make it convenient for us modernites to write. Think of it this way; the ancient peoples were animistic tribes before the Christian takeover. These “letters” were living beings to them, not just letters. Therefore, the placement of the runes would be significant.

By knowing this ordering, you can find the quintessence of the reading.

This technique is very enlightening, but how can this help you if you’re new to runes? Well, you can get to the heart of the reading. In Tarot, this is the quintessence, the spirit of the matter.

Finding this is very enlightening for all your readings.

The Aetts

The runes divide into “aetts” or eights. So, if you are using that funky Wyrd rune, throw it aside, or if you’re like me, just use it as a replacement if you lose one. The Wyrd rune is a modern concoction, and you don’t need it.

The first, known as Freya’s Aett, represents the cycle of life. Our life path’s basic patterns.

The second, Hagal’s Aett, is the external forces that surround us. This force is a third party or nature itself. That which we cannot control.

The third and final, Tyr’s Aett, represents the internal power that helps us deal with the previous two. These describe how the individual handles both the life path and the ambivalent influences we encounter along the way.

It can be very beneficial to meditate on how these all come together in their respective line both horizontally and vertically.

In the meantime, you can learn the order, and use it to find the spirit of your reading or the quintessence. This technique works better for use with spreads.

An Example Reading

Let’s use the example of a three rune pull. The question is “Will I meet the love of my life soon?” and we will call the sitter, Bonnie.

The runes pulled, Ansuz (Merkstave), Dagaz, and Ehwaz will provide the answer to the question.

Here Ansuz letting us know that Bonnie was too shy in the past to speak to anyone, and was unable to meet someone that interested her. Dagaz indicates that she is at the threshold of a new day, and has realized that staying at home and watching Netflix is not the way to live or find love. Bonnie is ready to begin a new regime of talking to people and putting herself out there. With Ehwaz, we see that Bonnie needs to find someone that she trusts to find this person. Perhaps friends know of someone that would be a good fit or she could sign up for a “match ‘em up” site with an excellent rating. Bonnie may be thinking too inside the box, or just isn’t meeting anyone on her own.

Now, for the quintessence of the reading.

Ansuz = 4; Dagaz = 7; Ehwaz = 3. 4+7+3=14. 1+4=5

The runes that represent the core or spirit of the reading would be Perthro and Raidho. Perthro is the rune of luck whether good or bad, and Raidho is the journey itself.

Bonnie will meet her love if she allows fate to help her. She needs to keep going, relying on the help of others to get there. No feeling sorry for herself and sitting on the couch, anymore. At the same time, she will need to be aware that she is not delusional when it comes to the people she meets. If she understands what she is looking for, she will have a better chance of not getting involved with a dud and wasting her time.

Conclusion

As you can see this technique can give quite a lot of information on what the sitter can do about their situation.

The runes should be kept and learned in the Futhark order at some point. It is a shame to see it reduce to nothing but a way to write in code to each other. Trust me, I am guilty of this myself, and until recently, had not memorized the Elder Futhark – which is what I use. Plus, it is an excellent way of weeding out pertinent information when researching this subject.