A Practical Guide to the Runes: Their Uses in Divination and Magic (Llewellyn’s New Age)
- ISBN13: 9780875425931
- Condition: USED – VERY GOOD
- Notes:
A Practical Guide to the Runes
Rune Magick: A Powerful Force for Guidance, Protection, and Luck
EIHWAZ the yew, URUZ the wild ox, KENAZ the hearth fire. Created by the Nordic and Germanic tribes of northern Europe, the runes began as a magickal system of pictographs representing the forces and objects in nature.
This guidebook will help you discover the oracular nature of the runes and how to use them as a magickal tool for insight, protection, and
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(out of 37 reviews)
List Price: $ 6.99
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Taking Up The Runes: A Complete Guide To Using Runes In Spells, Rituals, Divination, And Magic
- ISBN13: 9781578633258
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Although many of us first encountered runes in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, this sacred alphabet is by no means a fabrication for books or movies. Similar to Hebrew letters in the sense that each symbol contains a meaning that transcends its original function as a letter, the runes are practical, flexible, and effective symbols with a variety of uses. Today, the best known application of rune lore is divination: chips or stones marked with runes are drawn, cast, or laid out in pattern
Rating: 
(out of 18 reviews)
List Price: $ 24.95
Price: $ 15.42
Review by for A Practical Guide to the Runes: Their Uses in Divination and Magic (Llewellyn’s New Age)
Rating:
This is a good book for beginners. No, I don’t say it because it has a lot of good info. I say it because this book covers many different topics, although not at all in depth. I have a few complaints about it: 1) There are no pronounciations for the rune names (except for wyrd). This can be VERY confusing to the beginner. 2) The rune definitions were very, very short. She covered this up a bit by saying that you should meditate on the rune’s meanings to see what they mean for yourself. 3) She doesn’t mention that the rune syumbols may vary– this can get confusing when doing other research. 4) She doesn’t mention the other names there are for the runes. Again, nothing horrible, but it can get confusing.I only scanned over the uses for the runes in magick, but they were quite short as well…I would only recommend this book if you were trying to figure out if you wanted to use the runes in divination. If you already know you want to use the runes, and are looking for information to help get you started, don’t get this book. It only tells you the frame of things, so I would recommend getting other rune books along with it or doing some internet research.
Review by C. A. Matha for A Practical Guide to the Runes: Their Uses in Divination and Magic (Llewellyn’s New Age)
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This is a great introduction to Runes without spending a lot of $. It is short sweet and easy to read. The book is fully illustrated and there are a few referance charts in the back. For somebody that knows NOTHING about runes this is a great beginning. I would, however, purchase more in depth books if you persue Runes further.
Review by Richard Thorson for A Practical Guide to the Runes: Their Uses in Divination and Magic (Llewellyn’s New Age)
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This is not a book I would recommend for those serious about the runes. It is very shallow and not up on its runelore. For those serious about learning the runes, you would be better off purchasing “Northern Mysteries & Magic” by Freya Aswynn, “Runelore” by Edred Thorsson, or “The Little Giant Encyclopedia of Runes” by Sirona Knight.
Review by B. Purcell for A Practical Guide to the Runes: Their Uses in Divination and Magic (Llewellyn’s New Age)
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This was the first book that I ever bought on runes. and it is still one of the best that i have read. The author gives you a good introduction with a style that reminds me of Scott Cunningham, its easy to read and has room for individuality. All at the same time remaining for the most part historically accurate, I think that the only thing that isnt accurate is the blank rune, which has little to none signifigance to the Elder Futhark and i would reccomend getting rid of it (like another reviewer said, “tear it out! “. Otherwise this book is one of the best introduction books on runes that i own. And i would reccomend this to anyone interested in runes.
Review by Amhrán for A Practical Guide to the Runes: Their Uses in Divination and Magic (Llewellyn’s New Age)
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Is the runic system an alphabet? Is it a pictographic system used for divination and magic? How many runic systems are there? There are numerous texts which examine the history of the various runic systems, their characteristics, their uses, and the like – however; for a good introductory look at the Elder Futhark Rune set and its use in divination I recommend A Practical Guide to the Runes by Lisa Peschel.
The book begins with a no-nonsense introduction geared towards individuals with little to no experience with runic work. Using explanations that are neither too advanced for beginners nor devoid of meaty, intellectual content, Peschel easily pulls the reader into the first steps of runic study. The introduction is then followed by a description of the tools involved in working with Elder Futhark divination.***
What follows is a prompt, apt description of each of the twenty-five runes. (I include WYRD as a rune, whereas the author – Peschel, considers WYRD to be a non-rune.) The descriptions are concise – meant to give the reader a feel for each rune as a concept. Various layouts and tips follow, designed to familiarize the beginner with the important beginning aspects of rune reading as a whole.
All in all, this is a book I highly recommend for someone just beginning. (I only just finished it myself. 11/5/05)
*** Amhrán’s Note: Peschel advises making your own set to work with. She doesn’t distinguish whether to do this at the start, or after you’ve become more familiar with the runes. My advice? Wait.
Get a set either of wood or of stone to work with in the meantime. Consecrate it. Imbue it with your energy, and carry it with you as much as possible. Get a feel for the runes first. It is important to be very familiar with the runes, before making your own – due to the power and level of self-trust involved.
Review by Freysson for Taking Up The Runes: A Complete Guide To Using Runes In Spells, Rituals, Divination, And Magic
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One of the problems with a lot of books on runes is the lack of originality, followed by the tendency to see runework as another magickal system. This work does none of the above.
Yes, she goes through the meanings of each rune-but in easy to understand ENGLISH. While not being afraid to use the old tongues (there are a numbers of quotes from the Norse and other languages), they are not necessary to the text itself. She does summarize a lot of what the better modern runic sources have before giving her own slant on a subject. Additionally she takes the runes in pairs, often using one to shed light on the other. This is a book scholars would not be ashamed to own, but that is useful to newcomers to the runes.
Where this work really departs from previous works is the practical and magickal working. This is firmly situated within the practice of the religious revival, rather than making a neo-magickal order type of work. It has rituals which are for the growth of the group, as well as the individual but which focus more on personal growth than on trying to win the lottery. While no shying away from practical magick, she reminds us that this was not about magick for magick’s sake, but was about living for today and within the context of community. She points out that Odin, upon obtaining the runes, promptly began using and teaching them, as opposed to immediately ascending to some transcendent plane.
I believe and hope that this is the first of a new wave of works which focus on practices as part of the religious tradition rather than a separate search for power or transcendence. If for no other reason this work would be worth the purchase price. However above that it carries a lot of the lore and mindset that someone starting out in a Norse centered religious practice should have as well as that needed in going beyond the basics. Well Done and well worth having!
Review by S. parker for Taking Up The Runes: A Complete Guide To Using Runes In Spells, Rituals, Divination, And Magic
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Paxson has given us the new primary text on using the Runes. She has compiled what there is to know about the symbols into a single volume, bringing divinatory and spell-binding meanings together in a way that makes the meaning and power of each rune clear. The poetry is good, the ritual structure sound and the insight into both ancient lore and modern adaptation profound. In addition she lays it all out in a series of ‘classes’ that allow students to learn the material in an orderly way.
Highly recommended
Review by S. Plowright for Taking Up The Runes: A Complete Guide To Using Runes In Spells, Rituals, Divination, And Magic
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This is a well written compilation of the ideas of modern popular esoteric rune authors (Aswynn, Thorsson, Pennick, etc). It should not be taken as a book about historical pre-Christian rune use, but seeks to adapt more recently invented techniques and ideas into a religious setting based on Germanic mythology.
Seen in this light, the book is a useful reference of current popular rune usage. It will not appeal to the more re-creationist or academic rune students, but offers an abundance of examples of New-Age and ecclectic adaptations of the runes. Although it does go beyond the New-Age manuals by seeking to present these ideas in a “Northern Tradition” context, I would have liked to see more distinction made between modern and historical information.
Although this book is firmly in the “speculative” category, it does present some historical background, and is a cut above the New-Age fluff that dominates the majority of esoteric rune manuals.
Sweyn
The Rune Primer
Review by Robert D. Watson for Taking Up The Runes: A Complete Guide To Using Runes In Spells, Rituals, Divination, And Magic
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If you ever wanted to learn the runes, here’s the first book you should pick up. If you already know about the runes and want to learn more, here’s the next book that should be on your reading list.
Her coverage of the runes is more than adequate, she cites historical evidence and personal observations about the meanings of the runes, and also gives a straightforward, no nonesense summary of what other authors in the field have found about the runes. The exercises she provides are great, the historical background she gives is spot on, informative, and not dry and boring like many authors would have done. The idea of working the runes in pairs is unique to this book, as is the fact that she gives helpful section for both solitary study and group work.
As for the reviewer who claimed that theirs came very cheaply made, I don’t find mine to be so. It has stayed together for three re-reads now, and shows no sign of falling apart, nor has it ever smelled.
The best. Period.
Review by Ember Leo for Taking Up The Runes: A Complete Guide To Using Runes In Spells, Rituals, Divination, And Magic
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There are a number of books on the Elder Futhark out there. Some of them are beautiful, but downright bizzare. Others make no effort at all to connect with the folklore and practices that are known from their original context.
Diana’s book includes a brief survey for each rune of material from sources that are actually based on scholarly effort and practical use, along with the original folkloric rune poems themselves. This is combined with her extensive personal and community-based experience in scholarly, religious, and magical practice. It’s not a thin book, but it is nevertheless a reasonably concise guide for material that would otherwise take a library to collect, if you could even find it all anymore.
I can say from firsthand experience that the rituals she includes are highly effective, and even kind of fun. The book works very well in a class setting, as it was designed and has been used repeatedly for that purpose.
–Ember–