I’ve been doing the rounds of some online groups recently and noticed how many times people say ‘which rune do I use this for‘?
As if the rune is a size 5 drill bit or 3 large eggs whisked to a stiff peak.
As if a rune is a thing with no volition of its own.
Now if that’s you, there’s no judgement here: runes are often presented this way. But I want you to know:
there's a better, more powerful way to work with your runes
I’m not suggeseting you scrap your Magician (that’s the part of you that wants to select the right tool for the right job and get it done) – but don’t think that’s all you are. Let’s activate the part of you that wants to partner with your rune by seeking its guidance, experiencing its energy, listening to its stories and inviting in its secrets. Your Magician needs your Mystic (aka shaman, ecstatic practitioner, journeying self). This is the part of you that would never think of using a rune, they would think of working with a rune.
So tell me. Do you use or work with the following:
- tarot or oracle cards
- crystals
- numbers
- power animals
- angels
- essential oils
- deities
- plants
- magical hours
- planets
- mandalas
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say using a deity is a one-way-ticket to no good. Pretty much all of the others though, would be perfectly suitable for use in a magical working without the need to have offered something in return, undertaken research, meditation or journeying beforehand. This is because every single one of these has a signature form that holds the energy and relationship built by the practitioners who came before you. You’re riding on their coattails. You say ‘Mars’ and the word has accrued to it generations of layers, meaning and magic that are invited in through your magical act.
BUT. When you work this way you are using the least potent form of power available to you and , let’s face it, riding on someone else’s coattails is okay for a while but eventually you’re going to need to do your bit.
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It’s the same with the runes. It’s perfectly possible to get good results working with Uruz and following a prescribed ‘recipe’ to charge and wear it to support your health. But the great results come when you partner with your rune using every aspect of your magical self: magician, mystic, seer, sage and healer. When you are in an exploratory, sensitive, attuned, brave relationship with the rune that is no longer just a tool but a supporting, guiding force in your life.
Are runes tools or spirit guides? They can be both – but if you aren’t working with them as spirit guides you will have limited success using them as tools.
