With the three rune spread we really start to get into the good stuff; as Thorsson remarks, three is vastly represented in lore, it is the number of process and dynamism, ‘used to quicken and complete things – to move things to action’ (Rune Lore).
In myth the Gods experienced a golden age which ended with the coming of three women who, it is widely agreed, were the three Fates. It is after their arrival that all the adventures and excitement starts – it is the beginning of story. This ending of the golden age also means that the Gods experience ‘need’ for the first time. When someone asks you for a reading, it will be because they feel need, the path is not clear to them: if we lived in the golden age we would experience no need, but also no growth, development or evolution. Three rune spreads are therefore particularly potent mediums for powerful readings.
The Fates
Most three rune spreads owe their form to the three Fates or Norns: Urd, Verthandi and Skuld (their names have a number of varients, inclduing Wyrd, Metod and Skuld in Anglo Saxon). Linguistically their names are associated with becoming, measurement (Metod) and need/debt.
These concepts are important because they focus not on the future, but on the past, and on the way in which the future must unfold because of what has happened in the past (i.e. there are some things that must now come to pass). As a rune practitioner I believe that we can not only flow in harmony with Wyrd (riding upon the current of that which must be), but we can also change its flow through widsom, skill and hard work.
The spread that I first used came from Ralph Blum’s The Book of Runes which uses three runes, laid from left to right and named Overview, Challenge and Action.
Although Blum doesn’t link this reading to the Fates, I think it chimes well with their natures as it doesn’t say ‘this is what will happen’ but it does move from a general, passive, summary of what is happening, to advice on the action that can be taken in order to move forward. When I use this spread I lay from right to left because I find it more intuitive – but traditionally the runes were written left-to-right and right-to-left so I don’t think this matters.
I find that, with this spread, the positions of the runes as upright or reversed do carry significance. Let’s say my ‘action’ rune is Teiwaz, if it is upright my course of action might be to look to the law or a higher authority to assist me, whereas if it is reversed, I may need to accept defeat on this occasion and move on.
Reading 1 above uses the Overview, Challenge, Action spread which I drew to help me think about my working life. Interestingly, all of the runes are non-reversible and I actually put the picture into the post upside down at first and didn’t spot in until I started writing this commentary. This actually gave me some comfort as I not sure I would know how to act in the manner of stormy Hagalaz! I made a big career change recently which makes sense with Hagalaz, and the Isa rune is also accurate in that I am now trying to re-form my sense of identity and am finding it quite slow going. The Eihwaz suggests a need to be tough, to weather the storm and to remain focused on what I want for the future – not letting inertia and outside concerns hold me back.
In The Runecaster’s Handbook: The Well of Wyrd Thorsson provides the ‘Nornic Runecast’ a reading as close to the traditional method described by Tacitus as he can get (see One Rune Spread). He recommends throwing all the runes down and, with eyes raised, picking three runes and laying them in an upside-down triangle (Urd to the left, Verthandi to the right, and Skuld beneath). Urd then represents the root of the question or problem, Verthandi tells us what is happening in the present, and Skuld tells us the likely outcome given the positions of the previous two runes. Thorsson advises that you don’t have to take into account whether the runes are upright (well aspected) or reversed (ill aspected) but can do so if you want to. He also talks about the way in which the runes fall in relation to each other and makes a noble attempt to show with diagrams how runes affect each other through the positions they have fallen in.
In my experience, as you become more confident as a reader, you will start to feel that ‘something isn’t right’ in the way two runes have fallen together – it is worthwhile looking closely at Thorsson’s diagrams but ultimately I would go with your instinct when doing a reading.
Reading 2 is for a couple. The Gebo rune clearly indicates the strength of their partnership, although the Laguz rune suggests that, while the relationship is strong, there is some lack of emotional fulfillment. The Ansuz rune indicates that the lines of communication are open (perhaps because of the strength of the relationship) and may represent a way for the couple to start to unpick the emotional blockages of Laguz. For me, this reading indicates that a more in-depth reading would be helpful, focusing specifically on the different levels in the relationship – the communication that is working well and how this might help deal with the emotional difficulties.
Grimnisson suggests a variant to the above which is probably more widely used: simply stirring the runes in your rune pouch and drawing three intuitively from it (Rune Rede: Wisdom and Magic for the Life Journey. The Runecaster’s Handbook and Freya Aswynn’s Power and Principles of the Runes both provide some examples and interpretations of ‘Nornic’ three rune spreads.
Psychological spreads
In Helrunar: A Manual of Rune Magick Jan Fries uses another triad, Wodin, Weh and Willi (or Odin, Veh and Villi – the Gods who gave life to mankind, often thought to be aspects of Odin), to explore the ‘self’. The runes are laid out in a triangle and read as Wodan (the essense, inner being), Weh (the changes and transformations occuring) and Willi (the manifestation of self in material reality). This is a good spread when you are having doubts about your own path, are not sure what to do next, or are uncertain about the life path you are taking.
Fries also suggests a spread relating to the three levels of consciousness i) beast or instinctive self ii) man or every day self iii) god or ideal/higher self (we might also relate these to the id, ego and super ego).
The runes are laid out in a vertical line with the instinctive self at the bottom and higher self at the top.
Fries doesn’t say, but my assumption has always been that this is a contextual reading (i.e. it will change over time) rather than a reading which demarcates your pattern for this entire life time. In my opinion, the future is always changeable (why bother to do readings otherwise) and runes capture a snap shot of your reality at that particular point. Having said that, if you get a reading you don’t like and decide to do another one, don’t be surprised if the same messages keep coming up – the runes may change but the message they give you will still come across loud and clear until time has passed and Wyrd has changed.
Reading 3 was done for my cat. She is a rescue cat and is extremely loving but what some might term an ‘angry cat’ with some behavioural issues. To me, the Ingwaz rune (subconscious self) reminds me that her genetic pattern is that of a cat and not a person (no matter how much I wish I could discuss these things with her over a cup of tea), it also suggests a deep need for stability, security and fellowship. The Ehwaz rune above (conscious self) emphasises this need for fellowship, this is a rune of partnership and it is, without doubt true that she objects to being left on her own. The Raidho rune (higher self) suggests that I can help her gain the feeling of security and stability she needs by providing routine.
In Simply Runes Kim Farnell proposes a three rune reading covering the questioner’s physical condition, mental condition and spiritual condition. Essentially, the world is your oyster when it comes to three rune spreads. Very broad concepts such as thesis-anti-thesis-synthesis, mother-father-child, past-present-future, mind-body-spirit can be used to finely tune your reading to the needs of the questioner. I am a big fan of using mythical sources to enrich our readings and very much like Fries’s Odin, Vili, Ve method – you might also try Odin (logical mind), Thor (loving heart), Loki (subconscious desire) or the eagle (higher perception), squirrel (conscious mind) and serpent (unconscious mind).
Magic in Mind videos
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