Using the runes for seership is probably the most recognised way of working with the runes and seers will want to read through the Rune Casting pages. Seership in the northern tradition includes rune casting and Seidr. If we take seership to mean the receipt and relaying of information from sources other than those available to us in the physical world of Midgard, then we should also include practices such as shamanic trance, automatic writing, inspired painting/ dance and poetry, mediumship and encounters with any ‘otherworldly’ beings as types of seership.
Runes for Seers
My bind rune for Seers combines the Perthro, Nauthiz and Dagaz runes. It can be used as a personal talisman or to empower a specific rite.
As Freyja’s rune Fehu is helpful to anyone wishing to practice Seidr and can be used to empower and energise the seer before a rite. The Fehu rune will make your energy body glow with vitality which will make you attractive to all sorts of spirits (wanted or not) so either wear a cloak or visualise a cloak around you if you are performing a spirit journey or Seidr practice. If Fehu appears to you in relation to your own seership practice you will want to examine what ‘payment’ you receive in return to your readings – too much or too little will put the energy between reader and client out of balance.
Kenaz is the flaming torch and, as such, it will guide you in dark places and help you burn away fear, trepidation and dread. For many people seership is an unsought ‘gift’ rather than a choice or cultivated skill. So many people I have worked with describe experiences they did not seek or understand which led them to eventually shut down their psychic abilities. As you open yourself back up to your psychic potential Kenaz can help guide your path and make the darkness of fears long repressed, or lack of trust in yourself, recede. Unlike Sowilo which connects you to guidance outside yourself, Kenaz re-kindles your own inner knowing and confidence – it is the torch in your own hand rather than the one ahead. Practice by chanting ‘Kee-narz’ and feeling warmth gently grow inside you (I find that this normally begins in my stomach). You can also draw it in ink or oils on your palms and third eye to enhance the connection.
Perthro is an excellent ‘patron’ rune for Seers. Wear it, draw it, chant it and visualise it when you are doing readings, journeys or trance work. If you are having trouble ‘seeing’ clearly Perthro can be of assistance. The recorded pathworking I have created for Perthro as part of the Journeys with the Elder Futhark series (see bottom of page) includes Perthro chanting to allow time for the rune to reveal itself to you. When doing rune readings I find it very helpful to visualise the rune bag as a large, three dimensional Perthro rune out of which I draw or cast the reading. Perthro can be used as a gateway through which to journey to the Well of Wyrd and seek counsel from the Norns. When I teach rune casting I work with my students to connect the with their guides who are ultimately far better qualified to help a Seer interpret the individual meanings of the runes as they come up; use Perthro to help yourself open to guidance.
Perthro helps us to open to spirit and the mysteries of Wyrd. Many naturally gifted Seers struggle to shut themselves down once they have opened to spirit. If you are working with Perthro to open your psychic senses use a rune such as Mannaz (the rune of man and the balanced soul complex) or Uruz (for physical grounding and earth connection) to centre yourself afterwards.
A powerful rune of protection Algiz can be drawn upon your body or projected as a shield ahead of you when journeying upon the astral. Draw it upon you your brown in sweet smelling oils to open your heart and vision to your guides. Journey through the run to meet your guardian spirits and receive magical tools of protection (feathered cloaks, talismans of antler and shields are examples of the types of gift you might receive). If you become lost Algiz can lead you back to safety, if you feel under threat in can reveal whether there is danger or not. Combine it with the Sowilo rune to form a shield of light or use it in conjunction with Eihwaz to create a defensive staff.
Seers will want to read the Mystics section on working with Sowilo during journeying. You may also like to experiment with the use of the Sowilo rune at the top of sacred space (see Magical Practitioners); I have found this particularly helpful for seership rites, presumably because Sowilo lends its guidance as well as its protective energies. The light of Sowilo will guide seers while they work and its strength and capacity to bind together that which is broken can be useful both for ensuring you don’t mislay your own energies or soul parts as well as work with broken or wounded spirits.
Sowilo connects you to the divine in every way, whether you see this as residing within you, resonating from a patron deity, or as a more intangible, less anthropomorphised force. Seers who find it difficult to connect with the more grounding runes such as Uruz or Mannaz may find Sowilo a helpful mediator. Algiz is also useful in this capacity and, if you are struggling to bring yourself fully back to your body following seership I would recommend drawing the Sowilo rune above you to guide you home and the Algiz rune below you to guide your steps (if you’re lucky it will form a handy bridge for you back to Midgard).
Rune readers love the Teiwaz rune because, as well as having its own meaning it provides direction and guidance as to the right course of action through the direction it is pointing in. For example, a little grouping of the Raidho, Othala and Wunjo runes with the Teiwaz rune pointing straight at it would suggest it is a great time to be looking to relocate the family home or to hold a family reunion at the main homestead (particularly if it’s a bit of a journey to get there). For rune casters the direction of the Teiwaz rune can often indicate the way up the reading is and so provide insights into whether other runes should be read as bright staves or murk staves.
For ‘yes/no’ readings drawing Teiwaz provides a pretty straight forward thumbs up or thumbs down in response to your question.
Seers will also want to experiment with Teiwaz and the Dagaz spectacles method in the Magical Practitioners section .