# Runes Source: https://spiritfold.com/Runes Published by the Australian Spiritual Alliance on Spiritfold, licensed CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. **Runes** are the characters of an early Germanic writing system, the runic alphabet or **futhark**, which is known from about the 3rd century until the 16th or 17th century in Scandinavia, Iceland, Britain and other parts of northern Europe.[1] Today some people also consult runes for divination and personal guidance, a modern practice known as **rune casting**. One of the best-known modern books on the subject, Ralph H. Blum's *The Book of Runes*, presents rune casting as a tool for "self-counseling".[2] ## Description ### Key terms - The **futhark** is the runic alphabet, named after its first six letters.[3] - **Divination** is the practice of seeking the hidden meaning or cause of events, and sometimes of foretelling the future, by various techniques.[4] - **Rune casting** is the modern use of runes for divination and guidance.[2] It helps to keep the first and third terms apart. The runes were an ordinary writing system for well over a thousand years; their use as a divination tool is a much later practice, and how far it reflects the past is debated (see Divination in early sources).[1][5] ### The runic alphabets The runic alphabet is called the futhark after its first six characters. At first it had 24 characters; by the Viking Age the number had been reduced to 16.[3][6] More than 4,000 runic inscriptions and several runic manuscripts survive. About 2,500 of the inscriptions are from Sweden; the rest come from Norway, Denmark, Britain, Iceland, islands off Britain and Scandinavia, France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia.[1] Runes were carved into wood, stone and horn, and on personal belongings such as combs and weapons.[6] Many scholars believe that the word *rune* first meant "secret" or "mystery", but this is uncertain; others suggest it meant "inscription", "message" or simply "to write".[3] ### Rune casting today *The Book of Runes* by Ralph H. Blum, a writer and cultural anthropologist, was first published in 1982[7] and has been reissued in an anniversary edition sold with a set of rune stones. Its publisher describes it as offering contemporary interpretations of rune casting for people seeking wisdom and guidance in their present lives. Blum worked with the runes as a tool for self-counselling from 1977.[2] ## Scope ### What it includes - Consulting runes for guidance and self-reflection, as described in modern books such as Blum's[2] - The study of the historical runic alphabets and inscriptions, which is the background every rune reader draws on[1][6] ### What it is not - Rune casting is a modern practice, and its link to the past is debated. The World-Tree Project at University College Cork, a resource for Norse and Viking studies, notes that although it is popularly believed that the Vikings used runes for divination, there is no evidence that they did. The project points instead to the everyday uses of runes: inscriptions on runestones, which served much as carving on a modern gravestone does, messages cut on wooden rune sticks, and graffiti.[5] - Rune casting is not [mediumship](https://spiritfold.com/Mediumship). Spiritualist bodies describe mediumship as giving evidence that life continues after death, not foretelling events (see Within Spiritualism below).[8] ## Traditions and lineage ### Origins of the runes Runes were first used in Scandinavia in the first centuries CE, and most of the oldest surviving inscriptions date from the 3rd and 4th centuries. They usually consist of a single word or short phrase, often the name of the owner or of the person who carved them.[3][6] Sources differ on where the runes came from: the Swedish History Museum says the script was inspired mainly by the Roman alphabet,[3] while Britannica says the Goths may have developed it from the Etruscan alphabet of northern Italy.[1] Early inscriptions on jewellery were often placed discreetly, on the back of a brooch or another hidden part, and the Swedish History Museum suggests that the runes had a private or hidden significance rather than being meant for display.[3] A comb carved with the futhark three times was probably made as a protective charm against evil spirits.[6] ### Divination in early sources The Roman historian Tacitus, writing about the Germanic peoples at the end of the 1st century CE, described a way of casting lots. A branch from a fruit-bearing tree was cut into small pieces, each marked with a sign, and scattered on a white cloth. A priest, or the head of the family in private matters, prayed to the gods and took up each piece three times, reading its meaning from the mark on it.[9] In this translation Tacitus describes the signs only as "certain marks". The World-Tree Project points out that the popular belief in Viking rune divination is an extension of this passage, which comes some 700 years before the Viking Age. It notes that later Icelandic magical texts used runes and rune-like symbols, that Germanic peoples may possibly have used runes for divination, and that the evidence from the Viking Age points instead to a culture of prophecy by seeresses.[5] ### Variations The main historical forms of the runic alphabet are the older futhark of 24 characters and the Viking-Age futhark of 16.[3][6] ## Context ### Within Spiritualism Spiritfold has found no published source linking runes with Spiritualism. Spiritualist bodies do, however, separate mediumship from divination and forecasting in general, and that distinction applies to rune casting as much as to any other method. The National Spiritualist Association of Churches in the United States says its mediums are not fortune-tellers and that predicting the future matters very little,[10] and the Spiritualists' National Union in Britain says mediumship exists to give evidence that life continues after death, not to foretell events.[8] ### In Australian Spiritualism Spiritfold has found no published source linking runes with [Spiritualism](https://spiritfold.com/Spiritualism) in Australia. ### A Spiritualist perspective Rune casting has no known place in Spiritualism, and a Spiritualist teacher would say so plainly while still treating it with respect. The runes themselves are part of the heritage of northern Europe, and, as the page notes, their use for divination is a modern practice whose links to the past are debated. A Spiritualist would honour the history and be careful not to claim more for it than the evidence allows. Some people use the runes as a way of reflecting on their lives, much as the modern books above describe, and a Spiritualist could do the same privately without it being part of their religion. It is not mediumship, which Spiritualism keeps for evidence that life continues after death. Anyone offering rune readings to others should be honest about what they are, avoid frightening forecasts, and take particular care with people who come to them in distress. ## Runes in Australia Australian researchers have played a leading part in the scholarly study of Old Norse poetry, including poetry written in runes. The international project *Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages* was set up and led by Australian researchers, according to the Australian Academy of the Humanities, and its editorial board, headed by Margaret Clunies Ross, works under the auspices of the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of Sydney.[11][12] The project is producing a new edition of the surviving skaldic verse, including runic inscriptions that are in verse form, and its publisher says the volume of runic poetry will include images of the objects the inscriptions were carved on.[12] Australians have also been able to see runestones in local museums. In 2018 Melbourne Museum hosted *Vikings: Beyond the Legend*, an exhibition of objects lent by the Swedish History Museum in Stockholm, and *The Age* listed runestones with inscriptions not yet deciphered among its highlights.[13] ## Safety and good practice ## Related modalities - [Tarot](https://spiritfold.com/Tarot) - [Astrology](https://spiritfold.com/Astrology) - [Numerology](https://spiritfold.com/Numerology) ## References 1. Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. ["Rune"](https://www.britannica.com/topic/rune). *Encyclopaedia Britannica*. Revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen (accessed 11 October 2026). 2. [*The Book of Runes, 25th Anniversary Edition*](https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780312536763/thebookofrunes25thanniversaryedition/), by Ralph H. Blum. Macmillan. Publisher's description (accessed 11 October 2026). 3. ["The first runes"](https://historiska.se/en/explore-history/history-hub/the-first-runes/). Historiska museet (Swedish History Museum), Stockholm (accessed 11 October 2026). 4. Gilbert, Robert Andrew and the Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. ["Divination"](https://www.britannica.com/topic/divination). *Encyclopaedia Britannica* (accessed 11 October 2026). 5. ["Runes of divination and magic?"](https://www.worldtreeproject.org/exhibits/show/miscon/magrun). Misconceptions and Misunderstandings exhibit, World-Tree Project, University College Cork (accessed 11 October 2026). 6. ["Runes"](https://historiska.se/en/explore-history/history-hub/runes/). Historiska museet (Swedish History Museum), Stockholm (accessed 11 October 2026). 7. [*The Book of Runes*](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL605560W), by Ralph Blum. Open Library record; first published 1982 (accessed 11 October 2026). 8. Spiritualists' National Union (United Kingdom). ["Mediumship"](https://snu.org.uk/about-us/about-spiritualism/mediumship/). SNU (accessed 12 October 2026). 9. Tacitus. *Germania*, ch. 10, "Auguries and method of divination". Translated by A.J. Church and W.J. Brodribb (London: Macmillan, 1877). [Internet Medieval Sourcebook](https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/halsall/source/tacitus1.html), Fordham University (accessed 11 October 2026). 10. National Spiritualist Association of Churches (United States). ["Frequently Asked Questions"](https://nsac.org/faq/). NSAC (accessed 12 October 2026). 11. Australian Academy of the Humanities. ["Opening up Old Norse poetry to a wide audience"](https://humanities.org.au/power-of-the-humanities/opening-up-old-norse-poetry-to-a-wide-audience/). Discovering Humanities series, September 2021, updated 1 September 2023 (accessed 11 October 2026). 12. Brepols Publishers. ["Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages"](https://www.brepols.net/series/SKALD). Book series page (accessed 11 October 2026). 13. Webb, Carolyn. "Ja, it's true: Some Vikings were into arts, not pillaging". *The Age*, 7 March 2018. Reproduced by the Council of Australasian Museum Directors as ["MV's Vikings: Beyond the legend"](https://camd.org.au/?p=9045) (accessed 11 October 2026). ## Further reading - Australian Academy of the Humanities. ["Opening up Old Norse poetry to a wide audience"](https://humanities.org.au/power-of-the-humanities/opening-up-old-norse-poetry-to-a-wide-audience/), 2021. - Blum, Ralph H. [*The Book of Runes*](https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780312536763/thebookofrunes25thanniversaryedition/). First published 1982; 25th anniversary edition, Macmillan. A practitioner's guide, not a history. - Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. ["Rune"](https://www.britannica.com/topic/rune). *Encyclopaedia Britannica*. - Historiska museet. ["The first runes"](https://historiska.se/en/explore-history/history-hub/the-first-runes/) and ["Runes"](https://historiska.se/en/explore-history/history-hub/runes/). Swedish History Museum, Stockholm. - Tacitus. [*Germania*](https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/halsall/source/tacitus1.html). Translated by A.J. Church and W.J. Brodribb, 1877. Internet Medieval Sourcebook, Fordham University. - World-Tree Project. ["Runes of divination and magic?"](https://www.worldtreeproject.org/exhibits/show/miscon/magrun). University College Cork.