The Runes

This modern guide explains everything you need to know to start doing your own in-depth rune readings. The descriptions are rich and accurate, based on new translations of the original rune poems. J. Hamburger combines deep respect for the ancient texts with practical rune-reading experience to bring you a truly authentic and inspiring book.Rune reading is a tool for gaining insight. Some see it as divination-a way of tapping into hidden knowledge. Others use it for self-reflection or focusing intention. Consulting the runes can be like talking to an old friend: you may know the truth, but sometimes you need to hear it before you believe it. However you use them, these ancient symbols will help you access your intuitive wisdom.Before Christianity spread to northern Europe, the indigenous peoples of the region were Germanic tribes, like the Anglo-Saxons, Goths, and Norsemen. Runes were the letters of their alphabets. Over time these letters developed rich symbolic meanings, passed down through poems and myths. Like most pre-Christian cultures, the Germanic peoples were polytheistic, and they revered natural elements as sacred. When you pick up the runes, you are entering a vibrant world, grounded in nature and everyday life, yet full of heroes, gods, and mythology.Most of what we know about runes comes from just a few ancient poems. It may be tempting to focus on the "nicer" elements from each poem, overlooking anything too difficult or unpleasant, but it's clear from the poems that runes have a dark side-and we know from history that the people who used them were both fearless and fearsome. This book doesn't leave anything out. All of the mystical depth is there, and so is the fighting spirit.