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ALU, An Advanced Guide to Operative Runology
ALU, An Advanced Guide to Operative Runology
ALU, An Advanced Guide to Operative Runology
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ALU, An Advanced Guide to Operative Runology

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This follow-up to the classic Futhark breaks new ground by applying current scientific theories on how magic works in traditional societies to the world of practical magic. ALU, An Advanced Guide to Operative Runology contains completely new and fresh descriptions of all the individual runes based on traditional sources, rune-poems, Old Norse literature, and more.

Thorsson one of the most respected runic scholars living today, synthesizes the old and the new, the scholarly and the practical, and brings the use of runes in magical work to a new level in ALU, An Advanced Guide to Operative Runology.

ALU features:Practical magic Divination practicesReveals new techniques and methodsHow modern English can be used in the creation of runic writings

LanguageEnglish
Release dateDec 1, 2012
ISBN9781609256326
ALU, An Advanced Guide to Operative Runology
Author

Edred Thorsson

Since 1972, Edred Thorsson has been dedicated to the esoteric and esoteric study of the Indo-European, Celtic and Teutonic traditions. He studied Old Irish, Middle Welsh and Indo-European religion and culture at major universities in Germany and in the United States.

Read more from Edred Thorsson

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    ALU, An Advanced Guide to Operative Runology - Edred Thorsson

    CHAPTER ONE

    GROUNDING IN KNOWLEDGE

    Before galdor (magic) can be worked at the highest levels, a great deal of knowledge must be gained. The highest aim of magic is wisdom, or true understanding. In order to understand, one must first absorb a certain mass of knowledge—much of it theoretical—which must be put into practice. In practice, theoretical knowledge is realized, experience gained, and being is elevated. From this elevated, or risen up, perspective of consciousness, when one's Æsiric intelligence is—even if only for a few moments—realized, one is fully capable of divine acts. It is also true that one must begin with basic things before advanced things can be considered, much less attempted. This only makes good sense. Balance in development is essential.

    Let's start here by defining a few very basic terms in ways that lead to the construction of a personal frame of reference which is conducive to the working of galdor. We will also survey briefly the origins of the runes—their mythic and historical roots, the various historical epochs in which they were consulted, and the verifiable uses the runes have been put to in the past. This story of the runes is concluded by a brief discussion of the runic revival, which has been going on intermittently since the seventeenth century.

    One of the essential tasks not only of this book, but all of operative runology, is that of guiding personal transformation. An important feature often ignored in schools of magic is the necessity of an initial paradigm shift in the individual. That is, the frame of reference, the basic operating myth—however one would like to express the fact that each person operates from within some theoretical framework—must be altered in a way that makes galdor possible and beneficial. If one remains entirely within the consensus reality of the modern world, magic is relatively impossible. The modern world is dominated by a materialistic, rationalistic (positivistic) model. This myth (and it is a myth, as are all such frames of reference) works like a machine or organism—outside of which nothing exists. Such a myth restricts the divine acts of galdormen and gods. However, the eternal traditional myth of the world embraced by our ancestors and their ancestors actually enhances the possibility of magic. Different things are possible in different worlds. The very word world contains an ancient Germanic concept "a man's (wer-) age (old)."⁵ As a term it takes into account the idea of the world being conditioned by thought—the chief distinguishing activity of men and gods. The process of conducting this shift in frame of reference can happen mysteriously and suddenly for a very few—but more often long, hard work at a high level of consciousness is what is needed. This is done by exposing oneself to the traditional lore of our ancestors, listening to what wise people have said about this lore through the centuries, learning the ancient dialects (Old Norse, Old English), and undertaking a curriculum of exercises such as those found in the Nine Doors of Midgard. As a practical matter, it has also been found that personal contact with those who have made the shift is essential to traditional work.

    Definitions

    Among the elements necessary to the formation of an effective and true frame of reference, the definition of certain key words is an important start. The definitions of some of these terms are often vague rather than sharp around their edges. This allows them to slide from one meaning to another over time. By the same token, we can, with knowledge and effort, slide them back to meanings of a more archaic, and often more potent and useful, level.

    In any case, the advanced operative runologist will not remain content with studying the ancient lore in translation, but will endeavor to learn the most important ancient Germanic dialects in order to crack the subtle code of the archaic frame of reference. However, even depending on more dictionary definitions of ancient words can be slightly misleading. For example, if you translate the Old Norse word rlög with the modern English word fate in reading a text in Old Norse, you have simply substituted a familiar (mis)conception for an unfamiliar word. Key terms must be studied in depth and understood in their ancient context, and their etymologies must be studied and understood as well.

    In order to build up a traditional frame of reference, one must study hundreds of words in context. Among the most important books for this exercise is the seminal Culture of the Teutons by Vilhelm Grönbech.⁷ Our present study is, however, devoted to the advanced practice of operative runology and cannot delve too deeply into this necessary prerequisite to such practice. But we will need to clarify certain terms before proceeding.

    RUNIC ROOTS

    By now most are familiar with the idea that the word rune (PGmc. r n ) did not mean a letter or character, but rather a mystery or secret. Here we want to go beyond this mere definition to discover the real essence of the word. To do this requires a significant contextual understanding of the word in ancient times. In a forthcoming monograph, *R n-: The Investigation of an Etymon, I will more fully explore all of the ramifications of this term.

    The simple definition as mystery or secret stems from the uses found in all the major older Germanic dialects. There we find ON rún secret lore (and perhaps also words or songs);⁸ OE r n secret, mystery, a whisper, secret council;⁹ OHG r na mystery;¹⁰ OS r na secret council and gir ni secret; Go. r na, which translates both mystery and council.¹¹ There are consistent links between the idea of mystery and secret communication or vocal performance (e.g., whispering). This field of meaning is supported by the ultimate derivation of the word from PIE *reu- to roar, bellow. Still, this etymology may or may not be correct. The actual word is not found outside of Germanic and Celtic languages.¹² Therefore it may be a Celto-Germanic isogloss; in other words, a term unique to these languages. The ProtoGermanic word r n is found in the older runic inscriptions perhaps as many as sixteen times. We find it used both in the singular, e.g., on the fourth-century stone of Einang (Norway): . . . dag[s]tiR r n fahid ([I, . . . dagast colored the rune), and in the plural, e.g., the gold bracteate of Tjurkö I from about 450 CE (IK 184): wurt r n R an walhakurn (the runes are worked on Welsh grain [= gold]).¹³ In both instances, the word clearly indicates the product of the runemaster's craft, whether for the whole inscription (seen as a mystery in the singular) or the individual signs (in the plural). From what we already know, we can say with great certainty that the runes are visible symbolic manifestations of a (vocal) communicative act. The contextual discussions below will help us realize the mysterious quality they possess.¹⁴

    One of the main ways the ancient Germanic dialects created new words (and hence expressed different concepts) was by way of stem vowel mutation. In this way a seed of meaning—in our example, r n- mystery—could be spread within its perceived wider semantic field to produce new words/concepts with a sometimes hidden link to their original forms. These stem vowel mutations did not occur arbitrarily, however. There are certain rules or parameters within which this process works. The two main inventories of such variations are known as the ablaut series (by which strong verbs such as sing, sang, sung are developed) and the phenomenon called umlaut.¹⁵

    By taking the stem vowel in the word ru_n and subjecting it to these mutations, a variety of new words/concepts emerge. These can best be verified and observed in Old Norse where we find the following examples: Rún (with ablaut) raun: trial, experiment, experience. Raun (with i-umlaut) reyna: to try; examine; search, pry into. Rún (with i-umlaut) rýna: to inquire, pry into. Additionally, there is another word which seems related: ræna: consciousness.¹⁶ Already a strong semantic field has developed around the meanings of these derivatives. Clearly the seed concept contained in ru_n- not only emphasizes the unknown, but also the means and ways of making the unknown known: A mystery pried into leads to experience which becomes awareness. This does not exhaust the possibilities of the discussion, but space prevents me from delving deeper at this time.¹⁷

    Besides this method of stem vowel shifting, Germanic dialects also broadly used the more familiar modes of adding prefixes and suffixes or other words in compounds to stems to create new or expanded meanings. In Old Norse, for example, we find rún- suffixed with weak masculine and feminine endings, rúni and rúna, respectively, to produce words meaning secret advisor or counselor, be that advisor male or female. One of the ways the original name of the Rune-Gild, Rúnagildi, could be interpreted is guild of secret advisors, not necessarily guild of the runes. The stem reyn- also receives suffixes to produce reyn-sla: experience; reyn-d: experience (used in the genitive case reyndar, to mean in fact); and reynir: trier, examiner.

    Another way that the meaning of the word r n- was expanded upon was through the more familiar method of combining or compounding it with another word or with suffixes. Both Old English and Old Norse are rich in such words. In Old English, for example, we find r nnwita: confidant, councilor, sage; r nncofa: mind; and heller nne: sorceress. This last term is a combination of the feminine suffixed form of r n, with the word for the realm of the deadhell. This combination is extremely old, as it appears in Jordanes's History of the Goths, where he uses the word haljarunae,¹⁸ which reflects the original Gothic term *haljarunos. These are said to be the Gothic sorceresses who mated with baleful forest spirits to give birth to the Huns! In Old Norse there is a catalog of compound runic words given in the Sigrdrífumál. There we find, among others, málrúnar: speech runes; bjargrúnar: birth-runes; gamanrúnar: pleasure-runes; sigrúnar: victory runes; ölrúnar: alerunes." This last term is of particular interest to us here because etymologically it is derived from *alu-r noz and as we will see, Old Norse öl: ale comes from PNorse alu.

    From this brief survey it can be seen that the root word r n- clearly belongs to a sacred and sometimes magical—or operative—semantic field.¹⁹ Its vital and vigorous usages in both Old Norse and Old English show that it was a much thought about and revered concept. Its application to written character is obviously secondary, but also shows the intrinsic value placed on the act of writing itself by the Germanic peoples who first became familiar with the runes. No doubt the term r n- was in use long before the development of the fu ark. Both Old English and Old Norse use the term stave, stæf or stafr, respectively, when referring specifically to the concrete, visible sign of a rune. (With time the words stæf or stafr take on some of the more mysterious or magical qualities originally reserved for the word rún.) R n is, in its original sense, a mystery ( ): something hidden, unknown. The contemplation of the very concept of the unknown is a powerful catalyst for the generation of power, knowledge, and even wisdom. All knowing begins with a sense of the unknown . . .²⁰

    MAGIC

    Ancient Germanic tradition is extremely rich in terms for what might be roughly translated as magic.²¹ To define magic in the totality of the scope of those terms and the historical practices they reflect goes beyond what we need to address here. We are concerned with that kind of magic that involves, or can involve, the use of the runes.

    All forms of magic, and especially magic using runes, are modes of communication. What is essential is that the magician, or operator, knows the code and is able to execute the code in an effective manner in order that the return message will be in keeping with the intention of the operator.²²

    Old Norse and Old English words for magic often convey the idea of special knowledge and performance of a code. The most common term, and one of the most often linked to runic activities, is ON galdr (OE gealdor). We have modernized this word as galdor. Etymologically, it goes back to the verb gala, which denotes the sound a raven or crow makes. In this there is a deep mythic connection to the god ÓÐinn/W den, who is served by two ravens: Huginn and Muninn (the one who thinks and the one who remembers, respectively). For ages magical incantations—galdrar—were only sung or chanted. With the advent of the runes, suddenly the operator could make his incantations—already poetic and/or rhythmic utterances harmonious with divine forms—even closer to the essence of the divine world because they could be made more permanent and more perfect.

    Other ancient terms for magic emphasize the special knowledge needed by the operator: ON fjölkyngi and forneskja²³ are two of these. Fjölkyngi refers to knowledge which is deep, manifold, complex. This special knowledge enables an operator to communicate effectively with unseen, yet powerful forces and entities in the environment. Forneskja specifically indicates the idea that magical knowledge is ancient. Although this latter term became more prevalent in the Christian era, pointing to the idea that magical knowledge was specifically heathen, the term could also have been used in pre-Christian times since for the Germanic peoples the idea of the ancient, mythical past is always linked to the eternal value of these mythic ideals and patterns.

    Radical runologists are those who have no inner conflict between objective and subjective definitions. As a radical runologist, or rune-magician, one should not be baffled by the scholarly discussion of magic (from an anthropological perspective) nor should the scholarly definition of magic be one which does not take into account the cultural and philosophical validity and reality of the practice of magic in societies of all kinds.²⁴ In my article on Magic in Medieval Scandinavia: An Encyclopedia, I defined the topic as volitive symbolic behavior to effect or prevent changes in the environment by means of extraordinary communicative acts with paranormal factors.²⁵ This definition works for both a scholarly (anthropological) discussion as well as for a practical, or applied, purpose. This definition must, however, be studied word for word and completely understood intellectually. We will periodically return to theoretical considerations, for in order for one to be effective, one must possess and understand a firm theoretical model. (Most modern people's magic has little chance of success because they generally lack a firm and complete model.)

    Before leaving these opening definitions to move on to the historical framework of the runes, I must say something about the word that provides the title of this book: Alu. The runic formula alu appears in well over twenty of the older runic inscriptions.²⁶ It represents the Germanic word alu, which gives us our modern ale. In ancient times words which represented substances of extreme symbolic importance were used either in conjunction with the substance in ritual settings or as symbolic substitutes for the substances themselves. As early as 1954, Edgar Polomé pointed to the etymological connection between alu and Hittite *alwanza- (alwanzatar: witchcraft, magic, spell; alwanza: to bewitch).²⁷ It appears prominently in the corpus of bracteate²⁸ texts—which are categorically magical in character as the objects represent amulets or religious medals. Alu reflects a word which originally described a religious or mystical state of mind, which was semantically transferred to a substance (fermented drink) used in religious and magical ritual. Alu becomes öl in Old Norse (see ölrúnar above). Because alu so often comes at the end of magico-religious formulas, it seems rather clear that that it was a verbal-symbolic formula used to conclude a sacred or magically potent utterance and that it has the effect of sanctifying (or loading) the foregoing words—just as sacrificial ale could be poured on a stone to sanctify it in religious ceremonies, which is especially known from funerary rites.

    In terms of numerical symbolism,²⁹ it is also noteworthy that = 4.21.2 = 27 (= 3 × 9 : 2 + 7 = 9) and ON öl (spelled runically in the Younger Futhark) = 10.2.15 = 27! This standard numerical lore would indicate that is a trebling of 9. Using the U ark code,³⁰ = 3.20.1 = 24—a pars pro toto sign of the whole fu ark.

    As magic is a form of inter-reality communication—between humans and gods, between mind and nature, etc.—the runes provide a traditional and traditionally perfect metalanguage for this form of communication, or operative performance. The highest aims of present-day rune-magic would mirror those of ancient times—but the possibilities of results for lower forms of rune-magic are conditioned by what is necessary now versus what was necessary then. The highest aims of runemagic today are twofold: 1) self-completion (initiation) and 2) restoration of our tradition.

    Runic History

    In order to be able to work with a rich, complex, and authentic tradition, it is highly desirable to be as familiar as possible with its various manifestations over time. These manifestations should be viewed from various perspectives, e.g., from within and from without. That is, from within its own mythology, or traditional self-understanding, and from an objective point of view supported by data and reasonable theories. For one who wishes to practice operative runology at the highest levels, no stone should be left unturned—or unexamined! Knowing the history of a system helps the practitioner by showing him what was done in the past as a way of giving some shape to what is possible today. In this book I will touch on many questions of history, but since the focus of our explorations is not history, such explorations are more completely discussed in other works.³¹

    ORIGINS

    If one understands the origin of something, one can possess great power with regard to that thing. When we speak of runes, we speak of two different, yet intimately related things: 1) the idea of the Mystery as articulated by twenty-four visible signs, and 2) the idea of twenty-four visible signs (staves) used to represent the sounds of a spoken language.

    In the traditional world of more than a thousand years ago, these two aspects would have formed parts of a coherent whole—which is what the radical runologist strives for today. However, in order to arrive at the highest level of understanding, one must often delve into the polar extremes of a topic.³² An imbalanced view—weighted too much in the objective or too much in the subjective direction—will quickly run our wagon right into a ditch.

    Mythic Origin of the Runes

    Myth is a word that has come to mean a lie in the muddled modernistic mindset. Actually a myth is not something untrue, but rather it conveys something so deeply true and real that mere facts

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