====== Runes ======
Runes are a somewhat complex subject, as a result of a combination of [[philosophy:religion:wicca|neopagan]] appropriation (which is a relatively recent phenomenon), and //many// centuries of bad information from [[philosophy:issues:academia:start]].

As a result, what we //know// is very spotty, and filled with a lot of conjecture and assumptions built upon assumptions. We know that runes were used in inscriptions on stone, wood, metal, and other materials dating back to the early medieval period in northwestern Europe, but beyond that, things are murky. It stands to reason that the peoples of Europe used runic alphabets prior to Christianization, but the enforced "superiority" of the Latin alphabet may very well have led to the destruction of all evidence of such usage, leaving us to guess as to the real history and origin of the alphabets used by many White tribes before the adoption of the Latin alphabet (and Latinized alphabets used by many European nations, especially in Germania and Scandinavia).

Academia tends to make biased assumptions about every piece of human culture it encounters. Thus, runes have long been described as possessing some sort of magical, ritual, or otherwise metaphysical purpose - but this seems to be largely premised on the //fact// that so few runic artifacts remain, along with the //assumption// that "magic runes" is a sufficient explanation as to why.

My own take on runes is a mix of old and new: while runic alphabets very likely were simply used as written alphabets in some era now lost to the sands of <del>time</del> [[philosophy:religion:abrahamism]], it also gives us a link to our ancestral culture, and is something tangible that we can use in religious and spiritual practice today.

Some people use rune casting, which involves choosing or throwing runes (engraved on stone, wood, or other materials) and interpreting the results. It's similar to the Chinese //I Ching// and the Celtic-Gaelic //Ogham// systems. Interestingly, Ogham is another example of something mundane (an early Irish alphabet) being turned into something magical (a system of stick casting or card drawing for divinatory purposes). If you're interested in casting runes or ogham sticks, by all means, incorporate it in to your spiritual practice! The act of casting and then meditating on the results is itself an important spiritual exercise, as it quiets and focuses your mind and soul on a specific situation or question, and gives you a chance to think through possible answers, avenues, or outcomes.

I'm a very visual person, so while I have experimented with both ogham and rune casting, I've discovered that runes are a better fit in my practice as a means of creative expression, rather than divination or assessment of the subconscious. I do make [[sigils:mine|sigils]] using a combination of runes and symbols.

This page uses the UTF-8 character set, which supports a variety of known runes, including a runic alphabet with more than 26 characters. You can find details on the Unicode references [[https://unicode-table.com/en/blocks/runic/|here]].

[[.:all|Click here For a complete list of all Unicode-supported runes.]]

===== Rune Sets =====

<nspages sigils:runes:sets -exclude -h1 -simpleList -textNs="" -textPages="">

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===== Related Reading =====

  * [[https://www.twowander.com/blog/elder-futhark-norse-runic-alphabet-how-to-rune-reading]] ([[https://archive.ph/vNUaP|archive]])
  * [[https://omniglot.com/writing/runic.htm]] ([[https://archive.ph/wip/snb4o|archive]])
  * [[https://tarotx.net/runes/]] ([[https://archive.ph/eOAVn|archive]]) 
  * [[https://www.pagangrimoire.com/elder-futhark-rune-meanings/]] ([[https://archive.ph/oto9a|archive]])
  * [[https://norse-mythology.org/runes/the-meanings-of-the-runes/]] ([[https://archive.ph/0GlD3|archive]])
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