Unearthing Ancient Magic in The Runes –Messages with Hidden Symbols and Powerful Numbers

The etymology of the word “rune” means: “to carve, or to cut.” In Low German the word is “raunen.” As the runes were cut and carved into wood, metal or stone, the word “rune” was analogous to the rune letters themselves. Their form and shape varied according to the materials. For example, runes carved into wood had more straight lines than the more rounded rune shapes inscribed into granite. In Northern Europe the runes were actively used for a thousand years approximately between the ages of 150 CE to 1100 CE, and like any writing system they were used as a reliable form of information storage and as a verbal representation. After 1100 CE they were replaced by the Latin writing system with the incoming colonisation of Rome.

However, when we study the runes and the runic objects, we do not only come across linguistic patterns representing practical information such as accounts of dates and names, we also come across “non-linguistic” inscriptions which represent magical symbolism and incantations of protections, blessings or curses. The most famous example is the rune trio ALU. This trio is seen carved in brooches and magical bracteate (bracteates are thin single-sided gold discs worn as jewellery in Northern Europe during the iron age), the motifs on the discs are of Northern mythology with…