XPost: alt.traditional.witchcraft, alt.witchcraft, alt.pagan.magick   
   XPost: alt.magick   
   From: aregularnotdog@gmail.com   
      
   So, recently I've been doing research into the Anglo-Saxon Runes, and   
   have found a wealth of information! I've seen some scholars state that   
   unlike the Norse runes, mainly the Elder and Younger Futhorc runes, the   
   Anglo-Saxon Runes had no tie to any kind of religious practices. This   
   isn't exactly truthful, though! The Anglo-Saxons believed that the   
   written word had power, and as very few could write at the time, it was   
   considered to be an inherently magickal practice.   
      
   Rune as a word means secret or mystery, though the Anglo-Saxon Runes may   
   not have as many examples of direct use as magical inscriptions as their   
   Germanic neighbours. Due to the association with words being a form of   
   magick in general, we can assume they have some sort of power   
   and use.   
      
   ====Runes and their meaning====   
   Below is an English translation of the Old English rune poem as to give   
   you a rough guide as to the Anglo-Saxon runes, their meaning, and a   
   reflection on their Christo-Pagan culture at the time.   
      
   ᚠ Wealth is a comfort to all men;   
   yet must every man bestow it freely,   
   if he wish to gain honour in the sight of the Lord.   
      
   ᚢ The aurochs (Ox) is proud and has great horns;   
   it is a very savage beast and fights with its horns;   
   a great ranger of the moors, it is a creature of mettle.   
      
   ᚦ The thorn is exceedingly sharp,   
   an evil thing for any knight to touch,   
   uncommonly severe on all who sit among them.   
      
   ᚩ The mouth is the source of all language,   
   a pillar of wisdom and a comfort to wise men,   
   a blessing and a joy to every knight.   
      
   ᚱ Riding seems easy to every warrior while he is indoors   
   and very courageous to him who traverses the high-roads   
   on the back of a stout horse.   
      
   ᚳ The torch is known to every living man by its pale, bright flame;   
   it always burns where princes sit within.   
      
   ᚷ Generosity brings credit and honour, which support one's dignity;   
   it furnishes help and subsistence   
   to all broken men who are devoid of aught else.   
      
   ᚹ Bliss he enjoys who knows not suffering, sorrow nor anxiety,   
   and has prosperity and happiness and a good enough house.   
      
   ᚻ Hail is the whitest of grain;   
   it is whirled from the vault of heaven   
   and is tossed about by gusts of wind   
   and then it melts into water.   
      
   ᚾ Trouble is oppressive to the heart;   
   yet often it proves a source of help and salvation   
   to the children of men, to everyone who heeds it betimes.   
      
   ᛁ Ice is very cold and immeasurably slippery;   
   it glistens as clear as glass and most like to gems;   
   it is a floor wrought by the frost, fair to look upon.   
      
   ᛄ Summer is a joy to men, when God, the holy King of Heaven,   
   suffers the earth to bring forth shining fruits   
   for rich and poor alike.   
      
   ᛇ The yew is a tree with rough bark,   
   hard and fast in the earth, supported by its roots,   
   a guardian of flame and a joy upon an estate.   
      
   ᛈ Peorth (An Anglo-Saxon Game) is a source of recreation and amusement   
   to the great,   
   where warriors sit blithely together in the banqueting-hall.   
      
   ᛉ The Eolh(Elk)-sedge is mostly to be found in a marsh;   
   it grows in the water and makes a ghastly wound,   
   covering with blood every warrior who touches it.   
      
   ᛋ The sun is ever a joy in the hopes of seafarers   
   when they journey away over the fishes' bath,   
   until the courser of the deep bears them to land.   
      
   ᛏ Tiw (the god Tiw/ glory) is a guiding star; well does it keep faith   
   with princes;   
   it is ever on its course over the mists of night and never fails.   
      
   ᛒ The poplar bears no fruit; yet without seed it brings forth suckers,   
   for it is generated from its leaves.   
   Splendid are its branches and gloriously adorned   
   its lofty crown which reaches to the skies.   
      
   ᛖ The horse is a joy to princes in the presence of warriors.   
   A steed in the pride of its hoofs,   
   when rich men on horseback bandy words about it;   
   and it is ever a source of comfort to the restless.   
      
   ᛗ The joyous man is dear to his kinsmen;   
   yet every man is doomed to fail his fellow,   
   since the Lord by his decree will commit the vile carrion to the earth.   
      
   ᛚ The ocean seems interminable to men,   
   if they venture on the rolling bark   
   and the waves of the sea terrify them   
   and the courser of the deep heed not its bridle.   
      
   ᛝ Ing (hero) was first seen by men among the East-Danes,   
   till, followed by his chariot,   
   he departed eastwards over the waves.   
   So the Heardingas named the hero.   
      
   ᛟ An estate is very dear to every man,   
   if he can enjoy there in his house   
   whatever is right and proper in constant prosperity.   
      
   ᛞ Day, the glorious light of the Creator, is sent by the Lord;   
   it is beloved of men, a source of hope and happiness to rich and poor,   
   and of service to all.   
      
   ᚪ The oak fattens the flesh of pigs for the children of men.   
   Often it traverses the gannet's bath,   
   and the ocean proves whether the oak keeps faith   
   in honourable fashion.   
      
   ᚫ The ash is exceedingly high and precious to men.   
   With its sturdy trunk it offers a stubborn resistance,   
   though attacked by many a man.   
      
   ᚣ Yr (yew bow) is a source of joy and honour to every prince and knight;   
   it looks well on a horse and is a reliable equipment for a journey.   
      
   ᛡ Iar is a river fish and yet it always feeds on land;   
   it has a fair abode encompassed by water, where it lives in happiness.   
      
   ᛠ The grave is horrible to every knight,   
   when the corpse quickly begins to cool   
   and is laid in the bosom of the dark earth.   
   Prosperity declines, happiness passes away   
   and covenants are broken.   
      
   ====Addressing Rune Casting and it's legitimacy.====   
      
   Though I agree the idea of rune casting for divination is a modern   
   invention from the 19th century, that does not mean that we should   
   immediately dismiss the Magickal use of Anglo-Saxon Runes entirely. I   
   still believe Rune casting to be a legitimate form of divination, as you   
   can use anything as a focus for divination. You can even create your own   
   casting system with any number of objects or your own symbols.   
      
   If Authenticity is more of a thing you wish to consider, there are   
   written records of Germanic forms of wood casting that involved wooden   
   strips with “symbols” of some kind inscribed on them. However, they are   
   not confirmed to be runes, though runes were definitely around at this   
   time, and examples of them being carved into wood have been found.   
   In this case, however, wood casting, with or without runic inscriptions,   
   would be a perfectly fine re-constructionist way of doing authentic   
   Germanic divination. But, for the most part, runes were not used in   
   divination according to the Archaeological record, but were, in fact,   
   used for inscriptions.   
      
   ====So, how would the Anglo-Saxon's have used Runes for Magick?====   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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