Rune Casting

One of my rune sets on a handwoven Bolivian Aguayo

I wrote a little about the Rune in yesterday's blog.  Today I'll give you a few hints about Rune casting.  You may use Tarot spreads, like the Celtic Cross spread, if you wish.  These spreads are complex and each position in the spread has a specific meaning.  I don't use Tarot spreads for a couple of reasons.  First, my teachers in Bolivia and Perú didn't cast coca leaves using a Tarot spread.  And second, the Rune are much older (according to me) than Tarot spreads and I would rather stick with tradition.  However, as I have written before, your path is yours, not mine so find what works for you.

My teachers in the Andes would select some coca leaves from a sack of leaves and cast them or let them fall on their mesa (altar).  They let their Apus guide their fingers and didn't count out three or five leaves, they just took a few from the sack.   The leaves told them a story and they would read the story from the position of the leaves, the pattern that they made on the altar cloth (aguayo) their relationship to each other, and even the shape and color of the leaves. I try to do the same.  

When I have a question or someone asks me a question I meditate on the question for several minutes while moving the Rune stones around, mixing them, in their sack.  I am right handed so I do this with my left hand, the hand that is wired to the less analytical and more creative side of my brain.  I then select a few stones from the stack, hold them in my hand and again repeat the question and ask my Apus for guidance and then let them fall on the aguayo.  

I don't move the stones after they fall, I leave them as they have arranged themselves on the cloth.  Stones that are face down have meaning that is hidden so I don't touch them for now.  I look at the stones that are close together, they are related.  Stones that are reversed usually have the opposite meaning of their normal signification.  Once I have read the stones then I turn the upside down stones over, and pay special attention to those that were touching or were very close to other stones to see if they tell a hidden story.

If you want a little structure in a reading then I suggest that you start with three Runes.  Select the Runes without looking at them and place them on your Rune cloth.  Again, don't turn them right side up if they are upside down and don't rotate them so that they are in their normal position.  I did a three-rune cast before writing and asked, "Please show me Runes that readers would have fun reading."  This is what I got:

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I am really glad that I didn't ask a personal question because this is not a very happy spread. How do you read it?  If you want, post your reading as a comment or sent it to me using the contact form.  I'll comment on the readings in a couple of days.  Not right now, because if you are serious about learning the Rune then I don't want to walk around in your mind with my dirty feet.  You will learn more reading by yourself.

Last word of advice?  The more you practice with the Rune the easier it will be to read them. Have fun!