What are the characteristics of a "good" set of runes for the beginner? I'm looking at a jade set around $30, it looks very pretty, but I'm not sure if could drop that amount of money on something I may not continue with. Or is it more advisable to make myself a set? I don't have easy access to minerals or bones, but I read somewhere that you could make one out of cardboard. For added information, I've read quite a bit on runes and the magick associated with it, and I'm interested in trying it, but I'm not sure I could commit.
And I did read a bit about the Norse gods, but I suppose I could do more research.
Making a set can be inexpensive, fun, and help learn the runes. The cheapest i have seen has been with a set of flat decorative glass stones from the dollar store, and a silver permanent marker. That's less than $5 for purchased materials. If you have a decent saw, cutting discs off the end of a branch is also a good way to start making a set. Just draw the runes with a marker.
Pretty store bought ones are not believed to work, they need to be made and filled with power by you, you need blood, sweat, tears and maybe some cum if you got it to make them have any spiritual power. Cut a branch of a tree you ask, can't be a dead branch unless you want dead runes, ones that don't work. Cut into equal slices and crave the runes yourself if you want real runes vs decor or a parlor game. Google with tell you the same thing... Unless of course your on a site selling you stuff.
That has no historical backing in Norse cultures, which is where runes originate from, Lily. Runes don't "work" becuase of the material they're written or carved on is a certain thing or not - they were originally script for Germanic languages. It's the runes themselves that are important.
Ethy_Lynne, simply writing them on pieces of paper or painting them on relatively flat stones, work. If you prefer buying a set, that's fine, but I would advise making your own if you are unsure if you wish to continue. Unless you're casting runes, you really don't even need materials in the first place as they can be drawn with energy or sung (as in Galdrar).
I have never heard of a rune set requiring such to necessarily work. There are many people who use store-bought and simple hand-made runes for divination, and they would say quite successfully. I'd have to say the inclusion of that list falls more under belief.
I did some pretty extension research, that's how I read a traditional set was made back then, in the iron age. Or on bone, but made by user, infused with their know power with those elements. I actually wanted a pretty jade set but my husband yelled at me for not heeding tradition and to do some research and he was right as far as what I read
In my experience there's the easy way and the right way. Yes the runes themselves are magical but the medium they are on can only help harness their power. Odin suffered getting them, so it kind of cheapens them if you don't offer your blood, sweat and tears to him in my eyes
Can you source said tradition? I've heard of blood being used before, but that was modern people emulating Odinn, Vili, and Ve creating humans from driftwood, not an actual tradition.
The fact that, in the lore, Odinn had to sacrifice himself in order to gain understanding of them should attest that the medium doesn't matter, as it's the energy, meanings, and understanding of them that are important.
