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Tuesday, February 28, 2006

A Practical Guide To The Runes Their Uses In Divination And Magic

A Practical Guide To The Runes Their Uses In Divination And Magic Cover

Book: A Practical Guide To The Runes Their Uses In Divination And Magic by Lisa Peschel

EIHWAZ the yew, URUZ the wild ox, KENAZ the hearth fire. Created by the Nordic and Germanic tribes of northern Europe, the runes began as a magickal system of pictographs representing the forces and objects in nature. This guidebook will help you discover the oracular nature of the runes and how to use them as a magickal tool for insight, protection, and luck. Practical and concise, this book includes:

- Complete descriptions of the twenty-four runes of the Elder Futhark, plus WYRD, the blank rune
- The differences between bindrunes and runescripts
- Four rune layouts and detailed rune interpretations, including reversed position meanings
- How to carve runes and create talismans
- Meanings and uses of the runes in magick

As a beginning rune caster (coming from a good Understanding of tarot), I find this book very helpful and very clear to understand (as opposed to a guide that came with purchased runes, which were too vague and hard to interpret.) Not only does it help to make solid associations with each rune, it also explains how to make your own runes and talismans and includes lots of other useful information, including suggested reading. I'd imagine this is also a great book for someone who is experienced with runes.

This book is perfect and easy. The explanations of runes within its pages are perfect for the beginner as well as the veteran. The refrence tables in the book for magick works are also one of the best I've seen so far. Though small and compact, this book holds a king's ransom in runic knowledge and no one should pass up the opportunity to get it. The author gives you a good Introduction with a style that reminds me of Scott Cunningham, its easy to read and has room for individuality. All at the same time remaining for the most part historically accurate, I think that the only thing that isnt accurate is the blank rune, which has little to none signifigance to the Elder Futhark and i would reccomend getting rid of it (like another reviewer said, "tear it out! ". Otherwise this book is one of the best Introduction books on runes that i own. And i would reccomend this to anyone interested in runes.

Buy Lisa Peschel's book: A Practical Guide To The Runes Their Uses In Divination And Magic

Free eBooks (Can Be Downloaded):

Joanne Pearson - Wicca And The Christian Heritage Ritual Sex And Magic
Michael De Molinos - The Spiritual Guide The Rich Treasure Of Internal Peace
Cassandra Eason - A Practical Guide To Witchcraft And Magic Spells

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Runes Around The North Sea And On The Continent

Runes Around The North Sea And On The Continent Cover

Book: Runes Around The North Sea And On The Continent by Jantina Helena Looijenga

Het onderzoek naar de oudste runeninscripties van het Europese continent, Engeland en Denemarken voerde onderzoekster van Liverpool aan de Ierse Zee naar Constanza aan de Zwarte Zee; van Zurich naar Bergen; van Parijs naar Stockholm. In dit enorme gebied kende men reeds bij het begin van de vroege middeleeuwen het runenschrift (rond 500 AD). Ergens in dit gebied moet een kern gelegen hebben, waar het begon - vermoedelijk in de eerste eeuw AD. Het localiseren van dat oorsprongsgebied begon me in de loop van het onderzoek te intrigeren.

Het doel was in eerste instantie het inventariseren, het beschrijven en analyseren van runenteksten uit de oudste periode: 150-700 AD. Als onderzoekscorpus waren de runentradities rondom de Noordzee en van het continent uitgekozen. Het uitgangspunt was nadrukkelijk niet Scandinavie, zoals bij runenstudies meestal het geval. Ik meende, dat een verandering van perspectief nieuw licht op oude runologische vraagstukken zou kunnen werpen - en daardoor wellicht bijdragen tot oplossingen. Bovendien wilde ik me niet op een land of traditie vastleggen, maar door middel van het vergelijken van diverse runentradities proberen meer inzicht te krijgen in doel en wezen van het runenschrift. Waarom ontwikkelde men dit schrift, met welk doel werd het gebruikt, en door wie? Om dit soort vragen te beantwoorden, was het nodig om inzicht te verkrijgen in de cultuur-historische context van de inscriptiedragers. Archeologie en historie bleken onmisbare informatiebronnen; ook de (plaats)naamkunde leverde belangrijke gegevens ten aanzien van het relatief enorme aantal namen in de runencorpora.

Runologie heeft in principe twee poten: paleografie en historische taalkunde. Eerst inspecteert men persoonlijk de objecten en hun inscripties en vervolgens ontcijfert men de runen. Daarna verkrijgt men een of meer lezingen, weergegeven als transliteraties, die dan taalkundig worden geanalyseerd. Deze teksten kunnen niet zonder hun archeologische en historische contexten begrepen worden, vandaar de titel ‘Runes around the North Sea and on the Continent AD 150-700;

Download Jantina Helena Looijenga's eBook: Runes Around The North Sea And On The Continent

Suggested ebooks:

Wim Van Den Dungen - Enoch And The Day Of The End
Jantina Helena Looijenga - Runes Around The North Sea And On The Continent

Friday, February 10, 2006

Walpurgis Nights In Sweden

Walpurgis Nights In Sweden Cover A large crowd, mostly students in typical Swedish white student caps, participating in the traditional Walpurgis Night celebration with song outside the Castle in Uppsala. The silhouette of the cathedral towers may be seen in the background. To the right are banners and standards of the student nations. Image from c. 1920.

Walpurgis is one of the main holidays during the year in both Sweden and Finland, alongside of Christmas and Midsummer. The forms of celebration in Sweden vary in different parts of the country and between different cities. One of the main traditions in Sweden is to light large bonfires, a custom which is most firmly established in Svealand, and which began in Uppland during the 18th century. An older tradition from Southern Sweden was for the younger people to collect greens and branches from the woods at twilight, which were used to adorn the houses of the village. The expected reward for this task to be paid in eggs.

The tradition which is most spread throughout the country is probably singing songs of spring. Most of the songs are from the 19th century and were spread by the students' spring festivities. The strongest and most traditional spring festivities are also found in the old university cities, like Uppsala and Lund where both current and graduated students gather at events that take up most of the day from early morning to late night on April 30, or "sista april" ("The last day of April") as many people call it. There are also newer student traditions like the carnival parade, The Cort'ge, which has been held since 1909 by the students at Chalmers in Gothenburg. In Sweden, Valborg is especially notorious because of the excessive amounts of alcohol people consume on that very day.

Downloadable books (free):

Leo Ruickbie - Walpurgisnacht