Taking Up the Runes: A Complete Guide to Using Runes in Spells, Rituals, Divination, and Magic

by Diana L. Paxson

Book Overview

An accessible, in-depth exploration of the runes as a living spiritual tradition. Diana Paxson has distilled her many years of experience working with the runes into this essential source book.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1578633257
• ISBN13: 9781578633258
• Release Date: April 2005
• Publisher: Weiser Books
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.9" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

This book is "it" when it comes to the Runes

If you ever wanted to learn the runes, here's the first book you should pick up. If you already know about the runes and want to learn more, here's the next book that should be on your reading list. Her coverage of the runes is more than adequate, she cites historical evidence and personal observations about the meanings of the runes, and also gives a straightforward, no nonesense summary of what other authors in the field have found about the runes. The exercises she provides are great, the historical background she gives is spot on, informative, and not dry and boring like many authors would have done. The idea of working the runes in pairs is unique to this book, as is the fact that she gives helpful section for both solitary study and group work. As for the reviewer who claimed that theirs came very cheaply made, I don't find mine to be so. It has stayed together for three re-reads now, and shows no sign of falling apart, nor has it ever smelled. The best. Period.

A wonderful reference with decades of first-hand knowledge

This is one of my favorite rune books, because she is historically true as she possibly can be, and because the basis of this book comes from her experience leading study groups on the runes and the northern mysteries. Certainly this is a unique find in this field of occult tradition, because it has had the opportunity to be put into practice by her groups years before it was ever published, and the experience drawn from her groups helped to refine the text over time based on their collective experiences, yielding this indispensible volume that it has evolved into. Most of the excercises and rituals were originally intended for a group setting, but any of them can be practiced by the solitary "runester."

Primary Runic Resource

There are a number of books on the Elder Futhark out there. Some of them are beautiful, but downright bizzare. Others make no effort at all to connect with the folklore and practices that are known from their original context. Diana's book includes a brief survey for each rune of material from sources that are actually based on scholarly effort and practical use, along with the original folkloric rune poems themselves. This is combined with her extensive personal and community-based experience in scholarly, religious, and magical practice. It's not a thin book, but it is nevertheless a reasonably concise guide for material that would otherwise take a library to collect, if you could even find it all anymore. I can say from firsthand experience that the rituals she includes are highly effective, and even kind of fun. The book works very well in a class setting, as it was designed and has been used repeatedly for that purpose. --Ember--

The New Standard

Paxson has given us the new primary text on using the Runes. She has compiled what there is to know about the symbols into a single volume, bringing divinatory and spell-binding meanings together in a way that makes the meaning and power of each rune clear. The poetry is good, the ritual structure sound and the insight into both ancient lore and modern adaptation profound. In addition she lays it all out in a series of 'classes' that allow students to learn the material in an orderly way. Highly recommended

A Compendium of information

One of the problems with a lot of books on runes is the lack of originality, followed by the tendency to see runework as another magickal system. This work does none of the above. Yes, she goes through the meanings of each rune-but in easy to understand ENGLISH. While not being afraid to use the old tongues (there are a numbers of quotes from the Norse and other languages), they are not necessary to the text itself. She does summarize a lot of what the better modern runic sources have before giving her own slant on a subject. Additionally she takes the runes in pairs, often using one to shed light on the other. This is a book scholars would not be ashamed to own, but that is useful to newcomers to the runes. Where this work really departs from previous works is the practical and magickal working. This is firmly situated within the practice of the religious revival, rather than making a neo-magickal order type of work. It has rituals which are for the growth of the group, as well as the individual but which focus more on personal growth than on trying to win the lottery. While no shying away from practical magick, she reminds us that this was not about magick for magick's sake, but was about living for today and within the context of community. She points out that Odin, upon obtaining the runes, promptly began using and teaching them, as opposed to immediately ascending to some transcendent plane. I believe and hope that this is the first of a new wave of works which focus on practices as part of the religious tradition rather than a separate search for power or transcendence. If for no other reason this work would be worth the purchase price. However above that it carries a lot of the lore and mindset that someone starting out in a Norse centered religious practice should have as well as that needed in going beyond the basics. Well Done and well worth having!