when the runes fall face down

Hello runesters!

I have a question for the old hands among you. When you scatter runes on a cloth to read them, do you read those that fall face down (so you can't see the rune) as well, or do you just assume the universe doesn't want you to know whatever that rune has to say and you don't even look?

Up to now I have been turning them over, and reading them, but then I thought - well, there is a reason why this rune fell face down.

Or might you turn them over, and still take into account that they were face down? For instance, you turn over a rune and it is Elhaz, pointing up - would you read it as a danger you need to defend yourself against, but it's not obvious? Or that the danger is only potential, not actual? So that if other runes were pointing in a positive direction, Elhaz face down might warn you of a potential danger you might have to deal with at some point, but which might not come about?


And if all the runes are face down - does that mean, to you, that the situation is still unripe, whatever the configuration of the runes in relation to each other?

I ask because I scattered runes last night, and two were face up and the third was face down. The runes were brightstave. I turned over the rune that was face down, but I read it as its energy being only potential for now. But a while ago, I scattered runes, and they were all three face down. I just turned them over and read them as if they'd fallen face up. But I'm thinking now that maybe the situation described in that reading was something still emerging and unripe, and possibly won't even come about, because the runes were all face down.

I'm very much still feeling my way around these fascinating objects/alphabet/symbols/magical tokens - and would appreciate any guidance you have to give.

Thanks

I never read runes by throwing them, rather I pick them out of the bag. However I can see two ways of using face down runes.
1: As reversed tarot cards--i.e. not quite the opposite but a more negative than the perfect full energy.
2: As you suggested, not to be read as of yet, either try again later or the question is not to be answered yet or ever.

when I cast runes that way I would only read the face up ones. They were the ones most relevent to waht the person is asking.

Gyda

I read face up first then come to the face down and see those as a hidden aspect that has yet to surface or come into play and where the rune lands in relation to others is also important as to whether this hidden influence will actually come into play or not or whether it is simply an underlying attribute of something else.

Thats just me I guess.

interesting question, I would have to say that if you do read the face down runes that they are what is coming to be, while the runes face up are what has already happened, but what does it mean when you select the unknowable rune and try to turn it face up?

paradoxx said:

I would have to say that if you do read the face down runes that they are what is coming to be, while the runes face up are what has already happened...

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Why?

All the Rune systems I have read about that are specifically cast as opposed to drawn (Witches Runes, Gypsy Runes) state that face-down Runes are ignored - they have no influence on the reading; all Runes landing face-down indicate that the Runes cannot help in the situation in question. It's worth noting that such systems cast the entire set of Runes at once, though.

Fudugazi said:

But a while ago, I scattered runes, and they were all three face down. I just turned them over and read them as if they'd fallen face up. But I'm thinking now that maybe the situation described in that reading was something still emerging and unripe, and possibly won't even come about, because the runes were all face down.

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When I cast runes and they are all facing down, I cast them again and if needed again ( 3 times at the most, in one question). If they keep appearing facing down, it's time to stop. You'll have no answer to that question at that moment.

When I scatter runes on a cloth to read them, usually I do it with a pré-fixed number of runes (3-5-7-9) or the wole buch, in a mandala with "fields" in it( family;job;etc).
In a mandala ( with all runes) cast ( you can use the astrological mandala, for instance): I never turn over the ones that are facing down.
In a pré-fixed number cast: I turn over the ones facing down, because in spite they aren't the most "visible" and relevant, they matter to the subject. The ones that remain in the bag don't.
I was thought this way by my grand mother, and it feels rigth to me this way.
But is up to you to decide what feels right to you.
and to you

It's a difficult one but I read it as, depending on the runes, something the querent cannot see or something that will come into being.

eg Let's say the first rune is Jera and the next rune is an upside down Wunjo (I use the Elder Futhark) then I would say that in time, the joy present in the situation will become apparent but they cannot see it now.

I did a rune reading for someone yesterday and told them that they would get a message in 6 weeks regarding the question in hand because of the runes and with Ansuz upside down.

That's the way I do it but for you it maybe different

Thank you for the replies! Very enlightening. I am working my way towards my own method - and the runes help me - but it's helpful to read about what other people do.

Like Catmoon, I tend to cast a set number of runes, rather than the whole bag (Skysteel - sorry, I have never heard of Witches Runes or Gipsy Runes - what are they?). Then I read them singly and in relation to each other, taking into account their relative positions. That's why I feel that a rune face down is relevant.

I do draw single runes too - I just pick one out of the bag and look at it, and the only difference in interpretation is if it's standing on its feet or its head

I like Milfoil's way - whether the rune is a hidden or potential aspect of itself or of another rune(s) depending on it position relative to the other runes. That actually helps me a lot in my recent 3-runecast, where the central rune, linking the two others, was face down (it was the cast that prompted this thread, actually).

Paradoxx - I don't use the blank rune, because I use the Elder Futhark. I don't know what the blank of a blank would be

Cari - you're a great runester, I know, and I was hoping you'd answer - thank you for the insight! I am feeling my way around this - potential, hidden, not yet apparent, underground energy...I was interested by the interpretation of the rune face down as something the querent cannot see. Do you think that a rune falling face down might indicate denial by the querent of whatever is indicated by the rune - not only genuine lack of knowledge (I mean - the difference between not wanting to know something that is apparent to others, and not knowing something because it is really not apparent).