Rune Study Group: The 5 Rune Cast (Umbrae's Favourite)

[Umbrae]

The layout begins with the initial three stones.

The fourth stone is placed beneath Position 2, the fifth is place above.

.................................Position 5
....................................Odhinn

Position 1.................Position 2..................Position 3
Urdhr.......................Verdhandi.....................Skuld

..................................Position 4
......................................Loki

The first three stones are read just like the three rune cast, not as three stones, but as the movement from one to three, and the relationships of the three.

The Loki position is always read as a merkstave (sort of).

It represents a tendency which may come into play (or not).

Loki is the 'Trickster'. The rune here represents that part of ourselves which often thwarts our own plans (The dark side of our ego).

The Odhinn position is the positive aspect that helps us rise above all oppositions.

Stones 4-5 are read upwards, interacting with Urdhr, Verdhandi, and Skuld as a unit.

 

[zorya]

Loki is the 'Trickster'. The rune here represents that part of ourselves which often thwarts our own plans (The dark side of our ego).
[/i]

can the loki position also be 'outside' forces that hold us back?

 

[Umbrae]

Yes, Loki can be outside forces. Usually that's where your ability to read comes into play.

(Edited for content (much much later)).

Usually, Loki is internal as opposed to external.

However, it is really the rune here.

If it is Hagalaz, it is external. Nauthiz would indicate internal.

However, here we come to the sticky wicket of reading runes. The other day I did a reading for a woman, the runes fell like this: Dagaz-Uruz-Perthro, with Berkano as Loki…and for the life of me I cannot remember the Odhinn stone.

Well, she had just found out that she is being ‘forced’ out of her job in a very not so subtle way (Dagaz-something hidden revealed, completion).

She has to steel herself to leave and find something new. For her this is difficult. She loves her job and what she does.

Opportunities await. Good opportunities, but if she does not use the inner-strength to jump on the wheel, she will fail.

Here is the kicker. Berkano as Loki. What is holding her back is her loyalty to her customers! Not her family, not the company, her customers!

If we look at a standard Merkstave interpretation of Berkano it reads: “As a merkstave Berkano represents family problems and or domestic troubles. Anxiety about someone close to you. Blurring of consciousness.”

So you have to move beyond book meanings. Back when they were inventing runes, the Norse/Teutonic peoples did not have jobs and customers!.

Remember we cannot take the Loki stone by itself. We have to read up - towards the laid out path of time - and see how it interacts!

Runes are about (mean and show) movement...Not static meanings.

This is why I always say, throw away the books.

Listen to that which speaks without a voice- from between the Runes.

 

[einhverfr]

A different way to read this:

.......4
..1..2..3
.......5

1, 2, and 3 represent the Norns. 4 represents the heavenly forces (Alfs/Disir/Aesir) and 5 represents the underworldly forces (foundations, fertility, primoridal destructive). Now to go through each one in detail.

1 represetns Urdh. Urdh represents the weight of past action on the present situation. This can be current issues, the situation as it used to be, or even inherited fate from one's ancestors. Usually you don't see the latter one by itself, and it will represent additionally past events that are known to effect the present. This therefore represents the constraints under which the current situation exists and can develop.

2 represents Verdhandi. Verthandi represents the actions and events of the present, i.e. what is going on now.

3 represents Skuld. Skuld represents what should happen or is likely to follow from the other runes in the spread. Since the Germanic peoples did not believe in a definite future (only one constrained by past actions and events), this is hypothetical and subject to change by willed action.

4 represents the heavens (mostly the Aesir) and the sovereign principle. It represents divine changes of events, perception of necessity, and opportunities for conscious action.

5 represents the underworld (mostly the Dwarves, the serpents, and Hel's hall). This rune can be either good or bad. If it is good it represents a firm foundation, generation of good things within the present, or another set of past (transpersonal) influcences constraining the situation. I.e. purely inherited Urdh strands can show up here. If it is bad, it can also represent primordial destrictive forces.

 

[crystal dawn]

I like the look of this spread, i will have to give it try.

blessings

crystal