What are Runes?

photo by Jaclyn Photography

As posted earlier, these are some of the runes from my amethyst set I got as a gift from my Mom and Dad.

You are probably wondering "what are runes?"

Runes are believed to have originated from a northern Etruscan alphabet from peoples who dwelt in northern Italy and then spread out into south-central Europe.

Runes performed 2 functions.  They imparted information with their inscribed symbols and they were used for divination and magic.

The name rune means 'a secret thing or a mystery'.

Runes can be made of wood, stones, bone, clay or glass.

I have found some great websites for you to check out if you are interested in more information on runes.


Runic divination or "rune casting" is not "fortunetelling" in the sense that one actually sees the future. Instead, runes give one a means of analyzing the path that one is on and a likely outcome. The future is not fixed. It changes with everything one does. If one does not like the prediction, one can always change paths.      http://www.sunnyway.com/runes/

Runes have been used in Britain since the Dark Ages. When the Romans abandoned Britain
around 450AD, waves of immigrants from Europe came and settled in this green and pleasant
land. The Friesians from the Netherlands, the Angles and Saxons from Germany, then the Jutes and Norsemen (Vikings) from Scandinavia.  They brought with them their set of ancient symbols known as the runes. Originally there were 24 runes and they are collectively known as "the Futhark".  People used runes for writing messages, inscriptions and epitaphs; as amulets and charms; as an oracle for use in divination; and for rituals, magic and spells.  

--    http://www.runemaker.com/runemaker.shtml