*IN PERSON* RUNE MAGIC: HISTORY & PRACTICE- RUNES IN THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD

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This lecture series by Dr. Mathias Nordvig (Nordic studies, CU Boulder) surveys the history of rune magic and how historical practices from Scandinavia and Northern Europe can be applied by modern practitioners today. The runes are a popular divination tool and medium for meditation and shadow work for many today. There are many books available on the subject, but few of them take the historical tradition of rune magic seriously. Mostly, the modern presentations of rune magic apply a layer of contemporary interpretation that ignores the role that runes as script and magical symbols had traditionally. In many cases, much of this modern interpretation is either directly or indirectly derived from late 19th century white supremacist ideology, and early 20th century National Socialist theories on rune magic. This means that a serious modern practitioner of rune magic runs the risk of manifesting problematic elements rather than working genuinely with runes. With this lecture series, rune practitioners will be better furnished to approaching the runes as a genuine tool in a contemporary spiritual tradition that enables us to undo past injustices and brings Nordic-Germanic spirituality into the 21st century with the right intentions. In every lecture you will learn aspects of both the historical, theoretical, and practical side of rune magic based in the instructor’s personal experience and professional training.

Lecture 3: Runes in the medieval period
This lecture focuses on how runes were transformed to a literary writing system and began to appear in books and stories about the Viking Age written in the medieval period (the sagas). You will learn about the medieval rune poems from Norway and Iceland, and how they reflect ancient beliefs mixed with medieval Christianity. Quite often the rune poems are interpreted as mystical remnants of an ancient religious practice, but the reality is that they may just as well have been invented in the high medieval period of Scandinavia, long after Scandinavians had converted to Christianity. You will learn how the runic magical tradition developed from a native Scandinavian tradition to a new practice that increasingly incorporated traditions from the Mediterranean.
Practical instruction: runes and astrology.

Dr. Mathias Nordvig is a teaching professor at the University of Colorado-Boulder, where he teaches Old Norse mythology, Viking history, Arctic cultures, and Scandinavian witchcraft and magic. He has published extensively on Old Norse literature and early Icelandic culture in articles and books. He has done research on land-connectedness in early Iceland and how Old Norse mythology reflects this in narratives about volcanic activity in his book Volcanoes in Old Norse mythology. He has also written the introductory book on Nordic spirituality Ásatrú for Beginners and a children’s book on Old Norse mythology, Norse Mythology for Kids. Aside from his publishing and teaching, Dr. Nordvig cohosts the podcast Nordic Mythology Podcast with the owner of Horns of Odin, Daniel Farrand (UK). Dr. Nordvig was raised in the tradition of Nordic spirituality known in Scandinavia as Ásatrú and is an initiate (ástvinr) of the god Óðinn.