{LIVE REMOTE ONLINE OFFERING} RUNE MAGIC: HISTORY & PRACTICE- EARLY GERMANIC RUNES

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 1: Early Germanic runes
This lecture focuses on the origin of the runes in Northern Europe. You will be introduced to the theories about how the early runes developed and which communities used them. You will learn the multiple forms of the early runes, the so-called Elder Futhark and the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc. Most modern representations of the runes only reproduce standardized versions of the Futharks, but there are in fact many versions of them both in epigraphic (stone carvings) and literary sources from the period c. 160 CE to the 900s. You will learn about the primary magical inscriptions from that period, and you will get insight into the mythological universe of the peoples that lived in north-western Europe and Scandinavia who are commonly referred to as the ‘Germanic’ tribes.
Practical instruction: how to write and carve runes.

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.

PHOTO CREDIT: myrkyr photography.