Wunjo is the Rune of joy. Think of the joy waiting for you at the end of the Four of Wands. It is an ecstatic joy, not merely the pride shown by the Nine of Pentacles. Unsurprisingly, though, the Suit of Cups, the suit of strong emotions, is the suit that is most closely associated […]
Gebo is the rune of the Six of Pentacles. However you read the Six of Pentacles, that is almost certainly a reasonable reading of Gebo. Gebo is the rune of gifts, but don’t think of birthday presents. Think of Yule gifts. I don’t know about your family, but in my family, the tradition at Yule […]
As with Ansuz last week, Kenaz looks different from the Elder to the Younger Futharks. In the Elder Futhark, Kenaz looks vaguely like a letter C, written without curves. The Younger Futhark actually looks more like its meaning, a torch. (In the Anglo-Saxon Futhorcs, Kaun tends to look the same as in the Elder Futhark.) […]
Raidho literally means cart and is cognate with the English word “ride,” so the natural assumption is that this card can be compared to The Chariot. This is true insomuch as The Chariot is a card of movement, but Raidho doesn’t have the same connotation of control or willpower. On the contrary, Raidho is a […]
You may notice that there are two runes at the top of the page, which is different from the last three posts on this blog. Ansuz is the first rune of the Futhark which changed dramatically from the Elder Futhark to the Younger Futhark. This rune has had at least a half-dozen shapes that I […]
Almost every card in the suit of Swords can be thought of as Thurisaz. Thurisaz is the rune of conflict. Thurisaz is the rune of Thor swinging Mjolnir in his fights with the giants. It is also the rune of the fallout from those wars, the pain and heartache of those who stay at home. […]
Uruz is the rune of strength, but not the Major Arcana Strength. Strength, in the Major Arcana, is a card of gentleness and being safe with your hand in the lion’s mouth. Uruz is a rune of being strong enough to cause harm if you are not careful. Uruz literally means “Bull” or “Ox,” with […]
Fehu is the rune of pentacles. Pentacles is the suit of wealth, and Fehu is the rune of wealth. Having made that comparison, forget the court cards because they’re not Fehu. Think about the hard-working 7 and 8 of pentacles. Think of the money-lending 6 of pentacles. Think of the care that the 5 of […]
The Elder Futhark The first evidence we have of runic writing is primarily in the form of names engraved on combs and other personal items. The runes used straight lines, because they were primarily carved: it is hard to make curves when carving. This early runic writing is called The Elder Futhark, despite being non-standardized […]
What is this? This is a non-fiction blog about Runes from the perspective of The Tarot, to teach people who love Tarot how Runes work. While I write this blog, I will write a parallel blog the other way: teaching people who love The Runes how Tarot works. How I will structure this blog There […]