If tarot speaks in pictures, runes speak in a single sign. Runes were the letters of the old Norse peoples, sometimes carved into stones or slips of wood for divination. The set used most today is the 24-rune Elder Futhark.
Twenty-four runes in three groups
The 24 runes fall into three groups of eight, sometimes named after the gods who rule them.
- The first group (Fehu to Wunjo): the basics of life, such as wealth, strength, communication and journeys. The first rune, Fehu, means wealth and abundance.
- The second group (Hagalaz to Sowilo): forces you cannot change, such as hardship, waiting and harvest. Isa is ice, the rune of stillness.
- The third group (Tiwaz to Othala): people and community, such as relationships, growth and inheritance. Dagaz is dawn, the rune of transformation.
Good first spreads
- One rune: today's message. The simplest reading.
- Three runes (the Norns' spread): like the three Norns of Norse myth, it shows the past, the present and what is coming.
- Five-rune cross: the situation, the obstacle, help, the cause and the outcome at once.
Reversed runes and merkstave
A rune drawn upside down changes meaning; this is called merkstave. Runes that look the same either way, such as Isa, have no reversed form.
How runes differ from tarot
Without pictures, runes feel unfamiliar at first, but their messages are short and firm, which suits the question "what should I do now?". Tarot shows the texture of feelings; runes point a direction.