Knowing your limitations
Published: Wed, 03/19/25
“Some years ago I was at a camp where I was offering my services for rune readings or rune counseling sessions as they might be better called. I was there with a friend who had grown up in Leicester and then lived in the West country, where we had met. I got chatting to various people and I reported back one conversation in particular with a lady which my companion said she knew from way back when she lived in Leicester. She had introduced herself with an exotic sounding name which had some mythological association (I can’t remember exactly, but you get the idea). My friend told me, I know her from when I lived in Leicester, and her real name is (say) Susan.
I thought no more of it until the lady with the exotic name came to me for a rune reading session. She picked out three runes, one for the past, another for the present, and a the third for possible outcomes (the future is never fixed). I interpreted according the meanings and associations of the symbols and I was inspired to suggest that the querant liked to transform herself and take on different identities. She agreed with me and said that the name she was giving herself now was not her original name. I said yes, her real name was Susan. She looked at me in amazement and asked me how I knew? I said that when you are a rune master you know these things. She looked very impressed and then after a pause I admitted that my friend had told me. For about 15 seconds she nearly believed I was really a magician. I also realised that if you are prepared to sustain a deception the gullible can believe anything.
However, deception isn’t my style and I am pretty sure the lady previously known as Susan, would have figured out the truth soon enough. At that point a good joke would have become an embarrassing lie. My intuitive interpretation of the runes had been correct, claiming specific knowledge such as a name would have been going too far.
As Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan (played by Clint Eastwood) says in one of the ‘Dirty Harry’ films; ‘A man should know his limitations.’ Knowing your limits may not make you a master, but it can save you from making an idiot of yourself.”
Rune reading has its place. However, such a practice it is only one aspect of ‘knowledge of the Runes’. Much more important is the practice of the stances for developing the whole self in body, mind, and spirit . As my example shows, divination is open to abuse, especially if the ‘reader’ is willing to bring in some trickery and deception. Ivar always said that the martial training was important because it kept you honest. Serious combat training cannot be faked and you will be found out if you really don’t understand the principles or lack basic skills.
The next opportunity to train Stav martial arts is in Salisbury on the 5th of May, please see http://iceandfire.org.uk/salisbury05042025.html for full details.
Regards
Graham
PS For the full immersion experience in Stav join us in September for Stavcamp in Lincolnshire. We will look at rune reading as one of the subjects to cover as well as a lot of practice of the stances and martial training. http://www.stavcamp.org/
PPS There seems to be a problem with downloading Peacock Kung Fu when signing up to my email list. I will get to the bottom of the problem, in the meantime you can get a pdf copy here http://iceandfire.org.uk/pdf/peacockkungfuebook.pdf
Graham Butcher
21 Beaver Road
Beverley East Yorkshire HU17 0QN
UNITED KINGDOM
To unsubscribe or change subscriber options, visit:
https://www.aweber.com/z/r/?ThisIsATestEmail