Aiming to please
Published: Mon, 11/13/17
I had a kind of complaint from one of my regular readers. Perhaps more of a request than a moan, he was suggesting that recently I have been focusing too much on the martial aspect of Stav and not enough on other aspects. Not surprising really as I am over 29,000 words into my book on martial arts and have been organising the HDC event. Anyway, I aim to please so, here is something that came to mind last night.
Pete Jennings is considered an expert on Asatru and Heathenry. He has written many books and is an engaging speaker, I have heard him several times at events such as the Mercian Gathering. He uses the wrong Futhork (24 runes) but we can’t all be perfect can we?
I remember one talk with Pete which I heard a few years ago when he was talking about rune magic. Magic an be a pretty tricky subject to discuss and it is not one I address very often. However, in this case Pete was pointing out that runes can make a simple stick magical in a very practical way. A stick is just a stick but if runes are cut into it which carry a message that same stick might ask for a lady’s hand in marriage, start a war, begin a peace process or strike a lucrative business deal. The person transporting the carved stick may well not be capable of reading the runes inscribed but by delivering the stick to someone who can read them something dramatic may well result. The first line of Stanza 144 of the Havamal asks. ‘Do you know how to cut? Do you know how to read.’ If you do have these abilities then a humble stick or simple piece of stone can gain the magical power of communication over great distances or over
periods of hundreds of years. I have seen and read (okay, my case read translations of) Swedish rune stones carved nearly 1000 years ago so that the name and the deeds of the person commemorated are not forgotten even now.
Of course in the past relatively few people could read and write by any means. We now take literacy for granted but has that necessarily made us wiser? The message sent from an important person cut in runes would be taken seriously and may even change the course of history in a great or small way.
Everyday we are bombarded with messages in so many forms, most of which are meaningless and have to be ignored.
Perhaps the question. ‘Do you know how to cut? Do you know how to read.’ Does not just refer to the basic skill described. Perhaps today these words mean, do you know how to inscribe something meaningful, true and significant? Do you know how to select runes and words to read which will actually inspire you, increase your wisdom and bring you genuine insight rather than just amuse and distract you?
regards
Graham
PS Before I left Crewkerne one of my students bought me a copy of Neil Gaiman’s new version of ‘Norse Mythology’, retelling of the norse myths. Thanks Tom. It is really rather good and if you are looking for an introductory text to familiarise yourself with the stories from the Eddas you could do a lot worse than this one https://www.amazon.co.uk/Norse-Mythology-Neil-Gaiman/dp/1408886812/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1510610269&sr=1-1&keywords=neil+gaiman+norse+mythology