Runes 301 - Making Your Own Runes - Repurposed Runes

I get a lot of questions about what to do with Rune sets that people no longer use.  Last November, I offered some insight into getting rid of old Runes as a starting point to addressing this issue.

While the previous post was about properly disposing of Runes, Runes do not necessarily need to be destroyed or passed on to someone else. They can be reused or repurposed.

Since last year's post, some of you have reached out with the creative ways that you have reused or repurposed Runes - the most common being using them on your alters and making them into jewelry.  Thank you for sharing!

One friend told me that she had made a set of Runes out of wood,  but she lost one.  Since she hadn't stained them with her blood, she made the remaining ones into jewelry - necklaces to be exact - and distributed them to friends and clients over the course of a year or so.  Others told me about how they incorporated Runes into art.  I'd love to see some of those pictures.  Still others served as medallions.

Your creativity got me thinking about some of the ways that I have repurposed Runes over the years.  Although all of the wooden Runes I've made that I no longer use have been burned and buried because I stained them all, as you can see in the picture above, I do have some Runes on my alter.  (I also still have a couple of bags of Rune sets  don't use on the shelf underneath my alter.)

The Runes painted on the shells were experiments to see which color I preferred.  The Runes I made out of shells ended up being an aqua color, blue too dark, white too light.

The other Runes were inspiration for a book that is in process.  Despite that set never making it to completion, each Rune that was completed represents the essence of character in the book - Raido, Uruz, Sowilo, Dagaz, and Jera.

I also have a few others that I use occasionally in rituals.

If you have repurposed Runes and are comfortable sharing how you did it with me, please do so in a comment or via email.

Runes 301 - Making Your Own Runes - Getting Rid of Old Runes

Runes are a very personal thing.   The first time I picked up a set of Runes, I had a strong and immediate connection to them and have worked with them to understand their wisdom ever since.  An important part of that process is making your own Runes and making them your own.  Over the years, I've written posts about how to make your own set, shared sets that other people have made, and even offered my perspective on how to make new Runes your own.

But, there are two sides to that coin and several people have asked me about the second side.  "What do I do with Rune sets that I don't want or use anymore?"

An excellent question.

Part of making Runes involves the magic within them and, when you're done with them, removing it. This can mean a couple of things: passing them on to someone else or getting rid of them all together.

My personal preference is not to pass on Runes that I have used, but that is not to say it cannot be done.  If you decide to pass on your Runes to someone else, I strongly recommend a cleansing process.  I'll give some examples below.

The one instance where I would say firmly not to pass on Runes is if you have stained them with your own blood (or other bodily fluid).  Those are yours.  By staining them with your bodily fluid, you have inextricably linked them to you.  They cannot belong to anyone else.  They have to be packed away some place secure or gotten rid of (destroyed).  This includes things like wood Runes and ceramic Runes where you've added your blood to the clay.

To dispose of Runes you no longer want or use, I recommend incorporating one or more of the elements - air, earth, fire, water - to cleanse and/or get rid of them.

Here are a few examples of things that I've done to release the magic and dispose of Runes:

I have had two sets of wooden Runes, one that I no longer used and one that I was making that someone else accidentally ruined.  For both of these, I burned the Runes and then buried them.  Two elements - fire and earth.  While they burned, I waved my hand over the fire and, as the smoke rose toward Asgard, I asked that the magic return to Heimdall and Odin.  That was the third element - air.  Finally, I used water to put out the fire, thus using all four elements.

Earlier this year, I attempted to make a set of Runes out of clay, similar to the Jera medallion at the top of this post.  They were turning out really well, but the protective coating I put on them was faulty and they got very sticky.  In fact, they stuck together and, when I tried to separate them, the coating peeled off and some of them snapped in two.  I didn't want to, but I have to dispose of them, because they are ruined beyond repair.  So far, I have peeled off the coating and torn it into tiny pieces, which I will burn - fire and air as the magic releases.  (Don't worry.  It's nontoxic.)  I have also broken the Runes into tiny pieces and I am going to grind them up using a mortar and pestle.  I will likely bury the ground up pieces -earth.  No water, but three out of four is pretty good.

Here is a summary of the elements and the role they can play in cleansing and getting rid of Runes you no longer want.

Runes 301 - Making Your Own Runes - New Runes

I am not sure how many people have contacted me to say that someone has given them a set of Runes and they want to know how to make the Runes their own, but I know it's a lot.  In fact, it is one of the most common inquiries I receive.

Making new Runes your own is different from making your own Runes.  As we saw in some of the recent posts of sets of Runes that people made, each one of my friends had a very personal experience when making their own Runes, regardless of the material used - driftwood, ash keys, and chestnuts.

But what sort of experience do you need to have when you get Runes from someone else or even buy a set for yourself.  In short, how do you make new Runes your own?

Some people have shared very elaborate rituals with me and each one is fascinating and makes sense in its own way, though may not be right for everyone, because Runes are a very personal thing.  And truth be told, it is entirely up to you how you make them your own.  You can "cleanse" them in your own way.

Some rituals have involved the gods, usually Odin or Heimdall, but a few people have called on the disir.  Still others have focused on the four elements - earth, air, water, and fire - or stained their new set with their blood.  Others have simply washed them in a stream, passed incense over them or chanted over them.  There is also a large contingency that went through no ritual at all.  However, as I said, it is up to you.

In general, I make two recommendations for making new Runes your own, the second of which is the only one I really urge, because it does give you better results when you engage the Runes. 

First, you can choose to stain them with your own blood, which I have done with new Runes made of wood.  The blood doesn't really stay on other materials so well, because it can't soak into them.  I did wash some stone Runes in holy water with a few drops of my blood added to it.  At first it felt a little odd, because it was the first time I had done anything like that, but by the end, it felt right.

However, the second recommendation is the only one that I feel strongly about and every person with whom I've spoken, who uses Runes regularly, seems to agree with this idea - pose the first question or do the first reading with your new Runes for yourself.  This is an important energy exchange in making the Runes your own.   Take your time; ask as many questions as you need to or have a dialogue with the Runes for as long as it takes for you to feel like you understand what the Runes are telling you.  The comfort and understanding will come.