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 401 - Rune Rituals - Othala

This was an entirely unplanned event - a ritual around Othala.  In fact, I was going to try something new in the bind Rune series, but as I drew the Runes, I realized that they were showing me something that is, in fact very old... Othala.  This Rune represents the homestead, inheritance, even family.  As I drew three more Runes - Sowilo, Mannaz, and Laguz, I realized the Runes were painting a picture for me, so I decided to paint a picture using these Runes, while telling the story.

I preface this by assuring you that I am not a painter, nor do I have aspirations to be that type of artist, but I will share this image with you and hope that you will appreciate the story and go easy on the art.  In fact, the point of this ritual is the story.

Here is the picture I painted during the ritual:

And here is the story it tells:

Othala is our foundation; it represents our family.  In this story, it goes even a step further, a step deeper to signify the human species.  It shelters us, which is why Mannaz is placed directly underneath of it, so that we may appreciate our place of shelter and all that it protects.  Our shelter is built of earth and gives our family a place to gather without threat.

While our world is built of earth (and is Earth), two other elements support our life force - sun and water in the forms of Sowilo and Laguz, which is why they are on either side of Mannaz and almost appear to physically support Othala.  Sowilo is the sun that empowers us through the energy it provides not just for us, but for our food and all other life forms on the planet.  We also need water, another basic necessity for life, which Laguz gives us.  Laguz nourishes us, cleanses us and serves as primary means of transport.

To complete our story, I was compelled to paint a white circle around this image.  On the simplest of levels, the circle can represent the protection of our family and our home.  On another simple level that has become complex, it can symbolize our atmosphere, which locks in everything we need to live our lives on Earth, including the air we breathe.  It is white, because it is subtle, barely visible, but without it, we would not be here.  Within that lies the complexity of how we care for Earth as our home and not just our dwelling as our home.

As I painted the circle, I simply breathed deeply and realized that what I had done through this painting and story telling ritual was to create an image that, for me, is humans' existence on Earth and that Othala affords us the daily comfort we need to survive, but that there is so much energy around it from Laguz and Sowilo, that we live among many luxuries, like creativity and love, which we don't always embrace or share widely enough.  Therein lies my original goal - trying something new - by embracing and sharing the love and creativity that surrounds us.