Rune Might Part 1

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L E A R N TO HARNESS RUNE MiciiulRune-Mght r e v e a l s , f o r t h e fi isi l imu m ilm hiulhli U.l o n g - h i d d e n s e c r e t s o f t h e o f t h e G e r n u i n K I I I M I Mo||iiioin * ! their a r t s i n t h e b e g i n n i n g o f t h e 2 0 t h uii i lmy Mir.i ol ihuh w i ih e e n u n a v a i la b l e e v e n in G e r m a n fo r m a n y iloniiln-, Ihi', Imm a t e r i a l b y G u i d o v o n L is t , F r i e d r i c h B e m l u ii d Min kK u m m e r , K a r l M a r ia W i l ig u l , P e r y t M u m K m l ' , | n r In H , , , . , , , ,

B y s t u d y in g t h e c o n t e n t s o f R u n e M i g h t mill w o r k In g wllli id -c i s e s , y o u will b e i n t r o d u c e d to a asdnating w in I d u l iiinniinl \mties and the s o m e t i m e s sinister d a r k c o r n o i so l iiiim hr.lmy H i > t I iLth e r e a d e r will b e a b l e to e x p e r i e n c e th e d i m l p u w n i u l ille x p e r i e n c e d b y th e e a r l y G e r m a n R u n e M a g k io n s

R u n e - M i g h t t a k e s t h e b e s t a n d m o s t powerful u l i l n > m i>n i q u e s d e v e l o p e d i n th e e a r l y p h a s e o f t h e r u n i c N I V I V O ! m J n i l , ,a s a c o h e r e n t s e t o f e x e r c i s e s . E x p e r i e n c e r u n e yo||ii, iinm ilhand g e s t u re s ( m u d r a s ) , r u n e - s ig n i n g ( m a n t r a s ) , i j n > i i | > niic, w i t h mu mr u n i c healing, a n d t w o o f t h e m o s t p o w e r f u l m o l lu x K ul m mt r a n s p e r s o n a l p o w e r s - th e ritual o f t h e N i n t h N i g h l mill il m K i i u u l o lG r a i l - C u p .

h e e x e r c i s e s r e p r e s e n t b o ld n e w m e t h o d s o f d i < i w m n muyinil \into your life - regardless of the magical tradition 01 .y.iroi wllli wlilihy o u normally work. R u n e e x e r c i s e s c a n b e i n c o r p o r a t e d m io n n ycurriculum. T h e r u n e s c a n b e u s e d to f o c u s v a r i o u s < | i n i l i i i n s o l M M n p . n if o r c e - a s absorbedfrom th e earth, th e a t m o s p h e r e , o r t h e o u t e r r e a c h e s o f l l M H O *t h e p e r s o n a l s p h e r e o f th e p r a c t i ti o n e r . N o o t h e r s y s t e m d o o s t i n s in i|iiltnth e d i r e c t a n d clearly defined w a y s that r u n e e x e r c i s e s d o

F o r t h o s e w h o h a v e r e c e n t l y d i s c o v e r e d th e m a g k o f llm M I H H , il ub o o k p r o v i d e s a u s e f u l s u p p l e m e n t . T h e m a g i c a l liciil(i(|o o l ilir n u nwill b e c o m e d e a r e r to t h o s e wh o e x p e r i e n c e t h e ir p o w c i ll n|li il m Im u l e s that g a v e th e first i m p u l s e t o t h e r u n i c r e v i v a l .

erman Rune Magicians


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Rune-Might

Odian Outer Rune GildWorkshopPO Box 369 Centralia, IL62801-0369 USA


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Rune-MightHistory and Practices of the Early 20th CenturyGerman Rune Magicians

EdredWith Illustrations by James A. Chisholm

Revised and ExpandedSecond Edition2004


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( ' o p y r i g h t 2004by K O n a - R u v e n Press\ l l n i i i i i . nvcd. N o part of t h i s book, either in part or in whole, m a y

i" I - I > M I I | I I < rd. t r a n s mi t t ed or uti l ized in any form or by any means I " l i m n . | i l i n i i i ) M . i | ) h i c or mechanical, including photocopying, record-

i t i b y i i n y information storage an d retrieval system, without th ei" > w r i t i n g f rom the Publisher, except fo r brief quotations m l > . i i l n < l i n l i t e r a ry art ic les a n d reviews.I ni pe l miss io ns , or for the serialization, condensation, or for adaptationw h i r th e P u b l i s h e r a t t h e address below.

ISBN: 1-885972-26-1

Published byRQNA-RAVEN PRESS

P.O. Box 557Smithville, Texas 78957

To order Runa-Raven titles, visit our w ebsite at:www.runaraven.com

Original Cover Art by Donna BarrV r . n b ei w e b s i t e at : www.stinz.com fo r information about h er work.Cover Design by Jamie Baglioni

To the Trailblazers

P u n t e d in th e U n i t e d States of America


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ContentsPreface to the Second Edition ixPreface to the First Edition xIntroduction xiPart One: Background 1Chapter 1:Early History 3Chapter 2: The Armanic Ren aissance 7Chapter 3: The High-Tide of R u n e Magic 10Chapter 4: The Sw ast ika and the Runes 14Chapter 5: From the Ashes: A New Runic Revival 19Chapter 6: The Traditional Runic Systems 22Part Two: Secret Practices 35Chapter 7: Rune-Yoga 37Chapter 8:Rune Mantras 54Chapter 9: Group Rune Rituals 66Chapter 10:Rune-Dance 71Chapter 11: Runic Mudras 76Chapter 12:Steads of Rune-Might 83Chapter 13 Healing Runes 90Chapter 14: The Working of the Graal-Cup 93Chapter 15: The Ritual of the Ninth Night 96Appendix on Pronunciation 102Bibliography 105

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FiguresI'l/'iur Page(s).' I R u n i c Ring Advertised in Runen 9

I I Design of the Death's Head Ring 15/ I T he I ' i v e Zones of the Cosmos 38S. I The V ocalic Bands of Force 65\ ' 1 . \ A Magic Circle 841 4 . 1 Manifestation of the Graal-Cup 941 5. 1 O utl ine of the Antenna Structurefor the Ritual of the Ninth Night 9815.2 Antenna Structure and Mantric Formulasfor the Ritual of the Ninth Night 99

Tables( > . I The 24-Rune System 23-246.2 The Ango-Frisian Futhorc 27-28(> J The Younger Futhark 306.4 The Armanic Futhork 326.5 Rel ations hip of the Armanic Traditionto the Older Futhark 34X . I Key to the Listian Mystery Language 5812.1 T he Runic AM-Tides for the Year and Day 86

List of AbbreviationsB.C.E. Before the Common Er a (B.C.)( ' .H. Common Er a (A.D.)(! . German

AcknowledgmentA special note of thanks goes to Tara Wheeler for her w ork in preparingan d revising illustrations and tables for reproduction in this new edition.

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Preface to the Second Edition(2004)*Rune Might has, over th e years, proven to be a powerful introductionfor many to the world of the runes. T he main reasons for this areoutlined in the Preface to the First Edition. Increasingly, over these sameyears I have found myself drifting further and further away from th ekind of magic outlined in the pages of Rune-Might. However, I knowthat th e kind of magic outlined in this book can be of tremendous use tothe aspiring practitioner of ac tive, or experiential paleology. E xperientialpaleology is the method of actively and subjectively absorbing ideas andpractices into one's mind which are derived from the lore of ancientpeoples, especially peoples to w h o m one is genetically related or linked.Besides this practical aspect, this book continues to be a good intro-duction to a vast area of 20th century magic that has gone largelyunnoticed in the An glo-Ame rican w orld.The first edition and printing of Rune Might was done by LlewellynPublications of St. Paul, Minnesota in the Fall of 1989. It was to be partof the so-called "Teutonic Magick [sic] Series." As it turned out, thisseries never w ent very far. This was most likely due to the general fearinspired by the authentic Germanic tradition wi th in th e modernistic"occult w orld" and the entirely business-oriented philosophy thatgoverns th at world today. In 1990 Rune Might was reprinted in a secondedition which ha d some of the problems with the illustrations an d otherminor things corrected. This edition wen t out of print and quicklybecame generally unavailable to the public by 1999.One of the most interesting aspects of the contents of Rune Might ha sbeen its discussion of the "Ritual of the Ninth Night" first presented byPeryt Shou in his book Die "EDDA" als Schliissel des kommendenWeltalters! (1920). It should be noted that a translation of the entire textof Shou's book ha s recently been published by Runa-Raven.Runa-Raven is making this new edition of Rune Might available to thepublic again to begin the new millennium wi th something of the essenceof the beginning of the last century. T he da w n of the twentieth centuryhas not yet finished dispensing its lessons to us. Rune-Might is , w e trust,on e more of these mysterious messages, which wil l shape the next phaseof the development of our experiential paleology.

EdredWoodharrowMidsummer, 2004

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Preface to the First Edition(1989)Since Ih c middle of the 1970s there has been a significant renaissanceH I Ih c s t u d y an d practice of the runes in Anglo-American occult circles.Th is ha s been an unusual aspect of the occult revival in these circles, bu ti n damany th e runes have been a general part of the occult revivali i l i n o s i from it s beginning in the late 19th century. T he degree to whicht h e i i i i d i l i o n s of rune magic form a distinct an d coherent part of thej ' c n c i a l Western tradition is unclear. This is because this tradition ha sl i e cn practiced completely outside th e realm of modern English-speakingi n . i f ' . i c i a n s un t i l quite recently. Given that th e runes have been widely

M .' i l an d explored in German occult circles, it seems that those personsi n t i n - Hnglish-speaking world interested in working with th e runes ma yh n v c a t i l i ng or two to learn from th e German tradition of rune-work.To a large extent the German rune magicians of the early part of the. 'O ih cen tu ry were eclectics. They gathered magical practices fromvar ious better-known systems an d "runicized" them. Because of thet r ad i t io ns (and in many cases non-traditions) that th e Anglo-Americanl i m i t : revival have often followed, th e Armanic system (18-rune futhork)y e n c i a l l y used by the German rune magicians wil l have some drawbacks.Km w h a t I intend to explore in this book are the practical techniquespioneered by the German rune magicians.

I - ' o r those who a re fairly well immersed in another magical system, th ei l i n n - t e chn iques contained in this book ca n offer some ne w ideas tov i v i f y I he system with which you are familiar. Fo r those w ho take ant v l i v l i c an d perhaps pragmatic approach to magic, th e runic techniquesyou w i l l find here ar e ideal experimental material for the expansion ofY O U I magical repertoire. Fo r those already engaged in serious, traditionalM I i n - w o r k (lor example with the Rune-Gild), this book will give some in -i l c | ) ih , practical insight into the dawn of the magical runic revival and willh e lp pu i your work in to a larger historical frameworkT h e r e h a v e been a number of books about rune magic produced overIhc past several years. Some have been good, although most have beenl . i u l y poor. K u t no book published in English has yet undertaken tor \ | > l ; i m th e pract ical aspects of the rune magic practiced in twentiethi c n i i i i y occu l t circles. It is a complex an d rich magical heritage, an d herew e w i l l o n l y he able to begin to open th e door to this world.

IntroductionMagical practice dealing w i t h runes and the use of runic lore to shapeoccult teachings has a long history in Germany. For almost as long asthere has been a magical revival in that country, there has been a magical

runic revival. In the annals of this renaissance, two names shine outabove all the rest: Guido von List and Friedrich Bernhard Marby. Othersw o u l d expand and adapt their ideas, but without doubt all of thesignificant magical innovations of the occult German runic revival can betraced to one or the other of these two men. But in this work we wil l bedealing not only with the teachings of these two but also with that oftheir followers and students, each of whom added something to thehoard of teachings that make up the German occult tradition surroundingthe runes.In the present work I want to explore the practical teachings andworkings of the German rune magicians. It will be shown how theGerman runic tradition fits we l l w i th th e Western magical tradition, for itis largely an outgrowth of it , al though the runic magician would arguethat it is the deepest root and basis of the Western revival itself. Thesecond part of this book is a collection of some of the most influentialan d powerful workings of the German rune-magical tradition. T hetechniques ar e drawn from a wide ranger of books, mostly printed in the1920s, 1930s and 1950s. They represent the teachings of variousesotericindividuals and groups working with the runes in Germany during theearly part of the 20th century. The reader will be able to enact theserunic workings and exercises for purposes of self-development, strength-ening the will, and generally improving all phases of magical work. Therunes, as taught in the Armanic system, can very easily be put into theworking context of any other Western magical tradition, in contrast tothe highly traditional forms of runelore expressed in the 24-rune futhark,which i s fairly "intolerant" of admixture with other systems. This issimply because the 18-rune futhork as used by the Armanen (followersof Guido von list) and most other German rune magicians of this time ismore a part of the so-called Western tradition than is the 24-rune system.If one is going to work "eclectically" with the runes, it is perhaps best towork with the Armanic runes (the 18-rune futhork).

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PartiBackground


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Chapter 1

Early HistoryA rune is a mystery first and foremost. It is only later that the term isused to designate a let ter or writing symbol. In ancient times the termw as most likely used to d esignate a varie ty of signs and symbols, ofwhich only a certain codified group became the runestaves employed inwriting natural language.In the later esoteric German tradition of the 19th and 20th centuries,mystical theories about how and w hen the runes originated and w hattheir usages were in prehistoric times are at great variance w ith th etheories of academic scholars. The esoteric runologists of early 20th

century Germany generally held ideas that kept them forever at oddswith the available scientific data produced by exoteric, or academic,runologists. There is indeed that place, and that key, which opens thedoor between these tw o worlds, an d these tw o views, about th e runes.Bu t it can only be found through actual initiation into the mysteriesthemselves.T he academic runologists generally declare that th e runes and thenotion of writing itself was borrowe d in a uniq ue and original form bythe ancient Germanic peoples sometime betw een 200 and 100 B.C.E.T he original runic system is considered the Older Futhark of 24runestaves, expanded by the Anglo-Frisians to as many as 33 runestaves,and reduced by the Viking Ag e Scandinavians to 16. Originally thesesigns had their ow n un iqu e order and had traditional names associatedwith various aspects of the spiritual lore of the Germanic folk. (See

chapter 6 for further information on the ancient runic traditions.)Eventually th e runic tradition w as obscured as the system of the Romanalphabet grew in importance during the M iddle Ages, an d finally i t waslost altogether.Altho ugh th ere are a variety of traditions in Germ an occu lt circlesregarding the origins of the runes, most agree on tw o things : that therunes are essentially cosmic encodings in the very being of the Germanicfolk, an d that they w ere originally formulated within a vastly ancientperhaps antediluvian -- civilization. This primeval culture is general lyassociated with Atlantis (Atland), Thule, Mother-Land, or Hyperborea,an d in all cases placed in the North.


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( i u u l o vo n List and his followers found much in the esoteric teachingsof Thcosophy corroborating their findings that the Aryans* wereI'sscnlially Nordics of a high level of spiritual and mental culture whocame from th e northern regions to civilize th e world. Wherever theyw e n t (hey took the runes and other holy signs of their people. Thesesigns w ere the physical expression of the inner mysteries of the w orldt h a t w ere obvious and fully conscious to the ancient Aryans. Thesemysierics , and hence the runes, became obscured as they mixed wi th ,;md were di lu ted by , peoples an d traditions other than their ow n.T he chief mission of the runes, in the view of man y of the Germanrune magicians, is to help reawaken this ability an d this vital essence losti n l imes past. T he runes are the mysteries and the key to the mysteries atl l i c same time. They have existed eternally within the folk-soul of theGermanics and await only their f u l l awakening.List claims, based on the scriptural authority of the "Havamal" thatth e 18-rune futhork is the original form of the runic system and that allothers are derived from it by adding extra symbols.According to Friedrich Bernhard Marby, the runes originated in theMother-Land , w hich sank below the waves of the North Sea some12,000 years ago. For Marby it w as the 33-rune Anglo-Frisian Futhorctha t came closest to the original form of the rune-row , although hethought that the original system must have contained even more signs.

T he esoteric German traditions concerning th e history of Germanicreligion and magic (especially that of the runes) are based very much onth e idea that the ancient ways w ere taken unde rground into the structure,myth , an d ritual of the medieval Christian Church. At first theseconcealments w ere quite intentional and conscious on the part of theArmanen. These Armanen, or priests, "converted" to Catholicism an di n f u s e d their religious symbolism an d wisdom into that of the Church.M m w i t h time th e keys to the hidden meanings of the original Armaniccus toms and practices were lost. However, the forms remained , and it isthese forms that can now be unlocked with th e knowledge provided byth e runes and by the remanifestation of the Germanic folk-soul.Long before the runic spring of the early part of this century, therew as an earlier flowe ring of an esoteric runic tradition. This w as essentiallyth e work of the much neglected Swedish scholar an d mystic Johannesl ? u i c u s (T1568-11652). Bureus was one of the very first scholarlynmologists. He collected many runic texts from Swedish runestones andbegan to interpret them in a well-informed manner. He also had amystical side. Bureus was a Paracelsist, well-versed in the lore of the( ' a b a l a an d magical t echniquesof Agrippa vo n Nettesheim. This w as also

1 1 ic ag e of storgoticism Great-Gothicism the esoteric doctrine thatthe UOtha (wrongly assumed to the same as the Swedes) were the once*l , i s l and oilier wr iters of this period, follow ing the lead of both academics an dTheoiophiltl, u - l ' n i a l to th e group of people w e n ow call Indo-European with this . o i n r u l i . i l . i i i l i < | i i a l c d and s l i ght ly ta in ted word.

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an d future master-race. Bureus has become the "high priest" of thismovement from his chair at the U niversity of Uppsala. To Bureus therunes were th e primeval script containing great m ysteries that cou ld beread from an initiated perspective. T his he did th roug h a system called"adalrunes," w hich w as in part a variation of the Cabalistic methodk n o w n as temura.German rune magic as revived not in the tradition of Johannes Bureusbut through a synthesis of the school of German Romanticism and theoccult revival of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.Throughout the 1800s there was a grow ing interest in the ancienttraditions of the North. This was in large part a reflection of theRomantic (some might call it "Germantic" or "Gothick") urge to turninward, into the depths of the self, in a quest for ultimate reality. In away, this urge in the individual w as reflected in the next highest organicunity the nation, or folk. Thus the folk began to turn inw ard and seekwithin their ow n traditions an d lore fo r that which they ha d formerlylooked in vain outside themselves. Christianity and the traditions of thesouth of Europe had been found want ing the truth was to be foundwi thin and northward.Traditional know ledge, as preserved within the folk itself, w as quitedecayed by this time. Centuries of ignorance and lack of training had leftwhat remained of the folk traditions rather empty. T he only possibleexception to this wo uld be the preservation of the family traditions of theGerman "occult nobility," supposedly as represented by such claimantsas Tarnhari (E. Lauterer) and Lobesam (K . M. Wiligut). These me nclaimed to be the repositories of ancient initiatory family traditions, and ifthis is true they would be remarkable examples of how the ancienttradit ions were handed dow n along family lines. The traditions of Wiliguthave been well explored in the book The Secret King (Runa-Raven/Dominion, 2001). Similar traditions w ere, of course, often later tobe claimed among early revivers of the "Wiccan" way in England in the1940s and 1950s.It is more usual, however, for men such as Guido von List to claimextraordinary pow ers of insight and vision, w hich enabled them toreconstruct th e past through a combination of clairvoyance (insight) an dresearch into the folk w ays and ancient customs. An essential componentin this idea is that these me n were looking into their ow n national past,and hence to a past which w as organically linked to their present reality.The late nineteenth century saw the coming of the occult revival toGermany. German-speaking ce ntral Europe (Ge rmany, Austria,Switzerland, etc.) had long been a breeding ground for esoteric an dmagical schools. Agrippa, Paracelsus, Albertus Magnus and JakobBoehme had all been Germans, and the schools of Rosicrucianism an dIlluminism ha d originated there. So the occult w as certainly no strangerto the land when it bloomed forth in the late 1880s and 1890s, largely asan immediate by-product of the introduction of Theosophy to the region.


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This brought ou t into the open wh at had been much more secret up tot h a i l ime. The magical and the esoteric became something that could beopenly espoused and promoted, and thus the foundations were laid forIhe runic spring. Chapter 2The Armanic Renaissance(1904-1919)

The bloom of the runic spring lasted from about 1904, when theGuide von List Society w as founded, to the beginning of the First WorldWar in 1914. This conflict broug ht the Sprin g to a stormy end andheralded even more disastrous times to come. But the runes are nostrangers to strife.Above all others the figure of Guido von List (T October 5, 1848,Vienna-iMay 17, 1919, Berlin) looms over the history of the revival ofrunic occultism. It is to L ist that almost all of the subsequ ent w orks ofrune-magic an d runic esoterica trace their origins at least to somedegree. List was the son of a w ealthy Viennese businessman, but insteadof following in his father's footsteps he turned his attentions first to thewriting of journalism, then to novels an d dramas, an d finally, in the last15 years of his life, to overtly esoteric studies. It is important tounderstand that List never published anything of a practical magicalnature. He w as nevertheless in man y w ays a magician, and many of hisinsights were used in practical w ays. (See, for example, the use of hislinguistic theories in the construction of mantras in chapter 8.) It isobvious that he wanted to keep hi s practical teachings of rune magicsecret. The details of List's life and ideas can be found in my translationand study of The Secret of the Runes (Destiny, 1988), List's seminalwork .In Da s Gehelmnis de r Runen (1908) List reveals hi s theory that th eoriginal rune-row was an 18-rune futhork (otherwise unknown in theannals of runology). This system is based on the "scriptural" evidence ofth e "Riinatals thattr Odins"-- th e last 28 stanzas of the "Havamal"found in the Poetic Edda. List then w ent on to w rite several more booksoutlining many facets of the esoteric culture an d religion of the ancientGermanic folk, or Aryo-Germanic peoples, as he called them. List'smethods of research were largely mysto-magical. He w ould gain visionsof the ancient ways and then corroborate them throug h somewhat moreconventional means of literary research. Apparently some of his secretmethods involved the raising of long-dead ancestral spirits to gain theirw isdom. T he greatest single inf luence on List's later esoteric thought w asTheosophy. List's researches were in fact supported by several wealthyindustrialists in German-speaking central Europe. A Guido von ListSociety was founded to publish the Master 's works and to support himfinancially. None of the fantastical stories told about him in thepropagandistic work entitled Th e Spear of Destiny are supported by any


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( v i d r i u r . Members of the Guido-von-List-Society included some of thel i - . u l m g figures from political, industrial, as well as occult, circles. Withint h i s gr oup there developed a more esoteric inner cell called the ArmanenOnii'n. Alihough this group apparently never had much of a formalsink-lure before List's death, it was the root of may run ic developmentslo come.List 's visions and constructs w ere so compelling and his personality sodominant that his mystical system was the general rule in German runicoccultism u n t i l the early 1990s, wh en the more traditional forms ofrunelore began to find their way into German esoteric circles whenl''uthark, Runelore and Runecaster 's Handbook were translated intoGerman. In the period before World War II the only voice in runicoccultism significantly independent of List w as that of Friedrich BernhardMarby.Among List 's students one of the most influential w as Philipp Stauff(TMarch 26, 1876, Moosbach-iJuly 17, 1923, Berlin), w ho joined theGuido von List Society in 1910. Stauff was an anti-Semitic journalistactive in a number of nationalist organizations in Germany. In 1912 hemoved to Berlin, and in that same year, published his greatestcontribution to the history of runic esoterica, his book Runenhauser. Inthis book Stauff theorized th at the patterns made by the wooden beamsin the half-timbered (Fachwerk) houses had a runic significance, and thatone who knew the code could actually read the hidden meaning of the"rune houses." This would later become a very popular aspect ofesoteric runology. After List's death, it was Stauff who became presidentof the Society an d continued to publish the works of the Master from th ene w headquarters n Berlin.One of the most curious chapters of this phase of the runic revival w aswrit ten by a man at first know n only by the magical name "Tarnhari ."In the Listian code-language this name essentially meant "the hiddenlord." Tarnhari sent a letter to List in November of 1911 in which heclaimed that his family traditions, which ha d been handed dow n fromt ime immemorial, essentially corroborated all of List's clairvoyantresearches into Germanic prehistory. It is interesting that another rune-occultist, Karl M aria Wiligut, w ould m ake similar claims of "occultkingship" as well. Tarnhari, who was in actuality Ernst Lauterer, wasvery active in volkisch political organizations and was even a part of thepost-World War I circle around Dietrich Eckart, the man who wasI f i l l e r ' s mentor and to w hom Hitler dedicated Mein Kampf.Among the many esoteric and political groups that promoted whatthey thought to be Germanic ideals, perhaps the o ne most involved w ithrunic practices was the Germanen-Orden (Germanic Order), fou nded in1912 by Hermann Pohl. In 1916 Pohl broke aw ay from the order he hadrounded and set up an independent Germanen-Orden Walvater, whichpublished th e periodical Runen (Runes). Runen contained many articles< u i runelore, an d even some of an informative nature on rune-magic. T he

Order also made talisma nic bronz e ring s inscribed with magical runesavailable to its initiates. An illustration of one of these rings as it appearedin a 1919 issu e of Runen is seen in Figure 2.1.

Figure 2.1 Runic Ring Advertised in RunenThe fundam ental magical and mystical ideas promulgated in theGermanen-Orden were based on the system of Guido von List, coupledwith the sometimes pseudoscientific racialism of the day. It was from th eranks of the Germanen-Orden that the famous Thule Society w as formedi n 1918 as a cover for the inne r workings of the deeply mystical andpolitical GO itself. T he main force behind it was the personality of Rudolfvon Sebottendorf, who had traveled in various dark corners of the worldcollecting arcane lore. An example of Sebottendorf s work has beentranslated as The Practice of the Ancient Turkish Freemasons (Runa-Raven, 1999).T o have an y sort of t rue perspective on this time an d place in history,on e must realize that Germany an d Austria ha d just been plunged intointernal chaos by their political and economic defeat following the GreatW ar (1914-1918) an d that the whole region continued to be under attackby Communist revolutionary forces. Bavaria itself was u nder Commu nistrule for a few months in 1918-19, and was for a w hile even declared a"Soviet Republic." T he Communis ts knew well that th e Thule Societywas an important cell of Nationalist resistance, and even took hostages

from the Society an d eventually executed them. Again, to put this inperspective, th e Communists were no t only a vague threat, they ha dactually seized power; they did not only give lip service to "inter-nationalism" (i.e. the obliteration of nationalities), they practiced it in thatthe rev olution was being run by the Russians. (This was long before theRussians eventually learned the futility of their experiment a futilitythat ha s apparently no t been realized by some of our own leaders today.)The w orst nightmares of those w ho had dreamed of a Pan-Ge rmanicculture had come true . All this simply radicalized and m ore deeplypoliticized the groups involved in the restoration of the national traditionsof their own folk.


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Chapter 3The High Tide of Rune Magic(1919-1935)

T he years fol lowing the death of Guido vo n List and the end of theFirst World War w ere a time of great expansion and dissemination ofrun ic practices. Most of the old groups continued to flourish, and newones w ere also springing up, and many of them began to make thepractical aspects of runel ore more available. It is not entirely incorrect tosa y that the spiritual, economic, cultural, an d political upheavals followingthe w ar encouraged this increased popularity of mystical and magicalihinking; but it would be entirely wrong to assume that it caused thisinterest. The rune s and run e magic and mysticism have their roots in theGermanic Spring, in a t ime when the dream n ational renew al based onself-determined values was fully alive and highly optimistic. The culturaldisappointments brought on by the unhappy conclusion to the Great W aronly put a bit ter edge on the continu ing movement and tended to spur i ton not so much w i th th e former thoughts of an exuberance that wells upfrom within as with the desire to strike out and avenge itself on thosew ho it perceived to be the destroyers of its ancient dreams.Rudolf John Gorsleben (TMarch 16, 1883, Metz-iAugust 23, 1930,M a d Homburg) created a synthesis of the w o r k an d theories of Guidovon List and the other rune occultists, Ariosophists, an d Theosophists of(h e age. This synthesis is represented in his magnum opus, published inthe year of his death: Di e Hoch-Zelt de r Menschheit (The Zenith [orHigh-Tide] of Mankind). This work encompasses almost 700 pages andcovers all of the major theoretical fields of neo-Germanic occultismpopular at the time. But in it he avoids an y practical instruction in thishe fo l l ows the lead of Guido vo n List.Gorsleben, w ho fought in the First World War on the western frontand in a German unit attached to the Turkish army in Arabia, w as veryactive in the political right after th e war . He was originally a member ofihe Thule Society, but soon tired of the political infightin g and turne d hisa l k - n t i o n to more esoteric matters. On No vember 29, 1925 he found ed

I he Jidda Society in his home in Dinkelsbiihl. Th e Grand Master of theSociety was Werner von Billow; Friedrich Schaefer was its treasurer.Schac lc r ' s home was also the m eeting place of a circle gathered aroundK n r l Maria Wil igu t in the early 1930s. Also members of the Edda Societywi-iv O l i o Sigfrid Reuter an d Mathilde vo n Kemni tz , w ho would marry( icni-ral Ludendorff and become the spiritual leader of the societydedicated to (he old general. Gorsleben also edited a newspaper calledDfiitM he l-'rciheil (German Freedom), which later changed its name toAri\< li f l-'rciheit (Aryan Freedom) in 1927.10

According to Gorsleben's vision, the zenith of power of the Aryanrace, originally manifested through in an antediluvian Golden Age, is tobe remanifested through a combination of eugenics and the systematicreaw akenin g of occult powers and abilities. In this he was hardly original;but he saw the run es as the key to this reawakening. The runes w ereseen by Gorsleben much in the same way that Marby and others sawt hem as tools for the reception and transmission of subtle forces in theuniverse. It is through them that the "people of the runes" and theultimate powers in the universe may commune, thereby constantlybringing those w ho use the runes into a greater level of universal power.Chiefly through his voluminous book, Gorsleben exercised a greatinfluence on subsequent rune occultists. Die Hoch-Zeit der Menschheitw as reprinted in Germany in the early 1980s, and it cont inues to make itsinfluence felt.Friedrich Bernhard Marby (TMay 10 , 1882, Aurich-iDecember 3,1966, Stuttgart) could be considered one of the three great innovativefigures in the history of German runic occultism. T he others would beGuido vo n List an d Rudolf John G orsleben. He was certainly th e first topublish extensively the practical applications of the runes in magicalwork . It was Marby w ho apparently first began to employ th e runes in apsychosomatic system of gathering and channeling rune-might through-out the personal sphere an d among th e bodies in the cosmos. This systemw as called Runengymnastik (runic gymnastics) by him, bu t SiegfriedAdolf Ku mm er called his system based on the same idea Runenyoga(runic yoga).T he details of Marby's life are fairly well-known. (I am indebted todocumen ts made available to m e by Herr Rudolf Arnold Spieth.) M arbyw as originally a printer an d editor by trade. He was apprenticed to apress in Hannover in 1896 and remained in Hannover until 1915. In1906 he w as married to a w oman wh om he later called "Else" in hiswritings. By his own accounts it was in 1907 that he first started workin gwi th th e runes in esoteric ways . But it was not until 1911 that hi sresearches had progressed to the point where he could actually talk aboutthem. T he dates are significant in that if Marby ha d begun his runicstudies in 1907 one year prior to the widespread publication of Guid ovon List 's landmark study The Secret of th e Runes then he could haveclaimed to have begun on the runic path independent of List. It shouldperhaps also be noted that List's text of his rune book appeared inserialized form in the Neue Metaphysische R undschau in 1906. In anycase, even if Marby did begin his studies in 1907, it canno t be denie d thatthe Listian system had some influence on his development between thatt ime an d 1911.Marby eventually made his way to Stuttgart , w here he worked on theWurtemberger Zeitung. In 1922 he published his first works concerningastrology an d runic esotericism. That same year he gave up his regularprofession to devote himself f u l l y to his esoteric work and to publication

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1 1 1 i l l . u field. In 1924 he began to publish th e newspaper De r eigene W eg( O u r O w n Way), which dealt mostly with astrological questions. Marbyrounded a society called Orion, which gave hi m many opportunities todel iver lectures throughout the country.It was in 1928 that Marby really started to delve deeply into thet r a d i t i on s of the North. Marby was of Swedish an d Frisian extraction,an d i t was at this time that he undertook a trip to his ancestral homelandin Rimbo , Sweden. Two years later he also made a trip to Holte,Denmark . These trips supported his research into the practicalapplications of the power of the runes. After this period of traveling her e tu rned to Germany in 1933 and began to concentrate even morein tensely on rune work. He became very well-know for his runicinvestigations, and this reputation made a sprinkling of enemies forh i m many more than his astrological studies had made.

From 1931 to 1935 Marby published four double volumes of his runicresearches in his Marby-Runen-Biicherei (Marby Runic Library). Duringth is time he also founded the League of Runic Researchers, which largelyworked by correspondence an d w h i c h coordinated daily projections ofrune -might among all its members. According to figures published byM a r b y in 1932, there were 200 members of the League at that time.O f course, by 1933 the National Socialists were in power in Germany.In 1935 Marby returned to Stuttgart an d continued hi s rune work. T heNational Socialists had tolerated his work up to a point, and indeedMarby had been a vocal supporter of the Nazi ideology in the earlyyears; but apparently when it became obvious that Marby would remainan independent voice in the field of occultism, he was arrested an d triedin 1936. He spent the duration of the war in concentration camps. T w oth ings were clear about Marby's arrest an d detention: 1) if he were tot a l k about certain things and the involvement of certain people in hisw o rk , he would be secretly killed, and 2) if he did cooperate with theNazis , he would leave th e concentration camp alive. All his property w asseized and his presses were destroyed. Ultimately he spent a total of 99m o n t h s in the camps Welzheim, Flossenberg, an d Dachau. He w a sl iberated from Dachau on April 29 , 1945.Marby did not receive an y f inancial restitutionfor the losses caused byth e Nazi's persecution, because i t was determined by the Allied author-i t ies tha t he , too, ha d made anti-Jewish statements in print and in theb e g i n n i n g ha d supported th e Nazis. I t was no t unti l 1952 that Marby w asable to continue hi s work, publishing th e periodical Forschung un dKrfeihrung u n t i l hi s death in 1966.M a r b y an d some of his followers spent much time an d effort in tryingto show t ha t h e w a s th e original rune esotericist, and in charging othersin th e Held wi th "plagiarism." This seems rather absurd in a way, sinceM a r b y an d others claimed to be reviving ancient forms of folk wisdom,w h i c h seems a diff icult th ing to copyright. In the early phase of his careert he se charges were primarily directed against Siegfried Adolf Kummer,

12

who apparently had some early contact with Marby's practices, al thoughMarby never claimed that Kummer was his student.Kummer created a system of rune magic more harmonious w i t h thesystem of runology taught by Guido von List. He considered himself anArmanist, an d more strictly used th e 18-rune futhork of List in his work.One example of his work has been translated: Rune-Magic (Runa-Raven,1993) Kummer (T 1899) is a rather mysterious figure, an d little isk n o w n of his life. In 1927 he founded the "Rune-School Runa" nearDresden, where he taught hi s techniques of rune-magic. It is known thathe (along with Marby) wascriticized by name in a report by Karl MariaWiligut to Reichsfiihrer-hh Heinrich Himmler, bu t what hi s fate was isu n k n o w n . There was at least one unsubstantia ted report that he fled intoexile in South America.In the "high tide" of the runic renaissance there were dozens otwriters and private occultists dealing with the runes. Every sort ofmagical school, it seemed, had to come to terms with them. It was duringthis time that the most influential eclectic magical lodge in Germany, theFraternltas Saturni, began to incorporate runic occultism into its magicalcurriculum. For a review of the teachings of this magical order, see Fireand Ice (1994).*In the 1920s and early 1930s the runes had found a broad andpowerful field of activity; but the bitter edge ground on the runic sword,and perhaps the lack of a wise leader to wield it magically, laid down thelaw, leading to woeful wyrd.

Thiswork w i l l be reprinted with substantial restorations and additionsunder its original title, The Fratemitas Saturni, by Runa-Raven in thenear future.

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Chapter 4T he Swastika and the Runes(1933-1945)

M u c h ha s been made of the supposed occult connections of theleading members of the National Socialist movement. By far the bestgeneral account of this subject is Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke's Th e OccultRoots of Nazism, while one of the only in-depth studies is that found inTin- Secret King (Runa-Raven/Dominion, 2001). It is always a difficultlusk to unrave l th e threads of historical fact from fiction an d propagandaw h e n the subject is that of magical or esoteric orders. This difficulty isdoubled w h e n th e world of power politics is throw n into th e mix. What isclear is that the leaders of the National Socialism were themselves asm u c h shaped by th e current of volkisch politics an d Neo-Romanticmysticism, wi t h its heavy admixture of Germanic myth an d magic, asthey w ere shapers and re-shapers o/that great mass movement in centralEurope in the years fol lowing th e First World War. They took w hat w asessentially a diffuse mass-mood and set of predilections that were justbeginn ing to gel into a coherent cultural movement an d channeled themin to a specific, partisan institution: th e National Socialist GermanWorkers ' Party (NSDAP). In a way , if we think for a moment of"Germanticism" as a product, they schemed to get a corner on themarke t and, eventual ly, to monopolize it. This only became possible withthe f u l l force of a government at their command.As soon as the Nazis came to po w er in 1933, esoteric lodges andorganizations began being banned an d suppressed. Law s passed in 1935eventually caused almost all unofficial esoteric organizations to disband.The groups with a Germanic orientation were in some cases bettertreated in the beginning that is , unless they ha d direct links to theNSDAP, such as the Thule Society, of whi ch m any of the early membersol (h e Party were a part. T he earliest book detailing th e occult-Naziconnect ion w as wri t ten by one of the Society's members, Rudolf vo nSfholtendorf, who wrote Bevor Hitler kam (Before Hitler Came). In thisbook, Sebottendorf made exaggerated claims regarding the level of thel ' ; i i l y ' s invo lvement wi th his own esoteric ideas. T he book w as promptlyl ) ; i n n e d an d burned .

O t he r men and organizations were allowed to continue their worku i i l i l th e outbreak of the war in 1939. Fo r example, Werner vo n Billowi - o n i i lined to publish Hagal , th e official organ of the Edda Society, until1 1 1 . n year. However , it was far more typical for the bureaucracyr v n i i u a l l y to catch up to the groups and put an end to their activities.T h i s was (he fate of F. B. Marby, which I have already detailed.14

1T he s tudy of the runes themselves w as complex an d multifacetedduring the years of the Third Reich. There were essential ly three levels tothis study: 1) the purely academic-scientific, 2) the lay-scientific,and 3)th e esoteric. Those involved in academic circles received more attentionthan ever before bu t were largely left unencumbered by politics topursue their scientific ends. This fact shows that on one level th e Nazisrealized these studies ha d some validity. How ever, they also instal led me n

who had formerly been la y investigators (self-appointed, "self-taught,"experts wi thout academic credentials) in academic posts. T he details ofthis phase of the wor k of the infamous Ahnenerbe ("AncestralHeritage") office of the SS and of the Institut fur Runenforschung(Institute fo r Runic Research) are to be found in Ulr ich Hunger ' sdissertation: Runenkundc im Dritten Reich. But it is the third, or esoteric,level of s tudy that interests us most here. This information w as verylimited an d highly sensitive, even with in the confines of Party politics,an d therefore quite secret.Essentially, the truly magical or esoteric applications of the runes an drune magic as such seems to have been th e main interest of Reichsflihrer-h h Heinrich Himmler. In this pursuit his chief advisor was the mysteriousKarl Maria Wiligut (Weisthor) sometimes cal led "Himmler'sRasputin." Among other things, Wiligut was the designer of the runicrings wor n by the Death's head SS officers (see Fig. 4.1) and the mainadvisor for the acquisition an d planning of the Wewelsburg citadelsecret headquarters of the SS and officially designated at its officers'college.But who was this Wiligut , w ho called himself Weisthor, an d whe r e di dhe come from? This information w as obscured at the t ime an dintentionally so. Karl Maria Wiligut (T December 10, 1866, Vienna-iJanuary 3, 1946) w as al so know n as Jarl Widar and Lobesam. He hadbeen active in esoteric runic circles in Germany an d Austr ia beginningaround the t ime of his retirement from th e Austrian army in 1919.Actually Wiligut 's career in the world of mysticism ha d started mu chearlier wi th th e publication of his book entitled Seyfrids Runen (1903),which seems to have been influenced by the early ideas of Guido vonList.

Figure 4.1 Design of the Death's Head Ring by W i l i gu t15


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Most of the k n o w n esoteric texts published by Wiligut as well as amore compre hens ive introduction to his life and thought can be found inth e book Th e Secret King (Runa-Raven/Dominion, 2001).Wiligut claimed to be the descendant and/or reincarnation of the kingof the ancient Asa-Uana-Sippe (clan), to have been initiated into thesecrets of his family traditions in 1890, and to have w ritten the N ineCommandments of Gode in 1908. W iligut held that there we re traditionsfar older and deeper than those found in the Edda and that there wasactually a sort of antagonistic relationship betwe en the Irminist tradition,which he represented, and the more "conventional" religion ofWotanism. Again this "secret doctrine" betrays a close relationship to theteachings of Theosophy as first expounded by Helena PetrovnaBlavatsky and her followers.

T he Nine Commandments of Gode are:1. Gode is Al-unity!2. Gode is "spirit an d matter," the dyad. He brings duali ty, and is, never-theless, unity and purity.3. Gode is a triad: spirit, energy, an d matter. Gode-spirit, Gode-Ur,

Code-being, or Sun-light an d Waker, th e dyad.4. Eternal is Gode as time, space, energy, an d matter in his circulatingcurrent.5. Gode is cause and effect. Therefore, out of Gode f lows right , might,duty, and happiness.6. Gode is eternally generating. T he matter, energy, an d light of Gode arethat w hich carry this along.7. God beyond the concepts of good an d evil is tha t which carriesthe seven epochs of human h istory.8 . Rule rship in the circulation of the current carries along the Highnessthe secret tribunal.9. Gode i s beginning w i thout end th e Al. He is completion innothingness and, nevertheless, Al in the three times three realization ofall th ings . He closes the circle at N-Yule, at nothingness, out of theconscious into the unconscious, so that this may again becomeconscious.

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Here the peculiar spellings of Gode for "God" and Al for "All" reflectthe peculiarities of Wiligu t's ow n usages. Wiligu t claimed that these w erethe commandments that had been transmitted along family lines wi th inthe Asa-Uana-Clan for 12,000 years.From his retirement home in Salzburg, Wiligu t developed a fol lowingof students of his traditions in the early 1920s. His teachings from thistime remained private an d secret, bu t they have been to some extentdocumented by several students. However, Wiligut's unorthodox beliefs,coupled w ith marital problems, an d some ba d business deals, seem tohave resulted in his family having him declared mentally incompetent,an d from 1924 to 1927 he was involuntarily confined to a mentalinstitution. After his release W iligut found his w ay to Germ any andeventually became the focus of a runic study circle near Munich. Wiligutnow used th e name Karl Maria Weisthor, an d wrote under th e name JarlWidar, in an apparent attempt to conceal his embarrassing past. When theNazis came to power , one of Wilig ut's students, Richard Ande rs,introduced him to Heinrich Himmler and Wiligut subsequently wasinducted into the SS in September of 1933. From that time to Augu st of1939 "Weisthor" w as Himmler's chief advisor on esoteric an d magicalmatters. Unfortunately for Weisthor, his past was eventually discoveredby those below Himmler. Although Himmler himself certainly knew th efacts of the matter and had helped cover them up, the political pressurew as sufficient that Wiligut was forced to resign his office in the SS. Theelderly Wiligut was cared for in his retirement by the SS, but hesuccumbed to the physical strains imposed by conditions right after th eend of the war .Wiligut may have been in strumen tal in the suppression of other run icmagicians in Germany (such as Kummer and Marby) and in theprotection of the Edda Society (o f which he was a member). T he bulk ofWiligut's w ritten record is largely philosophical and cosmological/meta-historical. In this his w ork is closely akin to that of Guido von L ist, but asit does no t directly relate to the subject of practical magic, w e must leaveit for n o w .For the most part the runes were used in a less magical way by theNSDAP that is, they w ere used as emotionally loaded symbols an dsigns that appealed to the mass of the Germanophilic population an drepelled an d terrorized the Germanophobic. O f course, the sw astika itselfbelongs to this group of symbols. Guido von List had already identifiedthe 18th rune, GIBOR , as a "concealed swastika" long before i t wasadopted, at the s uggestion of Adolf Hitler himself, as the official insigniaof the NSDAP in 1920. Although the Nazis never developed an officialNational Socialist runology, certain features are evident. The SIG-rune( h ) was the rune of victory (G. Sieg), the TYR-rune (T) was the rune ofthe struggle (G. Kampf), the OTHIL-rune (A) was the symbol of "bloodand soil," and the HAGAL-rune (* ) was that of salvation (or racialpurity).17


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T he National Socialist episode in the history of the runic revival is aclear example of the inherent power of the runes and how that power,w h i c h is essentially rooted in the soul of the folk, will eventually resistan y a t tempts to force it to conform to any partisan cause other than thatlor which the runes stand: the well-being of the folk and the seeking ofwisdom. It is clear from the results of history that the Nazi Party endedup violating these principles on both counts.

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Chapter 5From the Ashes:A New Runic Revival

In the years immediately after the Second World War, and to someextent continuing to the present day, the runes were so closely associatedwi th the Nazis that the use and discussion of them in academic as well asesoteric circles washampered by adverse public opinion. Those of the oldrune magicians, who had survived the w ar in Germany, slow ly began tomake their w ay back to their work, and new voices were also heard.T he best know n of these ne w voices w as Karl Spiesberger. Hepublished his groundbreaking rune-magic synthesis in 1955, Runenmagie(Rune-Magic). Spiesberger w as an initiate of the Fratern itas Saturni(Fra.-. Eratus), and his work stems from that order's understanding ofthe rune s. Spiesberger, like most authors on esoteric or magical subjects,presented a mixture of the old w ith some original innovations of his o w n .T o some extent th e innovations ma y have been draw n from th e eclecticteachings of the Fraternitas Saturni. What Spiesberger essentially tried todo was remove the "racist" aspects of the Armanic and Marbyan runework and place the w hole system in a pansophical, or eclectic, context.To List, Marby, or Kummer the runes represented the key to esotericunderstanding; to Spiesberger they were just on e more tool to be usedby any individual magician. Spiesberger's works w ere always cast in the18-rune futhork as originally envisioned by Guido von List and magicallydeveloped by S. A. K u m m er .Another exponent of the new runic revival w as Roland Dionys Josse,w ho published a w ork, also in 1955, called D ie Tala de r Raunen. In thiswork he made use of the 16-rune, wh ich was a major historical departurelor the practice of runic esotericism in Germany. Josse rightly assumedt ha t th e 17th an d 18th runes of the "Havamal" (taken up by List asgospel) were actually additional runes lying outside the numerologicalsystem. Josse presented a complex but highly workable numerology and; \ system of astrology based on the formula of 16.The numerology can be simply explained as a system of firsttransliterating a person's name into the 16 runes of the Y o u n g er Futhark,i hen reducing it to a key n u m ber by "uni t s" of 16, adding th e remainderu n t i l a num b e r below 16, or 18) is reached. For example, the n a m eRobert Zoller would be treated in the following manner :k O B En f i2 13 9

R Tf. T5 12

Zh1 1O L Lr14

E R9 5= 87= 16x5 + 7= 12

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Tha t is, (here are five units of 16 in the sum of the numerical values of(h e name (16 x 5), with seven left over. These ar e added to the numberof u n i t s to arrive at the key number of the name, which is 12. Therefore(he key-rune fo r this individual, according to this system, would be theT Y R - r u n e .The greatest of the rune sages to survive the upheavals of the Naziperiod was F. B. Marby, of course. He continued to publish works

r e l evan t to his Marby-Runen-Gymnastik. In 1957 he came out with whatis perhaps hi s greatest work, D ie drei Schwdne (The Three Swans),w h i c h had been completed before his arrest by the Nazis in 1936. Thisbook is a kind of mystical autobiography, and, as published in 1957, itcontains copious notes an d commentaries by the author that make itinvaluab l e in understanding th e Marbyan system.The Runes in Germany TodayNo other land is more esoterically bound up with the runes in modernt imes than Germany ha s been. Since th e dawn of the occult revival inGermany the runes have been playing their part in that revival.Therefore, when w e look at the ways in which th e runes ar e used inmagical circles in Germany today, we see a deep-level network ofinterconnections that is much richer, bu t also more diffuse, than that

w h i c h w e might expect to find in England or the United States. There isat least one German order based on what are essentially runic ideas: theArmanen Orden. The magical order Fraternitas Saturni , which maintainsan eclectic magical curriculum, probably also continues to have as a partof tha t curriculum instruction in the art of rune magic. One of i ts highinitiates, Frater U.'.D/., published several books in Germany on the 24-rune futhark system in the early 1990s. These were to a great extentinfluenced by Rune-Gild research. Ia n Read is known to have ha din teractions with him on this topic and one of his books, Runen:Alphabet der Erkenntis was dedicated to Edred Thorsson, RunenmeisterMinx pareil. The good Frater was also the translator of the Germanversion of Runelore.T he Armanen Orden was for all intents an d purposes a moribundins t i tu t ion before i t was revived by Adolf Schleipfer in 1968. He received

th e charter of the order from th e then-aged president of the Guido vo nList Society and proceeded to rebuild it based on what seems to be asyncretization of the ideas of not only List, bu t also of the other runemysiics an d magicians of the German past (Marby, Kummer, Gorsleben,etc.), as wel l as the traditions of the Order of the New Templars and the1 ' ia tcrni tas Satu rn i . T he rune magic of the Armanen continues to bet a u g h t mostly wi th in th e confines of the Armanen Orden itself.A n o t h e r almost exclusively rune-based system is that of Marby-Rune-( i yn i n a s t i c s . T he magical system continues to be promoted through th ew o r k s of V. B. M a r b y , as published by the Rudolf Arnold Spieth Verlag.20

Another school essentially based on the runic system gathered aroundWerner Kosbab in the 1980s.In the 1990s Germanic religious revival took a new u p s w i n g inGermany. Contrary to widespread opinion, not all of these groups an dorganizations are allied w i t h the political right. But since the time of thereunification of Germany, runes an d rune-like signs an d symbols haveincreasingly been the object of legal persecution in Germany as theFederal authorities seek to ban and prohibit what they have determinedto be symbols dangerous to the constitution of the Federal Republic ofGermany.There ha s really been no new explosion of interest in the runes inGermany. That explosion took place back in the beginning of the 20thcentury. What is taking place there now is a slow and steady, and nota lways smooth, readjustment to the indigenous national esoteric traditionsof the Germanic peoples in Germany. In this instance there is a good dealof influence from the Anglo-American schools, such as the Rune-Gild.This is perhaps because the pioneering spirit is often strong in culturaloutposts, and hence the vitality of what seems to be a "new" idea is fullof a special vitality there. This vitality ca n expand from its epicenter tothe rest of the world. In the beginning of the 21st century the Rune-Gilditself began the process of expanding into Germany and the rest ofGerman-speaking central Europe.It should also be noted that that Swedish based Dragon Rouge, whichpromotes the use of the "Uthark" as originally described by the Swedishphilologist Sigurd Agrell, is also active in Germany today.In the USA the Armanen-system of runes is most conspicuouslyrepresented by the Knights of Runes, now headed by Dietrich.As an additional footnote to the contemporary scene, it might bementioned that the Rune-Gild promotes the knowledge of, and ndividualexperimentation in, the Armanic and Marbyan forms of rune magic. Thepresent study is just one concrete manifestation of that work. However,the magical initiatory system of the Rune-Gild continues to be primarilybased on the purely traditional forms of historically authentic runelore:the futharks of 24- and 16-runes and the Anglo-Frisian system.

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Chapter 6The Traditional Runic Systems

Tradition is an idea with tw o facets: 1) that which represents perennialideas which transcend an y historical manifestation of them, and 2) thatw h i c h is handed down from on e person to another (from teacher topupil) an d from on e generation to the next. Ideally these to facetsinterface an d w ork together. O ften, how ever, historical an d culturalconditions make this productive interface difficult and even impossibleexcept in the most secret of enclaves.When looking at the runic traditions from an esoteric perspective, wese e that there are actually four systems to be taken into account:

1. T he Older Futhark (24 runes)2. The Anglo-Frisian Futhorc (29-33 runes)3. The Y ounger Futhark (16 runes)4. The Armanic Futhork (18 runes)The first three of these have deep historical roots, while the fourth

system is mainly the result of the occult vision of Guido von List.However, all of these systems can be seen for w hat they are: variousfacets of the underlying runic real ity, of w hich these systems are the mostexternal phenomena. T he fact that there is a degree of fluctuation in thetraditions is perhaps to be expected of the Germanic magical systems,w h i c h so highly value the state of flux an d resulting possibilities forgro w t h . In this book various techniques are based on one of the other ofthese systems. Therefore the "runer," the one w ho undertakes to exploreand exercise the runes, should be familiar with the fundamentals of all oft hem an d with ho w they all fit together to form th e whole of the esotericrunic tradition.The Older Futhark

Table 6.1 The 24-Rune SystemNo. Sound Shape Name123456789101112131415161718192021222324

futharkgwhnij [ y ]iP-z/-Rstbem1ngdo

fh1*FKJ TCTHTB .nHroNX

fehuuruzthurisazansuzraidhokenazgebowunjohagalaznauthizisajemeihwazperthroelhazsowilotlwazberkanoehwazmannazlaguzingwazdagazothila

Actually no specific technique outlined in this book makes direct us eof the Older Futhark; however, from a historical and traditional point ofv i e w , the Older Futhark of 24 runes is the oldest and most original of allthe systems. It is the foundation an d root from which th e other systemsdeveloped an d grew. T he primacy of this system is clear for all to seew ho take th e trouble to look up the history of runology in any standard(non-occult) reference w ork. Those w ho w a n t deeper instruction in thissyslcm are directed to my own works in the bibliography of this book,an d to th e Rune-Gild, which makes extensive use of this system in itsr u n e - w o r k .22 23


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Table 6.1 the 24-Rune System (cent.)No. Exoteric Mean ing

1 Livestock> moneyAurochs (wi ld bison)Thurs (giant)4 A God (Woden)5 Wagon/Chariot6 TorchGift (sacrifice)Joy/Pleasure9 Hail(-stone)10 Need (distress)11 IceYear (harvest)13 Y ew tree14 Lot -cup15 ElkBirch(-goddess)

19 Horse20 Man(-kind)21 Water22 Ing, the Earth-God23 Day24 Ancestral property

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Esoteric MeaningDynamic powerVital formative essenceBreaker of resistanceSovereign ancestral powerVehicle on path to cosmic powerControlled energyExchanged forceHarmony of like forcesSeed form an d primal unionNeed-Fire (friction/liberation)Contraction (matter/anti-matter)Orbit (life cycle)Axis (tree of life/death)Evolut ionary forceProtective an d tutelary beingsBirch numen (container/releaser)

Twin equine gods (t rust)Huma n order of divine originLife-force an d organic growthGestation/containerDawn/twi light (paradox)Self-contained heredi tary power

The system of 24 runes, as seen in Table 6.1, was used in anclcmt imes from the dim be ginnings of the run ic t radi t ion to about 8 00 CE inboth Scandinavia an d Germany. A t that t ime there was a smooth an dregular t ransi tion to the 16 rune system of the Younger F uthark inScandin avia. In this table, as in those for all the o ther systems, thenumerical value, name, phonet ic value, shape, th e exoteric meaning (theliteral translation of the name), and the esoteric meaning (the underlyingsignificance of that name in the ru nic context) are given.The Anglo-Fris ian Fu thorc

In historical terms elements of the Anglo-Frisian Futhorc were in usefrom perhaps as early as 400 CE, and this system persisted until wel l intothe Middle Ages. During th e medieval period this system w as well-preserved in a manuscript t radit ion, both in Eng land and on theEuropea n Continent . Its original homeland w as in present-day Hollandand northern Germany, th e ancient region inhabi ted by the Frisians,Angles and Saxons. From there i t was brough t to En gland in the middleof the fifth century.T he systematic principle of the Anglo-Frisian Futhorc is one ofexpansion. It is simply an extension of the Older Futhark, wi th somesound-value modificat ions. As the exoteric an d esoteric vocabulary of theAnglo-Frisians expanded, so too did they expand their runic system.They simply added those signs they needed on to the end of the rune-row . This apparently came in tw o phases. In the first of these phases thesystem w as expanded to 29 runes. T his stage is exemplified in the "OldEngl i sh Run e Poem" (see The Rune-Poems [Runa-Raven, 2001]). In thesecond phase th e runes w ere expanded to a total of 33 runes. This lat tertradition w as the one especially prevalent in the man uscript runes foun don the continent of Europe among th e monasteries where many Anglo-Saxon monks worked .From an esoteric standpoint it seems likely that those responsible fo rexpanding th e Anglo-Frisian Fu thorc w ere deeply initiated into somemysterious, i.e. runic, vision of the staves. This is t rue even for those w hoexpanded the row to its ult imate length of 33 runestaves. It is anintriguing fact that the final three runes in this row the cup, the stone,an d the spear seem to refer directly to the Graal-Mythos. But thisreference wou ld appear to be a part icularly Germanic understanding,wi th possible influence from the Sarmatians, with double meanings fo reach of these symbols. The cup is both th e sacred drinking vessel fromw hich Woden' s mead of inspirat ion is drunk and the cup used at the LastSupper, w hich w as supposedly taken to Bri tain by Joseph of Arimathaea:th e Christian Grail. T he stone is the stone altar of sacrifice, bu t also th estone Graal, as described exclusively in the medieval German tradition ofWolfram von Eschenbach, e.g. in his Parzival. In this tradition the Graalis said to be a stone that w as knocked f rom Luc i fer ' s c row n dur ing th e

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