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Product Description
This work reintroduces the ancient tradition of divination using the runic symbols. As well as introducing the history of the tradition, the symbols are reinterpreted and made relevant to readers. It includes 25 hand-made rune stones and pouch.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I have owned this book for eight years and have been using it for just as many. Never once have I found the interpretation of my readings to be immediately understood or shallow, like some ready-made recipe for idiots; it always presupposed some thinking on my behalf in order to locate my blind spots. What is more, it has always been eerily accurate, both for me and other people I have been doing readings for. It is a well written, easily understood first introduction to runes for beginners. I understand that Blum uses a different system than what many people consider usual or even valid. Thing is, it works. I have seen it and experienced it. If you are a scholar looking for an in-depth research on the history and interpretation of the runes and their relation to the Norse tradition, then this is not your book. But if you are looking for a day-to-day guide with the runes as a compass, grab it and run. There are four pages of selected bibliography at the end of the book with a lot of material for those who want to study more.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book should be part of any collection for those interested in the recent (c 1980) revival of interest in the runes. It is still the highest selling rune book internationally, but also one of the least researched.
When it was first published, the academic sources were not very available to the public, although they would have been available to Blum had he made the effort. Instead, he created a simple divination system, based more on his own readings of the I Ching than the known historical sources of runic knowledge.
There is a wealth of information in the old rune poems, and in the original futhark ordering of the runes. Blum ignores both. However, at least Blum never claimed to be reconstructing an old system. On the other hand, unfortunately, most of his readers assume that there is some real historical content in the book.
For those who are looking for an esoteric book about runes based on, and respectful of, our real available historical cultural heritage, this is certainly not it.
I would recommend Pollington's "Rudiments of Runelore" to provide a minimum factual background, before wasting time on any of the New-Age manuals.
When it was first published, the academic sources were not very available to the public, although they would have been available to Blum had he made the effort. Instead, he created a simple divination system, based more on his own readings of the I Ching than the known historical sources of runic knowledge.
There is a wealth of information in the old rune poems, and in the original futhark ordering of the runes. Blum ignores both. However, at least Blum never claimed to be reconstructing an old system. On the other hand, unfortunately, most of his readers assume that there is some real historical content in the book.
For those who are looking for an esoteric book about runes based on, and respectful of, our real available historical cultural heritage, this is certainly not it.
I would recommend Pollington's "Rudiments of Runelore" to provide a minimum factual background, before wasting time on any of the New-Age manuals.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
It would be wrong not to concede that this was my first introduction to the runes and it certainly didn't put me off and was a great source of inspiration at the time. Ralph Blum has done a great service by providing a book that appealed to a main stream audience and so paved the way for many practitioners who would subsequently go on to discover more historicaly accurate sources that discuss the runes' actual cultural heritage. Anyone studying the runes would do well to read this book as it has impacted on the way many people understand and use the runes today, but please don't let it be the only book you read on the subject! (My preference would be Freya Aswynn's Principles of Runes as an introductory text).
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Loved them
I've had these Runes for years, and I love the book and the feel of the Runes. I am a beginner, but would like to know more about Runes, they are an inspiration. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Velvet
the book of Runes
good starter book but really didn't like the descriptions or the explanations of the stones, the blank rune i don't use but i keep it for a spare. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Iain
Quite pleased
Knowing nothing at all about Runes, I have quite enjoyed using them, and in due course would like to learn more.
Published on 30 Dec 2009 by Ms. Vera M. Williams
Mature Oracle
I use many oracles...After many years, I still rate Ralph Blum's runes and book as among the best. he writes with a clear voice and mature wisdom - clearly channeled from a very... Read more
Published on 7 Dec 2009 by J. Monroe
Ralph Blum Runes
Excellent product with a great set of rune stones and a comprehensive book explaining the meanings of each rune and rune spreads. Read more
Published on 21 Jun 2009 by Kate Bainbridge
Excellent book
This is the second book I have purchased on Runes as the first one was very misleading. This one however is brilliant. Highly recommended
Published on 13 Jun 2009 by Mrs. K. Francis
I'm in two minds about this
For the serious scholar of the runes it is a joke. However, it does have one serious and wonderful benefit: It keeps New Age morons well away from the Runes! Read more
Published on 19 Sep 2003
A travesty
Anyone familiar with the Elder Futhark and all other genuine Runic oracles that followed it will know that this book isn't worth the paper it's written on. Read more
Published on 2 Dec 2002 by R. Moriarty
Strange but True...
A book which gave me my first introduction to 'The Runes', A MUST FOR ANY BEGINNER. I found the written meanings of the runes fascinating and sometimes quite interesting the way... Read more
Published on 28 April 2001 by ep@holmes39f.fsnet.co.uk
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