Customer Reviews

Rune Power: The Secret Knowledge of the Wise Ones (Earth Quest)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I've never written anything like a review before, but after I finished this book I searched the internet for more and ended up here. If you need anything that even resembles correct information this is the book for you. The practical exercises are very informative and it was a well written, well researched and inciteful subject. I learned the runic alphabet in a matter of minutes. And broadened my horizons dramatically. I've read other books on this subject,and this one leaves them all in the dust.

This is my absolute favourite book on the subject of runes. It is clearly written, very well laid out, and very informative. I don't claim to be an expect on Norse history nor Asatru, and I don't feel I or anyone else needs to be to benefit from the runes. In response to a previous review, I would like to add that I think in mentioning Native American practices, Mr. Meadows was attempting to demonstrate the similarity of the runic system to the Native American medicine wheel. He shows the runes as more of a circle of life, a 'cyclical process', as opposed to seemingly random (at least to me) attributions. This was tremendously helpful to me in being able to see 'the big picture' of the runes. This book details a complete system and structure to the runes that makes perfect sense to me, has meaning for me, so is therefore valid TO ME. Each person must decide for him or herself what is meaningful and useful to them. No one else can define that for them. To sum it up, this is a book I never want to be without. I also recommend Freya Aswynn's 'Leaves Of Yggdrasil'.

This book is okay for someone not into Asatru or wanting to study Norse magick. The author concentrates too heavily on "tree-hugging" concepts and there is too much comparison to Oriental and Native American traditions. If you want a book on Runes from someone who knows, I suggest "Runelore" by Edred Thorsson.

Every time he talked about "Native American runes" I had to laugh. There's no such thing! I'll rely on the other reviewer for what is wrong about Meadows' view of Norse runes, but for the native ones Meadows is just making it completely up. Call this book fantasy or fiction for those parts dealing with native beliefs, because he sure should not be taken for the truth there.

This book is a great example of New-Age mix & match instant "tradition".

Meadows raids the cultural vaults of the Heathen Germanic, Native American, and others, to cobble together a substantial tome that succeeds in insulting all of these cultures by taking them out of context and effectively trivializing them.

He also rests much of the credibility of his system on the claim that his "uthark" rune order is a Swedish "oral tradition". In fact the Uthark theory is well known to be the invention of Professor Agrell in the 1930s, who only came up with it to investigate what he saw as some interesting numerology. Meadows does not mention Agrell.

Likewise, he presents Thorsson's quasi-Cabalistic runic tree of life figure, with no indication that it was Thorsson's invention, as if it is just part of the "tradition".

Some of the information about Von List in the first couple of chapters was interesting and seemed to be accurate, but it amounts to a couple of pages in a sea of jumbled speculation. Many parts of the book are identifiable as the ideas of well known speculative rune authors. The ideas of Thorsson and Pennick are particularly obvious. Although their books are listed in "further reading", their ideas are never explicitly acknowledged. Pennick's runic astrology, and Thorsson's nine worlds ideas are imported wholesale, and put forward as "tradition", although it is clear from their original works that it is completely their own speculation.

His use of rune names is completely inconsistent using the Old Norse names for some, Anlgo-Saxon for some, reconstructed Elder names for some, and a couple even seem to be his own blend of the three.

In trying to create an impressive looking book, Meadows has dragged in too many incompatible speculative systems, and mixed them with ideas from other cultures, laced with his own preconceptions. The result is a confusing chimera of fantasy "tradition" that will only lead the reader away from any idea of the real cultural heritage of the runes.

At least take the effort to read some basic factual information before going off with the rune fantasists. I recommend:

Rudiments of Runelore

Runes (Reading the Past, Vol 4)

Runic Amulets and Magic Objects

This book by Kenneth Meadows is informed, but not ruled, by traditional Rune meanings and principles. It is clear that Meadows has taken some time to educate himself in the traditional lore, but he takes it and adapts it to fit his own style which could perhaps be best described as eclectic Shamanism (though he may himself use some other term). He is obviously heavily influenced by Native American concepts of the Medicine Wheel. For those who are attracted to such traditions as well as Runes and Norse magickal techiques, this can be a very useful book.

Traditionalists will no doubt be pissed off at his shifting of the Runic order and also by his use of the spurious "blank Rune". However I feel that there are other, more valid insights in this book. As with most tomes you are unlikely to agree with everything you read. But some concepts here could well be taken into consideration. Recommended for those already schooled in the basics, who would like to take Rune study to another level of thought and theory.

Well,Im an scandinavian Rune Practioner,I learned Runes from
my father which is devoded Odinist,This book is wonderfull because,Its talking about Shamanistic aspects of the Runes,Yes It does have compaircement to the Native American practices,
Ofcourse after all Norseman was tribal people too once and Lapland is part of the land we still live...And similar or not,In this book also wery well explaining the uniqenes of the
Norse shamanism too.I do like Thorson's books but after you read one they all seem same to me,You will get idea when you read this book and learn the true wisdom of the runes...