Customer Reviews

The Runes Workbook: A Step-By-Step Guide to Learning the Wisdom of the Staves

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

 

 

I love this book. I use it for reference all the time because it's so simple to read. It doesn't get into long winded paragraphs, all the information is right there and easy to find. It also has some neat artwork for each rune and a few pages dedicated to each. Each rune has a paragraph or two of description, practical applications of the rune in daily life, then some galdor exercises which I've found to be very helpful because not alot of books deal with galdor. This book has a great section on runic divination and methods of casting. The author also touches on psychology a bit, and he encourages further study and writing your experience with the runes in a journal.

One of the best things about this book is he doesn't get hung up on personal opinions, tell you not to do this or that, or criticize anything. It's very to the point.

This book is essential to a runic library!

This is such an excellent book for beginners! It encourages you to keep a journal of your experiences studying the runes as well as providing all kinds of exercises and activities to cement the ideas in your mind. Additionally, it teaches you how to create your own runes.

It starts with a brief history on the runes and Norse mythology, as well as outlining a few methods of meditiation and visualization. These sections are not indepth, but are certainly enough to get started.

Next is an introduction to the Elder Futhark, and several exercises to help the reader become familiar with the names, pronunciations, forms and numbers corresponding to each rune.

Each rune is then presented in detail, along with five or six ways to incorporate the principles of the rune into your everyday life and three thoughts to meditate on. For instance, for the rune "kenaz", some of the activities are to try making a traditional food, support a local artist, and hand-make gifts for friends and family. Some of the thoughts to meditate upon are "What are my most creative abilities?" and "When am I most aware?".

The next section presents a brief introduction to divination techniques, followed by a chapter on rune magic. Finally, there is a section on "Lore and Literature" of the runes, and a recommended reading list.

I would not recommend this book to the person who wishes to use runes only as a method of fortune telling. This book is for someone who really wants to "seek the mysteries" of the runes and needs a place to start. It is a complete starter course and you will get as much out of it as you put into it.

This is one of the clearest and simplest books that I have seen for those just beginning to study runes. I do have some complaint about the Rune Guild basis that the author has, and his use of some of Thorsson's more questionable material. But in all, it's still one of the best books out there for beginners. The vast majority of the "facts" presented really are documented historical facts, not things that someone just came up with on their own, like you see in so many rune books. If the bit about "Runic Psychology" (or something else) bothers you, skip it and go on to the rest! The activities and exercies for beginners really set this book apart from others.

Over all this is a good book. There is a lot of information, thought I see some of it as questionable, for the most part I'd say it's accurate.

As far as the rune definitions and the like, which is the bulk of the book and probably the reason one would buy it, I was pleased and disappointed. I think they should have listed the alternate spelling of rune names, because not all sources use the same names on the same runes. And perhaps there could have been more depth into the alternate shaping of the runes, because there are several different rune sets, as runes have evolved a bit over time. I think that should have been better addressed in the book as a whole anyway. Aside from that I like the information they have. The detail of the meanings of the runes is good for beginners, and the exercises for the runes are useful as well.

In regards the lore listed, this is were I see the questionable content. Some of the information is things I hadn't heard of before, or found since. Not saying it is incorrect, just that it could be. As with all books, it is subject to the personal opinions and views of the author, which may or may not be wildly accepted.

As I said before, this is a good book for a beginner. More specifically it is good for a beginner interested in runes. But I think if you want to know more of the lore as well you might be better with a different author. There are other books that have a lot more information on runes and/or lore then this one, but they may not be as beginner friendly. With any serious study you want multiple sources, but more so with the case of this book because it has questionable content and lacks some rather desired information.

As someone new to Asatru and the Runes, I found this book to be excellent in presenting both. Easy to read and illustrated, this book helps a beginner to understand the culture and context of each rune. It offers information in a easily grasped manner without dumbing down the concepts.

I especially found the chapter on divination to be useful. Starting with the Hammer Rite and the prayers, and ending with the Thank Yous to the Norse Gods, my divination experiences were better grounded and more connected. If you are starting out learning the Runes, I would buy this book to get the concepts before buying the 'more indepth' books usually recommended.

When i first picked up this book, i'd been studying runes for several years. while i wouldn't go as far as to call myself a master, i was pretty comfortable with rune work.
The book is an excellent resource. every bit of it. I love how it connects so much information in easy to read sections. i love the different activities it suggests to learn the runes, but not just learn then, to apply them in your life. this makes the runes go from simple shapes in a book to having personal meaning, 'i think of this rune because i did this with it as a meditation.'
everyone keeps saying its a good book for beginners, but i disagree. its a good book for anyone wanting to learn about runes, even if they've been studying them for years.

good beginning tool....
I enjoyed this book to get started. I loved the workbook portion the best it made me work meditate and think about what I was truly after. The rune discriptions were alright, I did find a better reference but like I said a great beginner book and I am glad that I worked it

This is a terrific book for anyone that wants to learn the mysteries of the runes

I have known Leon for years and worked with him with the runes and seen the work he has done in writing this book. It is a marvelous work that stands on its own, but also is a good accompaniment to some of the books by Edred Thorsson.

First, the thing that must be said about this book is that it offers an accessible introduction to the writings of the most influential writer regarding modern Rune-work: Edred Thorsson. Most of the work is essentially a distillation of Thorsson's work which is written in a clear and accessible way that a beginner could easily understand. As an introduction, this will be one of my main recommendations to others (too bad it's out of print). I have differences in interpretation in some matters, but feel it is important to set those aside for the purpose of this review.

Some of the diagrams were based on Thorsson's works which were in part based on academic work he published (under his legal name, Stephen Flowers) in the Journal of Indo-European studies. That article has been cited in other articles by folks such as Edgar Polome.

Where this book really shines is in the artwork. Each runestave is described not only by the rune poems and a brief commentary but also a piece of artwork which attempts to describe the stave artistically.

Folks who are primarily into Thorsson's works may find the format of this book helpful even if they are not absolute beginners. However, the real value for such students is in the artwork.

On the whole, I think this book reaches the audience it intended to reach very well. Highly recommended.