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Edred Thorsson

ALU, An Advanced Guide to Operative Runology Paperback – Illustrated, December 1, 2012

by Edred Thorsson (Author)

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This followup to the classic Futhark breaks new ground by applying current scientific theories on how magic works in traditional societies to the world of practical magic. ALU, An Advanced Guide to Operative Runology contains completely new and fresh descriptions of all the individual runes based on traditional sources, runepoems, Old Norse literature, and more.

Thorsson one of the most respected runic scholars living today, synthesizes the old and the new, the scholarly and the practical, and brings the use of runes in magical work to a new level in ALU, An Advanced Guide to Operative Runology.

ALU features:

Practical magic

Divination practices
Reveals new techniques and methods
How modern English can be used in the creation of runic writings

Print length

256 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Weiser Books
Publication date

December 1, 2012
Dimensions

6 x 0.8 x 8.9 inches
ISBN-10

1578635268
ISBN-13

978-1578635269
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Edred Thorsson is an American Runologist and proponent of occultism and Germanic mysticism. He received his doctorate in Germanic languages and Medieval Studies from the University of Texas and has published over two dozen on Esoteric Runology. He lives in Texas. Visit him at: www.runaraven.com.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Weiser Books; Illustrated edition (December 1, 2012)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1578635268
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1578635269
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 0.035 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.8 x 8.9 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #577,028 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #172 in Divination with Runes
- #2,186 in Magic Studies (Books)

Customer Reviews:
85 ratings

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Edred Thorsson

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Edred Thorsson is an American Runologist and proponent of occultism and Germanic mysticism. He received his doctorate in Germanic languages and Medieval Studies from the University of Texas and has published over two dozen on Esoteric Runology. He lives in Texas.

Customer reviews

5 star		77%
4 star		12%
3 star		7%
2 star 0% (0%)		0%
1 star		5%

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Ingeborg S. Norden

Rune magic for the serious scholar/linguist

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 16, 2015

Verified Purchase

As a long-time Heathen and former rune reader with an academic background, I was seriously impressed by this book. Thorsson finally shakes off the Ceremonial Magick/Temple of Set influence that pervades his older work, and makes a serious effort to keep runecraft rooted in its Germanic context. Only a few problems keep ALU from earning a full five stars:

First, my reader software (Kindle for PC) had trouble handling the special characters which Thorsson often uses to spell terms in ancient languages. When those characters accidentally broke up a word, or wouldn't enlarge with the rest of the text, I found it much harder to read.

Second, ALU sometimes feels like a commercial for the Rune-Gild and/or Runa-Raven Press. Much of Thorsson's original research is available only through those channels; this discourages curious readers from checking the sources more closely.

Third and last, Thorsson assumes that none of his audience will want to do runic work in a language other than English or Old Norse. That may well be true for _most_ of them; but at the risk of sounding snarky, I've written Modern Swedish (still Germanic!) in the Elder Futhark for years. (There are some early Norse inscriptions in Sweden that use the Elder version, so my choice isn't completely ahistorical.)

Except for those relatively minor flaws, ALU does an outstanding job of explaining how Heathens should expect rune magic to work -- given the lore and inscriptions discovered so far. It never borrows from Hindu, Kabbalistic, or other unrelated traditions; and the tables actually summarize the main text. This book proves that mundane and magical runology don't have to conflict with each other.

20 people found this helpful

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brian S. morgan

The Leading Scholar on Runes Brings Even More

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 27, 2013

Verified Purchase

Definitely worth the read! From one the most leading experts on runes today, comes new and great material for the advanced student. I have been practicing runes for 12 years now and have worked mostly out of Edred's books, so it is great that he has given us some new material to experiment with. This book Alu goes further to define the runes and how to awaken them with in the self. Also you get a better understanding of how to read the runes for divination. Most other authors try compare the runes to the tarot but the runes are runes not the tarot and should not be read in the same manner. That is one of the biggest frustrations with almost every author other on runes. They don't examine the tradition of Runelore and the Teutonic way which leads to them making up their own system. Edred shows his readers the true essence of the runes and how the were originally read and worked by Norsemen.

12 people found this helpful

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Judith

Not a Beginner book - but then, I'm not a true beginner

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 2, 2014

Verified Purchase

I liked the addition of the Anglo-Frisian Younger Futhork. I think the only problem I had with this book was the continual reference to Nine Doors of Midgard - which is very difficult to find if you're not interested in joining the Rune-Gild.

This is definitely not a book to start studying the Runes with, but it does fit nicely in with his other books on Runes. I would recommend also finding a copy of his Mystery of the Goths and reading other books on the Germanic people in order to get a full context for studying the Runes.

3 people found this helpful

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Kennan

Required reading

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 27, 2013

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In general I like all of Thorsson's work, and this is no exception. He is a master in the field and his contributions are always welcome. However, I found some of the appreciation between the Germanic and English rune systems a little mixed and lacking the emphasis I would have liked, particularly for the latter. Some of the insights are quite profound, but the work does tend to drift a little in the later stages.

One person found this helpful

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Mike Hinshaw

Worthy read.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 28, 2013

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Books by this author are always worth reading, even if I do not always agree with him. His approach is not as organic as my own, and many of his conclusions are not in line with my own, but his techniques are sound, and his information is both accurate and well documented. Even if you do not agree with the author,this book is worth the investment

4 people found this helpful

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Sheilaa A. Edlund

Another great book from the world's leading expert on the magical use of runes

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 6, 2013

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Edred Thorsson probably knows more about this subject than any man alive, based on his sound academic background and his decades of experience. This volume is his latest distillation of the deep lore surrounding the actual use of the runes as tools.

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Andrew Hines-Kaplan

U get what what u pay for.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 6, 2019

Verified Purchase

Perfect everything I asked for.

One person found this helpful

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joe tolson maitrya9@m

Disapointment

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 8, 2013

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This book seems to be an excursus on philology and a primer on magic for eigth-graders. Far from being the advanced guide to Runic spiritual practice the PR would lead one to expect, the book contains almost nothing to bring one to a mature practice grounded in ancient Teutonic lore. Actually, it seems merely to be a footnote to Futhark, Edred's classic text on Runology. There are 2 chief deficiencies. While presenting himself as a "Traditionalist," the author's only reference to a Traditionalist author is to J. Evola, whose work is late, derivitive and deeply contradictory of the teachings of the founding fathers of Traditionalism, placing the secular military/governmental stratum above that of the priesthoods. Alu's presentations on the 24 Runes lack any metaphysical depth; lack correlation with the Hindu/Sanscrit parallels to the Runes and all but totally miss the intricate sub-sets and sub-systems encoded in the Elder Futhark. The author does speak of some of the triplicities, but misses the dyads, sets of 4, 9, 12 and the vertical readings of the Rune rows as well as the astronomicly co-ordinated structure of the Futhark.

I was particularly expecting an exposition of the Galdar formulas, but Alu,amazing given that this title is of a magical chant word, lacks any coverage of this area except for the use of the Alu itself. I have nothing, as such, against the author's long involvement with the Temple of Set and left hand path sexual magic, but it does seem that his focus is on the lower 3 chakras, rather than the upper 3, or the Heart itself.

21 people found this helpful

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Wulf V

Highly Recommended

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 9, 2013

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I have just completed my reading of Edred Thorsson`s latest work, Alu, An Advanced Guide To Operative Runology. Unlike any of his previous books this one focuses on an analysis of the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc, both individually as isolated Rune staves but also in `dryads`, pairings of the Runes which occur throughout the Futhorc.
The book consists of just five chapters: Grounding in Knowledge, Lore of the Futhark, A Theory of Operative Runology, The Practice of Operative Runology and Rune Workings.

Thorsson builds on his earliest work-Futhark but offers fresh insights. There are intriguing appendices on Runic Dryads, Triadic Rune-Names and Grail Mythos in Old English Runes? Practical advice is offered on creating Bind-Runes, Rune-Gazing and Spear-Casting.

In addition to his very welcome focus on the use of the Anglo-Saxon Runes for the first time [which he says should be the first Futharc/Futhorc of choice when it comes to writing in modern or Old English] he also places Runic magical practice in an Indo-European context.

I hope that Edred Thorsson/Dr Stephen Edred Flowers will continue to get his works published via new outlets now that Runa Raven press has ceased operations.

11 people found this helpful

Poeta Immortalis

Für alle Kundigen, die ein paar gute Anregungen suchen geeignet

Reviewed in Germany 🇩🇪 on December 1, 2014

Verified Purchase

Ganz gezielt hatte ich nach einem ordentlichen Runenmagiebuch gesucht, das nicht auf den ewigen Grundlagen herumkaut. Hiermit bin ich definitiv fündig geworden! Einige Ansätze mag man vielleicht schon gekannt haben, aber das Werk überzeugt mich vor allem durch seine wissenschaftliche, präzise Herangehensweise, auch wenn diese Art der Wissenschaft noch nicht bei Jedem angekommen sein mag... Für mich als Archäologen ist die sprachwissenschaftliche Herangehensweise schon sehr spannend und eine andere, weniger gewohnte, Sichtweise der Dinge. Einige offene Fragen, die das Buch aufwirft kann man schamanisierend sehr gut klären... Auf jeden Fall habe ich hier ein anregendes Werk vor mir, das sicherlich nicht jedes Geheimnis offenlegt, aber durchaus Ansätze und Technik liefert, wo man tiefer gehen könnte. Das entspricht voll und ganz meinen Erwartungen!

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Luis Ramirez

Reviewed in Mexico 🇲🇽 on February 6, 2017

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En este libro el autor Edred Thorsson, expone de manera clara pero a profundidad la runología operativa avanzada, es decir todo lo que se puede llevar a cabo con las runas, las formas de como utilizarlas. El reconocido escritor cita como han sido empleadas las runas según los allasgos historicos, derivando de dichos descubrimientos las técnicas mágicas disponibles hoy en día con las runas. Otra aportación importante de este libro es que el autor expone los significados de otras runas (futhark anglo frisiano) que son difíciles de encontrar en otros textos.
El presente libro se complementa perfectamente con "Futhark, a handbook of Rune Magic" otro libro del mismo autor, dicho libro también está disponible en español.
Brillantes conocimientos y técnicas para ponerse en prectica.
Extraordinario libro!!!

One person found this helpful

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Buchregal

Wissenswert !

Reviewed in Germany 🇩🇪 on June 29, 2013

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Der Autor ist ein Fachmann und hat mich bereits durch andere Werke von ihm überzeugt. Ich griff zu dem E-Book, weil seine Bücher in Deutschland schwer zu bekommen sind. - Irgendetwas geschieht hier in unserem Land und unsere Bücher leiden am meisten darunter. - Also im Jahr 2013 wünscht sich die Europäische Kommission, dass mehr Bücher gedrückt werden: Mögen die Bücher niemals aussterben, dann bleiben uns auch Werke aus Edred Thorssons Schreibfeder zugänglich.

One person found this helpful

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