The following is a list of runes with their pronunciations, short definitions, and upright/reversed options. For more in depth descriptions, select upright or reversed.

Wyrd – (wErd) The Unknowable, Divinity of all human endeavors (upright)
Mannaz – (mahn’-nahz) The Self, man, woman, the entire race (upright) (reversed)
Gebo – (ge’-bO) Partnership, A sharing between partners. A gift of oneself to Oneself. (upright)
Ansuz – (ahn’-sooz) Signals, Odin, messages, signals, gifts (upright) (reversed)
Othila – (O-thee’-lah) Heritage, Inheritance, severance, shedding, sloughing off (upright) (reversed)
Uruz – (oo’-rooz) Strength, growth, rebirth (upright) (reversed)
Perth – (perth) Initiation, Hearth, hidden or secret matters (upright) (reversed)
Nauthiz – (now’-theez) Constraint, Need, necessity and obstacles (upright) (reversed)
Inguz – (in’-gooz) Fertility, New beginnings. Sharing. Ing – earth (upright)
Eihwaz – (eIh’-waz) Defense, Yew tree, Strength through endurance (upright)
Algiz – (ahl’-geez) Protection, acceptance and understanding, yield strength, Elk (upright) (reversed)
Fehu – (fA’-hoo) Possessions, wealth, nourishment, fulfillment (upright) (reversed)
Wunjo – (woon’-jO) Joy, benefits gained, blessings (upright) (reversed)
Jera – (jE’-ra) Harvest, One Year. Long term beneficial outcomes (upright)
Kano – (kA’-nO) Opening, Beacon, fire, renewed clarity (upright) (reversed)
Teiwaz – (tI’-waz) Warrior, Tyr (sky), Spiritual Warrior, battle of the Self (upright) (reversed)
Berkana – (ber’-kah-nah) Growth, growth and rebirth in all matters, birch (upright) (reversed)
Ehwaz – (eh’-wahz) Movement, Horse, progress, new attitudes (upright) (reversed)
Laguz – (la’-gooz) Flow, water, fluidity, ebb and flow (upright) (reversed)
Hagalz – (ha’-gulz) Disruption, Hail, Breaking free of ones mental constraints (upright)
Raido – (rA’-dO) Wagon, Journey, communication, union and reunion (upright) (reversed)
Thurisaz – (thoo’-rih-saz) Gateway, Giant, thought before action, contemplation (upright) (reversed)
Dagaz – (de’-gaz) Breakthrough, Dawn, Transformation – often quite radical (upright)
Isa – (I’-sa) Standstill, Ice, Personal or spiritual withdrawal (upright)
Sowelu – (sO’-wA-loo) Wholeness, Life force and self realization, the sun (upright)

This particular rune spread as set up at this site, is capable of giving you nearly 90,000,000 different layouts. This rune spread consists of five runes, placed in a cross formation. The underlying belief of this layout lies in reincarnation, though it may have also been used in a metaphorical or pseudo-reincarnation sense.

From right to left the supposed relevance of each is described below:
1. Birth and Childhood
2. Your Present
3. Future in this Life
Followed by the bottom stone
4. Past Life
And finally the top stone
5. Next Life
Continue on to Three Lifetimes Spread.

Six runes need to be drawn for this spread, to be set up in a Celtic Cross formation. This particular rune spread as set up at this site, is capable of giving you over 3,200,000,000 different layouts.

The supposed relevance of each is described below:
1. The past you are coming from most recently
2. You now, your current role
3. The future as it is coming in to being for you
4. The foundation of the matter under consideration
5. The nature of the challenge for this situation
6. The new situation that will arise as you achieve your goals

Continue on to Runic Cross.

This particular rune spread as set up at this site, is capable of giving you nearly 90,000,000 different layouts. This rune spread consists of five runes, each one placed below the stone drawn previously.

From top to bottom the supposed relevance of each is described below:
1. Overview of the current situation
2. Challenge to overcome with this situation
3. The course of action called for to manage this situation
4. Sacrifice – what you will have to set aside or consider to handle the current situation
5. New situation evolving and usually the outcome of the current situation

Continue on to Five Rune Spread.

The three rune spread is also known as the Norns. The Norns are the three Norse Fates. According to myth, the three Norns can be found by their spring that flows from beneath one root of the ash tree Yggdrasill. (the world tree) Urdur rules over the past, Verdandi the present, and Skuld the future. This particular rune spread as set up at this site, is capable of giving you nearly 64,000 different layouts. This rune spread consists of three runes, each one placed to the left of the stone drawn previously.

From right to left the supposed relevance of each is described below:
1. Represents the past or an overview of the situation
2. The present state or the challenge to overcome with this situation
3. The course of action called for to manage this situation or if reading from a passive view the likely outcome from the present state

Continue on to Three Rune Spread.

Drawing a single rune is similar to flipping a coin to make a decision, albeit a forty-0ne sided coin. To gain a simple Yes or No answer, an upright rune is Yes, inverted is No, for those that can’t be inverted draw again.

Single rune drawings have been used to commemorate special events in people’s lives. Another use was to draw a stone in the morning and use it as a reference throughout the day, similar to horoscopes. Keeping track of the Runes drawn against daily events will quickly show that there is no significance between the Rune drawn and the events of the corresponding day.
Continue on to Odin’s Rune.

Choose a rune spread to begin, or a description of the rune spread.

Odin’s Rune
Three Rune Spread
Five Rune Spread
Runic Cross
Three Lifetimes Spread

Finnish society and culture have a few terms and beliefs and stories that, although not representative of each Finn, are in some respects unique to Finnish culture. Perhaps the most distinctive term that can be applied to Finnish culture is sisu. The term sisu has parallels and relatives in many cultures, but there are no direct translations in the English language, and perhaps many others. Most Finns grow up with stories of what seem to be feats of Thor himself. I have heard sisu translated as guts, courage, endurance, dependability, and commitment. I believe that sisu is this and much, much more. To me sisu isn’t just the ability to overcome adversity, but to utterly overwhelm it. I believe this perseverance leads to a heightened sense of personal awareness. Sisu is almost as difficult to describe as faith and Zen. Sisu is a form, maybe even the source, of inner strength, when it summons you it will not allow you to fail. The wars between Finland and Russia are a good examples of the power of sisu. To me the most amazing account from these wars, is that of the Winter War of 1939. This battle took place from November 30, 1939 to March 13, 1940. Russia sent 460,000 troops and 2,000 tanks in 23 divisions to take over Finland. Finland’s own troops numbered a meager 160,00 soldiers with little or no armored support. The Finnish Army was able to hold their lines, fend off the Russian forces and inflict a staggering 400,000 casualties on the well-supplied and reinforced Russian Army. By holding out until they were down to the last of their ammunition, the Finnish Army was able to force Stalin to concede a defeat. This ability to stand up against insurmountable odds and reign victorious is a prime example of sisu. Another term associated with sisu is hartia pankki. This is a sort of subset of sisu containing the qualities of both strength and courage. Sisu has also been described in my family with the phrase: “We may not always win, but we will never lose.”

A Rune journal is a good way to become familiar with the runes, as well as to gain insight into the random nature of Runes. Make a list of your questions, the stone(s) and spread(s) “cast”. Now repeat the list several times for comparison. You will quickly see that the Runes have no underlying knowledge, power or magic; rather they are random, subjective and ordinary.

You may notice that certain stones repeat quite often at times. This is rather common with truly random sequences.  The journal can help you identify the random nature of divination tools.

These pages and runes in general are a not psychic readings. They do not give answers. They can be fun. They are similar in usage to the Book of Changes (also known as the I Ching), and Tarot cards. Runes, like all divination tools, are just applications of interpretation, randomness and application of selective observation.

The runes are at best a reflection of the person using them. The belief system of the early users of the runes held that everything in the world was alive, and that it must be treated with respect. The runes were a way of “speaking” with this world. Runes were also considered a tool for personal growth and personal understanding.

The Rune spreads and Rune descriptions provided on this site are provided to demonstrate how chance, cherry-picking and interpretation have been used to promote various divination tools. The meaning is almost never obvious, almost always useless, always subjective, and never something upon which you should base real decisions. With that in mind have fun exploring the definitions Runes and their spreads.