Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #55725 in Books
• Published on: 2008-11-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 160 pages

Customer Reviews

A point of view
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.

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. The mere fact that there are suddenly 25 runes instead of 24 makes it clear that Blum is playing by his own rules that he's made up along the way and by so doing, shows complete disrespect for the Northern religion in general and runes in particular. He has invented a blank rune and named is for Odin, then taken the rune originally named for Odin and named it for Loki instead. If you're not familiar with Nordic mythology, this is akin to taking something meant solely for the king and giving it to the court jester. The runes are also supposed to be in three sets of eight, each in a particular order (among other things, they are representantive of various seasons so mixing them up mixes up the seasons). All this might not be quite so bad if the interpretations themselves weren't so completely lacking in any depth. This is a bestseller so obviously quite the little money spinner, but to my mind it is worthless, pointless and deeply insulting to the Runic Oracle.

Recent History
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.