Some historians claim that the runes originated in the Teutonic tribes of Northern Europe in the 5th century. BC e. Others are of the opinion that the Scandinavian Goths adapted the Greek script during their contact with Hellenic culture around the 2nd century. n. e. Still others suggest that the runes originated much later, in Northern Italy, and are derived from the Latin alphabet. It is believed that they were invented by the Vikings in the 8th century. n. e. But although the views of scholars differ on the origin of the runic writing, most agree that the runes were used by pagan tribes in the vast area of Northern Europe.
Many of these tribes were descendants of the Teutonic peoples, whose mythology and theology are most fully expressed in the later texts known as the Edda. These loosely related poems, songs and texts were brought together in the Codex Regius (Royal Manuscript), so named because it was held in the Royal Library of Copenhagen until 1971, and then was returned to its homeland of Iceland. This manuscript of the 13th century. It was compiled more than 200 years after the conversion of Iceland to Christianity.
What is known today as the Elder Edda is a collection of songs and poems by the Vikings who inhabited Iceland in the 8th century. n. e., compiled by the Christian monk Symund. The Younger Edda or Prose Edda was written much later by the Icelandic historian Snorri Sturulson (1179-1241). Although his chronicle contains descriptions of the runes, it does not explain how to use them and what power is inherent in them. Some modern rune scholars who treat these texts as Scripture do not seem to realize that the author did not set out to create a representative scientific work on runes. Sturulson was a poet himself and was essentially just an anthology for his fellow poets, as Professor RL Page of Cambridge University rightly notes in his book Norse Myths. Analyzing some of the texts, Professor Page asks the question:whether they are genuine works of Norse mythology or a mockery of deities despised by the Christian religion. There is no doubt that both collections have experienced a significant influence of Christianity, and therefore cannot fully and objectively reflect early pagan ideas.
The Elder and Younger Edda were attempts to preserve on paper the living word of the ancient poets, depicting in allegorical form the eternal struggle between the beneficial forces of nature and the hostile forces of Chaos. Perhaps not everyone understands that the events described in these texts are related not so much to the origin as to the rediscovery of the runes, comparable only to the "rune revival" of our days.
This discovery was all the more important because, according to oral tradition, the runes have a much longer history than is assumed in modern scientific works.
In the culture of the Vikings, which flourished from VI to XII century. n. e., runes were widely used. The word "viking" is translated as "traveler" or "pioneer". This Scandinavian people became famous for the exploration of vast stretches of mainland waterways and long sea voyages on sailing galleys or drakkars, very advanced ships for that time. Shamans often accompanied the Vikings on their wanderings, spreading knowledge about the runes, myths and legends about their origin. Myth is an attempt to explain in allegorical form how life originated and developed on our planet, how the events of past eras influenced humanity. Illiterate people memorized myths and passed them down orally from generation to generation.
Mythology is an unscientific way of explaining the origin of the universe and the relationship between the fundamental forces of nature. Myth expresses in poetic or narrative form some basic principles rather than literal truth, and thus appeals to intuition rather than common sense, and stimulates feelings rather than reason. The difference between myth and legend is that myths tend to talk about an unusual reality, while legends talk about human activity in the context of ordinary reality. Perhaps the myths are part of the racial memory of a previous civilization and are presented in a form accessible to the descendants of those who survived the worldwide ecological catastrophe. Indeed: Holy Scripture also contains references to a prehistoric civilization destroyed by an ecological disaster. An example is the Old Testament tradition of the Noah's ark.
In the myths of the Elder and Younger Edda, the runes are presented not as a human invention, but as something already existing, waiting only for discovery and release. It remains unclear whether Odin received them in a divine guise, or in the guise of a man who was subsequently deified for his merits. However, this does not affect the importance of the discovery itself and its significance for people.
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The poem "Hawamal" (the name means "Song of the Tall One") from the "Elder Edda" tells how Odin, in an attempt to do something valuable for people, voluntarily hung upside down for nine days without food or drink, nailed to a tree with his own spear. As a result, he lost his eye, but gained the runes, which were revealed to him as a gift to humanity from the extraordinary reality of shamanic experience. Runes provided a means of gaining knowledge about the secret forces of nature and the processes underlying life. They expanded perception beyond the physical senses, allowing the Spirit to “see” with the inner vision and “hear” the inaudible. Personality transformation is made possible because the runes themselves are a great transforming power.
The following poetic passage on O din's experiences is taken from the Poetic Edda (c. 1200 AD), translated from Old Norse:
Why did Odin hang upside down in a tree? This question is usually ignored by those who write books about runes, but with his gesture Odin was clearly trying to convey some important knowledge.
The legend of Odin hanging from a tree bears a resemblance to the story of the crucifixion in the New Testament. Christianity was acceptable to the northern peoples largely because Jesus' crucifixion reminded them of the suffering of Odin, nailed to a tree with a spear. But with the difference that Odin was hanging upside down!
Such a choice can be seen as a deliberate act of a martyr who is ready to sacrifice his life in order to achieve truth, as a willingness to give up his “ego” in order to gain wisdom and understanding. Odin's gaze, hanging from the tree, was turned to the roots. This can be interpreted as the providence of the depths of the Subconscious, where the potential of all phenomena is laid, or as a transition from the external activity of physical existence to peace and renewal, preceding rebirth. Odin's self-sacrifice, his abandonment of his “I” for the good of the Higher Self, could serve as an impetus for a sudden flash of inspiration - that inner insight that allowed him to comprehend the secret meaning of the runes. But it could mean something more.
Although there is a certain affinity between humans and trees, their functions and characteristics are opposite. For example, the leaves of trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and release oxygen. In contrast, humans breathe oxygen and give off carbon dioxide. The roots of trees are in the ground, and their reproductive system - flowers and fruits - is located at the top of the trunk. A person's reproductive organs are at the base of his torso, and the "stem" and "roots" are in the head, because although the nourishment for the physical body comes from the Earth, the source of life is in the universe. The center of a person's mind is located in his head, and through this center the development of personality is realized. Micho Kushi writes in his "Book of Macrobiotics": "It would be more accurate to say that we are hanging from heaven than standing on earth."
Thus, Odin demonstrates through his shamanic experience that our "roots" are brain cells, and our body, being a physical object, has a primary spiritual nature, and we are, as it were, suspended between these two states. One in allegorical form expresses the understanding of the energetic nature of man and teaches us that the purpose of human life is the harmony of the forces of Heaven and Earth, in the balance of body, mind, soul and Spirit. He shows that although in physical reality development is directed outward, in the reality of the Spirit development is directed inward, towards our seed and source, towards the fusion of the physical and the spiritual.
The tree on which Odin hung is called Yggdrasil in northern mythology and symbolizes the Tree of Life. The Old Norse word "igg", according to some writers, is another name for Odin, but, in my opinion, it is better to translate it as "I", which indicates the presence of the original Spirit within us. The word "drasil" means "horse" in the sense of a carrier or transporter. Consequently, "the horse of my" I "is a force that guides the original Spirit, a creative and constructive beginning, through life's wanderings and experience of multidimensional reality for the sake of nurturing the human and expanding its limits. Therefore, the Yggdrasil tree is also the Tree of Being of Spirit, outside and within time.
Before telling how the runes were revealed to Odin, and what he experienced, looking into the depths of the Subconscious, it should be noted that the shaman of the northern tradition was also known as the "bearer of the staff" or "bearer of the charter." The staff can be compared to a magic wand; sometimes a horse's head was cut out on its knob or a pommel in the form of a horse's head was attached. Oddly enough, the children's jump rope comes from a shamanic staff, which was believed to have served for travel to other dimensions of being - to realms outside of ordinary physical reality. This staff was also the forerunner of the witch's broom in European medieval tradition. During the reign of the official religion, common household items served as a substitute for shamanic tools. The broomstick represented the shaman's staff; of course she had no magical power,but it served as a symbolic representation of other levels, planes of being and the boundaries between them - roots, stems and branches.
On special occasions, female rune shamans wore dresses with an embroidered hem and a necklace of amber beads, bones, or shells. They also wore a shawl with nine tails, one for each of the nine levels or branches of reality. The headdress was crowned with elk or deer antlers, the legs were shod with boots made of soft leather with fur trim, like moccasins. In addition to the tambourine and rattle, the shaman wore a rune-covered staff with a knob in the shape of a horse's head. The staff was not only a symbol of service, but also personified Yggdrasil, the Tree of Genesis. Other rune shamans or seers wore similar clothing. Some had cloaks made of skins with a fur hood that pulled over their eyes for ritual purposes.
There are two different ways of working with runes - either for your own benefit and achieving power, even at the expense of others, or for personal development in harmony and balance with the forces of nature. Since each shaman had his own skills in handling runes, the difference was often traced only in the results of their work - for the good or for evil of himself and others. I use the term "rune shaman" to define those people who worked with the runes in their natural sequence, described in more detail below, and not in the "traditional" Futhark order adopted among the rune sorcerers.
Runic shamans treated runes as a divine gift, not just because they were revealed to Odin in an unusual way, but also because, like any form of writing, runes served as a means of transmitting knowledge and wisdom. The runes were considered a blessing to humanity, given in the spirit of love and designed to understand the forces at work in nature and in human beings.
Nine sticks thrown to the ground formed a pattern in which Odin saw 24 rune symbols.
The shaman's nine rune sticks reminded him of the Cosmic Law of Creation, through which matter emerges from invisible energy and eventually returns to it. From Zero, from the abyss of Nothing (Ginnungagap in northern mythology) everything that exists. From the great mystery of the Nothing emerged the singular Unity - the Unity, which contains the dynamic dualism of opposites. With the merging of the Two, the Third emerged, which set in motion a structure of infinite probabilities. Nine is the sum of three triples, denoting the primary cosmic scheme of being and the sequence of processes occurring in nature and in the Universe. Their combination creates integrity. For the shaman, the nine sticks of the rune charter represented the entire Cosmos - the totality of being - structured in nine worlds or "branches" of reality,in which the perception of life processes is possible.
Ready to sacrifice his "ego" for the sake of the Soul's goals and the ultimate good for humanity, shaman Odin took nine sticks and threw them on the ground while hanging upside down in a tree. The sticks formed a pattern of vertical and diagonal lines, from which 24 angular symbols began to appear one after another. Thus, the runes were revealed to Odin.
These 24 characters later became known as the "traditional" or "senior" Futhark runes due to the phonetic combination FU-Th-ARK of the first six characters that appeared in the earliest manuscripts, oral runic poems and legends. This is the prototype from which all other runic systems originated. However, it should be borne in mind that the sequential arrangement of the runes given in the Edda does not necessarily have the same order in which they were revealed to Odin. To make information available to only a select few and hide its true meaning from others, it was customary to use allegories, symbols, or permutation methods; the meaning of the message became obscure to those who were considered unprepared or even unworthy to perceive it. However, the very number of runic symbols - 24 - contains several important principles of shamanism.
The number 24 is in agreement with the Cosmic Law of Harmony. It consists of three octaves, or eights, just like musical notes. These runic octaves correspond to movement in the vertical and horizontal planes of the highest, middle and lowest levels, as well as external, central and internal. They rely on three main aspects of being: physical, mental and spiritual. The number 24 can also be represented as two groups 12. Twelve is the number of stability and organization on an organic level, while Two represents the duality of active and perceiving principles, complementing each other in the dynamic unity of the Cosmos.