Runestones
Proper care

Taking care of your runestones is a little more involved than throwing them in a bag, and a little less involved than taking their temperature three times daily and mixing up a special diet.

Mostly the care of your runestones begins with respect. These are not toys or trinkets so you shouldn't subject them to the playful fingers of those who may not have the same respect for their use as yourself. This is not to say that no one else is allowed to touch or handle your runestones. Certainly there may be occasions where you will allow, or even ask others to select, hold, or inspect your stones.

Although there is a sort of oft-repeated dire warning about how "the cosmic energies are dreadfully and entirely disturbed" if another is allowed to touch your personal tools of divination, be they runestones, tarot cards, tea leaves, or whatever, we must remind you that we personally have never ever ever seen anyone struck down by Thors' lightening bolt in punishment for the unimaginable "sin" of... I guess you can fill in the blank here with whatever goofy oogedy-boogedy occult infraction you have been warned would result in your immediate immolation. There are so many we can't keep track of 'em all.

Suffice it to say, these are tools. Like any other tool they should be handled with the same care and respect you afford other tools which have served you well and you intend to keep using. Does your screwdriver stop working simply because another has touched it, or it has been exposed to light? No, of course not. Neither do you hand your trusty screwdriver to the next toddler that reaches with sticky fingers. Let common sense prevail in the matter of care for your runestones. That being said, there are a couple of hints we can give you to keep your runestones in the best possible working order.

When Runestones are first carved, the entire set (or Futhark) is broken down into three subsets of eight runestones each. These are known as the three "aettir". The carver traditionally intones the name of the engraved rune, like a chant, the entire time he or she is carving the symbol into the stone. This is said to firmly affix the meaning and magic of the rune binding the stone and the carver both.

Now does this mean that you can't effectively use runestones if you have not carved them yourself? Of course not. No more that you can't read the tarot if you didn't paint the cards yourself or you can't drive a car if you didn't build it yourself. However, just like a good driver can, through familiarity, get to know all the particulars of his own vehicle and even imprint the vehicle so it "fits" this driver more personally than any other (you will know this is true if you have ever had to spend ten minutes adjusting the seats, mirrors, and steering wheel of a borrowed or rented vehicle before you could even turn on the ignition!). A good runecaster will be willing to attune himself or herself to a new set of runestones.

One simple way to accomplish this is to trace the carvings on each runestone with your fingertips all the while intoning the name of the rune and meditating on the meaning of that rune just as was done when the stone was first carved. It will benefit your "imprinting" the runestone to do this in the same order they were carved, by each "aettir". This way, you may take a small (or even large) break between each "aettir" before you have completed the entire Futhark. Which is good. It will allow you to fully meditate on the meaning of each rune without feeling rushed or pressured to get it all done in one session, and it will also afford you the opportunity to see the collected meanings of each completed "aettir" and perhaps more easily understand their significance. This is important preparatory work and should not be rushed or glossed over.

Now we come to the subject of "blooding" your runestones. There are many that feel runestones are not fully "yours" until they are marked in some way with your blood. The principles of "sympathetic magic" would indicate that this is an entirely accurate concept and there is a fairly good arguement that any magical tool marked with your DNA is gonna be more "yours" than one which has not.

With that understanding, we would urge you not to feel you have to go overboard and empty your veins into the hollowed out skull of some earthborn creature so that you can create a suitable bloodbath. Not only does this seem overly dramatic, but it is quite an inconvenience to the aforementioned earthborn creature.

On a much more somber note, we hasten to remind you that bloodborn infections are a very serious matter in this day and age and you should probably think twice (at least) about any ritual requiring blood. In fact, because we now know that the unique identifying factor of blood for each individual is not the plasma or red cells themselves, but rather the DNA strands within any given biological source, you could just as easily select other, safer, sources of your own unique DNA code. Remember, your DNA is in every part of your system, your hair, your fingernails, your tears, etc...

As a more savory, safe, and humane alternative you may want to blend a drop of anything containing your DNA into a bowl of water, allow it to disburse, and immerse each of the runestones in the bowl while tracing the rune carved into it with your finger, or you may simply want to wet the tip of your finger in the water mixture and trace the rune carving with this wet fingertip.

However you choose to bind your stones to your singular and unique use you should, once you have gone through all three "aettir" and completed the entire Futhark, allow the stones to set for a full 24 hour period before using them. This way one full day of the Sun and one full night of the Moon can also add their influence to this binding procedure. For this reason, we recommend that you allow your stones to rest undisturbed on a windowsill or some other setting where they will get the benefits of both sunlight and moonlight for the 24 hours immediately following your binding them to your use.

You may want to periodically "refresh" your runestones with a repeat of the 24 hour sun and moon bath, maybe once a year or so... but.... for the most part, this is really all you must do to prepare your runestones for your own divination work.

If it so happens that your information or experience is not reflected in these pages, by all means, go with what you know. Better yet, share what you know the rest of us here in the Garden of the Midnight Moonchild. We are always happy to learn more.

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