Niflheim: Nordhr (North). That which resists you. Passive or restrictive influences from the outside. Things tending toward dormancy1. The deepest part of the shadow in the unconscious. Nifelhel of Nifelheim means literally "fog world". Fog is an intangeable, insidious state betwee water and air. All the rejects of the conscious get deposited here. It is the place from which conflicts originate. 2
Jotunheim: Austr (East). That which confuses you. That which may be left to chance. Forces pressing for change. Realm of crisis.1 Disruptive, raw masculine forces of the unconscious; the destructive male urge; the chaotic part of the self.2
Asgard: Landnordhr (Northeast). Higher influences. Nature of relationships with the divinities. The veiled branches of the question. Matters of honor, positive (active) influence from past states of existence ("incarnations:)--ørlög.1 Individuality. Highest plane. Higher self. Spirituality. 2
Vanaheim: Vestr (West). Promotes growth. Erotic relationships. Persons of the opposite sex. Balancing influences. Forces of continuity, structure, and well being.1 Feeling (Water).2
Ljóssálfheim: Utnordhr (Northwest). Mental influences. Family matters. Messages of Huginn&emdash;directions in which you should plan. What will help you. Paths to help you realize influences from Àsgardhr. 1 (Air). Plants, elves, tree spirits and birds are ruled over by Frey, Lord of the Vanir.2
Midgard: Center. The way people come together to manifest themselves in life. The outcome in life. Ego consciousness.1 The Personality, Ego Consciousness or Lower self. 2
Hel: Utsudhr (Southwest). Hidden or suppressed instinctual desires. Nature of automatic functions or behaviors. The hidden route of the question. Negative (passive, restrictive) influence from pasts states of existence&emdash;ørlög. 1 Destructive part of the Feminine, hidden fourth aspect of the moon; the devouring part of the mother; the half-alive half-dead daughter of Loki, half black, half white. 2
Svartálfheim: Landsudhr (Southeast). Creative emotional influences. Money matters. Messages from Muninn&emdash;things you should reflect on. Paths to realize influence from Hel.1 Sensation (Earth). The Dark Elves are smiths, like Volund, working with minerals, taking base materials from the earth and transmuting them into higher materials.2
Muspellsheim: Sudhr (South). State of vial energies, that which vitalizes you. Active influences from outside. Things tending toward activity. 1 Intuition (Fire, Creative).2
One of the most well-established arrangements of space into meaningful fields known in the Germanic world is the division of the sky and the plane of the earth into "eighths", in Old Norse Ættir (which also means generations or families), or in Scots dialect English "airts". The names indicate that things to the east were more "close in", or earthly, and that things to the west were more "outer", or "far out", and that the main polarity is between north and south. It is no coincidence that the runes also are divided into "eighths".
In runecasting this pattern is combined with the other more obvious division of "space", that of the nine worlds of Yggdrasil, to form the design used to divide the casting cloth into fields of meaning in the Worldstead Layout.
Nordhr = North
Landnordhr = Northeast
Austr = East
Landsudhr = Southeast
Sudhr = South
Utsudhr = Southwest
Vestr = West
Utnordhr = Northwest
When should one give a 'reversed' meaning to a rune during a divination? If drawing runes one by one from the runebag, those that upside down are typically given a 'reversed' meaning. Some feel that the position of the rune is not relevant and makes no difference in a reading. But, if one is literally casting the rune lots onto the ground or onto a layout cloth/board, the lay of the rune becomes much more significant.
Edred Thorsson discusses runecasting aspects in At the Well of Wyrd.
"One matter crucial to rune reading is determining what aspect of a rune is to be interpreted. Should a lot be read as a bright-stave or as a murk-stave? That the negative aspects of the runes were used in magic is beyond question. Some of the "positive" manifestations of the runes can be said to often have detrimental or dangerous consequences, especially . There is no shortage of dark aspects in the rune row. Remember, the runes are your inner advisors, and they must be able to warn you&emdash;before it becomes too late to overcome the force of Wyrd.
"Aspects are determined in essentially [three] ways: (1) by the position a runelot falls in a casting (e.g., face up or face down; (2) inside or outside a certain field), and (3) by the angle at which one runelot is juxtaposed to another.
"It should also be noted that there is a certain question of "aspect" with regard to the relationship of a given stave to the stead in which it falls or is laid. To a great extent intuition must guide the runester in these matters.
"The determination of aspect is one of the finer points of the runecaster's skill and craft, and it is one that must be learned through personal experience because the runes will interact differently with different people. Fortunately or unfortunately, it is not a simple matter of reading reversed staves as "bad".
"(1) In casting, if a rune lands face up it is to be read as a bright-stave; if it lands face down it may either be disregarded in the reading or read as a murk-stave. The decision on how these lots are to be interpreted must be made before every casting. Also, each runester is encouraged to be consistent in this regard. The usual practice is to disregard them, however. (2) In some casting, runes that fall outside the fields of meaning or off the white cloth also may be read as murk-staves. Again, you must determine how these are to be read beforehand."
"Most of the runestaves are constructed with acute or obtuse angle combinations, and there are very few right angles in the shapes. Obtuse angles are known to have a dynamizing effect on the mind, while right angles generally have the opposite effect. In the runic tradition obtuse or acute angles promote active, positive interaction between and among runes. Right angles create static, negative interaction or they can block the flow of runic force altogether. They actually cross it.
"When using angular aspects in castings, the runester must measure (at least approximately) the angle at which any two lots in question are juxtaposed. This is done by mentally drawing lines from the two lots through the center point of the cloth, then determining the angle at which they are juxtaposed. See example diagram. If the result is between 5° and 45°(clearly acute), or between 135° and 360° (clearly obtuse) they are read as bright staves. If they fall between 45° and 135° (an approximation of a 90° right angle) they are read as murk-staves. Exact measurements are unnecessary."
Probably the easiest way to see the angle aspects is by imagining a circle over the cloth that is divided into quarters and bisected by a third line that you will use to orient the rune in question to the others. Runes falling the same quarter or in the quarter directly opposite are brightly aspected, while those in the quadrants on either side tend to be murky.
"The closer a lot is to the bright angle, the more positively it is to be read. Only those close to a 90° relationship should be read as "blockages". Juxtapositions approaching 180° also have a dark aspect, but one which will lead eventually to a positive outcome. In castings these aspects only refine what is already apparent in the reading of the rune and its field.
"Aspects of this kind are much more useful and easier to determine when using a rune layout method. To determine the relationship among runes in a layout, the runester can refer to this diagram which works on the same principals as the Aspect Angles diagram.
"Example using Fehu: Runes belonging to the same triad (e.g., Fehu, Hagalaz, Tiwaz ), or to triads on either side, or to the triads on the same axes as those adjacent to the "home triad" of Fehu are to be read as bright-staves. Those in the opposite triad are read as murk-staves, but with a positive ultimate outcome. Those runes in triads at a 90° angle, those that cross the axis of the triad in question, are read as murk-staves, usually of a blocking variety."
One of the controversies over Edred Thorsson's book, Futhark, a Handbook of Rune Magic centers on these correspondences between Runes , Tarot and Astrology. The detractors argue that this is "new age pandering" and that there is no historical support for such correspondences. Nevertheless, this book is highly regarded in most other aspects.
Runes usually give a compatible reading when done concurrently with a Tarot reading. There is a theory, among certain circles, that the runes were the inspiration for Tarot. There are correlations between Tarot and Runes, but they are far from identical. For example, the Hanged Man, he hangs upside down, just as Odin hung from Yggdrasil.
Rune
Tarot
Astrology
God-dess/Wight
Color
Tree
Herb
Fehu
Tower
Aries
Aesir
Light Red
Elder
Nettle
Uruz
High Priestess
Taurus
Vanir
Dark Green
Birch
Sphagnum Moss
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