When we refer to runes, we don’t just refer to the literal letters of the Elder Futhark alphabet. Runes are doorways to streams of energies which exist somewhere amongst the nine realms (Midgard, Asgard, Jotunheim, Vanaheim, Hel, Alfheim, Niflheim, Muspelheim, and Nidavellir). They relate to specific shapes at particular angles that create doorways to these different locations of energies and we can utilize them by representing the doorways carved into crystals, wood, bone, clay, or even just written down with pen and paper. This is not dissimilar to the way the ancient Egyptians viewed hieroglyphics; magic was so entwined with their daily life that all writing carried some inherent magic. Writing a hieroglyph or depicting a scene via hieroglyphs was as good as the thing being real - if you were to depict anything you didn’t want to manifest, there were additional precautions to take to prevent such a thing. And so we too must be mindful when we invoke certain runes or create bindrunes to bring us prosperity, safety, fertility. Any cursory Google search can give you a decent history of the runes as well as their meanings - so instead of going letter by letter, let’s talk about the ways that we invoke runes, incorporate them into our practice, and talk a little more broadly about sigil craft and deeper symbolism, so you can better elevate and inform your own relationship with them.

First, in addition to acting as portals and gateways to other locations with different energies, runes are containers. Rather than just a blunt tool to wield with force to obtain the desired result, they are the one wielding the power, each attuned differently. They’re like rivers, etched deep into earth and stone. The water follows the course of the river, over and over again, repeating its journey, carrying in it that same energy and intention. Some runes are light, more overt or joyful - while others are dark, not necessarily bad, but more subtle, as an undercurrent. Something that carries dutifully and stalwartly, if not obviously. When we can do magic in nature, it’s easier to tap into these connections, and feel more at one with the elements that work in tandem with our chosen tools.

Something critical when it comes to trying to wrap your head around the why and how of magic, is that we are 3-dimensional beings (yes, this may get a little transcendental for some of you, but as Val always says: “We do some woo woo things and we use some woo woo terms, but what we do is fucking real magic here”) living in what we perceive to be a 3-dimensional world. That being said, a 2-dimensional creature, living within what it perceives to be a 2-dimensional world, would still be perceptible to and possibly even manipulated by us in our 3-dimensional world. If you’re only aware of or able to manipulate things in 2D, then movement is limited exclusively to translation and rotation; mirroring an object requires flipping it over an axis, a feat that really strictly requires a third dimension. And yet, despite that impossibility when only 2 dimensions are considered, we have all seen it and done it. And this all begs the question - how do we know that there isn’t 4-dimensional world inhabited by 4-dimensional beings, able to perceive us (and our prayers and spells) and manipulate our world in what we only know as magic? To put it in more magical terms, we must consider the sigil - any sigil that we might draw on paper, carve into wood, etc. - it is a 2D ideograph that we pull into the 3D world where it has an affect on us and our lives. “As above, so below,” a sentiment, even a law of magic to many, that is very familiar to whole slews of practitioners. It utilizes some of what we know to be true scientifically; “Every action has an equal an opposite reaction,” and it posits that nothing is ever coincidence, but rather that for every pull, there must be a push, and vice versa. So we pull from 2D to 3D with some magic, and then we push from 3D to 4D with other forms of magic.

Another way to tap into that magic is sound; we know that the sounds we perceive are a result of vibrations and frequencies moving through the air and the inner workings of our ear - the canal, hammers, various gelatinous membranes and stereocilia. But these sound waves are traveling not just to us, but to the larger world around us, and in turn can affect vibrations of energy. Nature has shown us time and time again the drastic affects a simple sound can have. We’ve all seen a dog startle at fireworks or a parrot mimic its favorite song, but even plants and fungi respond to sounds. Frequencies that mimic birdsong encourage plants to open, and stronger beats that invoke harsh weather conditions signal them to increase mass in preparation for a storm. We now know that even fungi respond to sound in much the same way as humans do to music; with higher pitches (such as ones that can harm our hearing), trigger stress responses, whereas lower pitches more similar to our music stimulates growth and even enhances the flavor of the fruiting bodies consumed for food! A being doesn’t need the “perfect” sensory organs to utilize and benefit from specific pitches and frequencies, and the way that we observe this happening in a very concrete way opens many doors when it comes to the question of how sound can be used to alter and harness different energies for our own spellwork.

I know, especially if you’re newer to this, there is so much information out there and much of it is conflicting. Many things in magic can be or feel very subjective, and humans are fallible creatures with biases and prejudices and a psychology hardwired to believe. We do as much as we can to provide accurate information (if such an objective thing is truly available to us), but more importantly, give you the questions for which the answers will guide your journey. Check in with yourself often and pay attention to your gut. Listen to what calls, be it the mycelium that connects all plant and fungal life, the runes connecting different worlds, or simply taking the time to impose a little 3D magic of your own into a 2D world.

If you’d like to learn more, please reach out to us! You can get in touch via our Contact Us page, via DM on Instagram (@serenitycircletemple), or in-person at a ritual or market event. Whether just a casual conversation or formal lessons; whether a seasoned pro or a newbie who only has a sage bundle and a jar of lavender to their altar; we will meet you where you are and guide you down that path!