Azuregreen Practical Guide To The Runes by Lisa Peschel Book

by Lisa Peschel

Paperback book. Illustrated. 1st Edition.

Unknown Binding

Reviews

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a review of the 2007 Llewellyn paperback edition. My previous copy may have been a first edition. I don't remember any significant changes made.

I was a witch for 10 years. I was also a Christian for 15 or so years. I'm an atheist now, so that's going to color this review. Please don't try and get me to change my mind. You'll just stress yourself out.

Now, on to the book review.

The author takes a complex subject, the FUTHARK rune system, and is able to explain the basics in an easy to understand way. She also quotes other authors on the subject, including Carl Jung and good ol' Tacitus (not to be confused with the race horse Tacitus, who arguably was much smarter than his namesake).

This is not a Wicca 101 book. Although there are short appendices about magical correspondences, you really do need to read WIcca 101 books before reading this.

This book is recommended for:

* People wanting to write about runes and not sound like a total idiot
* People wanting to understand what their loved ones are doing with the runes
* People about to or have just had a runecast and want to check what the fortune teller told them was accurate
* Anyone considering getting a runes for a tattoo.

Many runes have different meanings when they appear upside-down. However, no mention is made of meanings for when the runes appear sideways. When I made my rune set of round pieces, I was always getting runes on their sides.

When I tried working with runes, I was also trying to learn the Tarot. Big mistake. Just stick with one system. It's less confusing that way. When I was in England, I preferred tea leaf reading.

Ultimately, any divination system is useless. As the author states on page 146:

Remember, it is the lack of confidence in ourselves and in the outcome of our magickal operations that causes failure. With confidence, success is certain.

I had confidence out the wazoo, and still the spells, lucky charms and whatever did not work. Of course, if you do 100 spells or divination, at least one is going to work, or seem to work. Your mind tends to focus on the successes instead of the failures. The problem with belief is that is doesn't impact reality one bit.

I also was bothered by the author suggesting that you should do a runecast for a lost pet. That just gives false hope, which is cruel.

[Celea · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent introduction to a robust system of divination. The list of runes was most helpful for me as a "cheatsheet" when meditating. Like most Llewellyn books, this is unfortunately colored significantly by post-new age philosophy and outer court wicca. However, that is typical for this House as well as the era in magickal writing in which this book was published. Great appetizer.

[Victoria Kitty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting read, I highly suggest if your interested in practicing runes.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read. I just wish the author provided more sources for the history of them. She made it sound as if she had a long list of sources, but there were only 4 books recommended.

[Juli Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the pocket size of this volume is great, I found it poorly organized. In addition, a few glaring factual errors made me question the author's sources.

[Brendan Rather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Convenient, straightforward, and organized.

[Isabelle Boudreau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting.