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Northern Mysteries and Magick: Runes & Feminine Powers
Bring the power of the ancient runes into your life for divination and magic with Northern Mysteries & Magick (revised edition of Leaves of Yggdrasil) by Freya Aswynn.
The runes are more than an ancient alphabet. They comprise a powerful system of divination and a path to the subconscious forces operating in your life. Northern Mysteries & Magick is the only book of Nordic magick written by a woman, and it is the first to offer an extensive presentation of rune concepts, mythology, and magical applications inspired by Dutch/Friesian traditional lore.
Also unique in this book is the inclusion of the feminine Mysteries of the North. You'll learn how they are represented in the runes. You will see how each of the major deities of Northern Europe still lives in the collective consciousness of people of Northern European descent.
- A complete analysis of the Elder Futhark Runes and their meanings
- How to use the runes for divination including several rune spreads
- Using the runes in magick
- Rune charms and power sigils
- Shamanic drumming and chanting
- Profiles of the eight major Gods
- The Northern Feminine mysteries featuring four major goddesses
The first edition of this book was considered a classic. Now, revised and expanded, Northern Mysteries & Magick is one of the most amazing and important books ever on the Runes and the magick of Northern Europe.
The runes are more than an ancient alphabet. They comprise a powerful system of divination and a path to the subconscious forces operating in your life. Northern Mysteries & Magick is the only book of Nordic magick written by a woman, and it is the first to offer an extensive presentation of rune concepts, mythology, and magical applications inspired by Dutch/Friesian traditional lore.
Also unique in this book is the inclusion of the feminine Mysteries of the North. You'll learn how they are represented in the runes. You will see how each of the major deities of Northern Europe still lives in the collective consciousness of people of Northern European descent.
- A complete analysis of the Elder Futhark Runes and their meanings
- How to use the runes for divination including several rune spreads
- Using the runes in magick
- Rune charms and power sigils
- Shamanic drumming and chanting
- Profiles of the eight major Gods
- The Northern Feminine mysteries featuring four major goddesses
The first edition of this book was considered a classic. Now, revised and expanded, Northern Mysteries & Magick is one of the most amazing and important books ever on the Runes and the magick of Northern Europe.
288 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
May 18, 2008
FORGET ALL OTHER BOOKS ABOUT THE RUNES AND NORSE MAGICK!
For years I read Aswynn's studies on the Norse realm, and was lucky a few years ago to actually SEE her in person when she came to the states for a pagan festival in Virginia.
THIS BOOK IS ESSENTIAL to anyone serious about studying runes, creating sigils, bending energy, whatever you need. It's here, waiting for you.
This particular volume also has profiles of the GODS, and she has a unique way of tearing up the soil to make their purest study shine through.
Odin in particular makes his mark, but Freya Aswynn is devoted to Odin, so it makes sense. This is a woman who has the entire elder futhark tattooed on her chest in a circle. When I met her she took her shirt off in workshop, and I asked her why she had the futhark on her chest. She answered without hesitation, "IT'S TARGET PRACTICE FOR THE GODS!"
GET THIS BOOK!
CAConrad
http://CAConrad.blogspot.com
....
For years I read Aswynn's studies on the Norse realm, and was lucky a few years ago to actually SEE her in person when she came to the states for a pagan festival in Virginia.
THIS BOOK IS ESSENTIAL to anyone serious about studying runes, creating sigils, bending energy, whatever you need. It's here, waiting for you.
This particular volume also has profiles of the GODS, and she has a unique way of tearing up the soil to make their purest study shine through.
Odin in particular makes his mark, but Freya Aswynn is devoted to Odin, so it makes sense. This is a woman who has the entire elder futhark tattooed on her chest in a circle. When I met her she took her shirt off in workshop, and I asked her why she had the futhark on her chest. She answered without hesitation, "IT'S TARGET PRACTICE FOR THE GODS!"
GET THIS BOOK!
CAConrad
http://CAConrad.blogspot.com
....
January 30, 2021
“The latter of course I cannot prove; one has to experiment with the material for oneself to verify my statements.”
I quoted this because this sentence sums up the author’s ego in a succinct nutshell, and that ego is on display all over this book. Here, her UPG isn’t presented as “experimenting will determine whether or not you agree”, but as “experiment for yourself and you’ll see I’m right”.
She even, much earlier in the book, spends several paragraphs defending her belief that she came up with an idea first, going into great detail about how she shared this idea at conventions and such, even though there was no reason for any reader to question that or even care. But apparently she does, and really needed to make that known.
It also sums up her propensity for presenting conjecture as fact. For example, preceding this quoted sentence is a section in which she tried to shoehorn the modern belief of “quarters” into Heathen belief. She presents as “evidence” a couple of paragraphs from the Havamal which discuss the making of runes and staves, in which four entities are mentioned (Odin, Dani, Dvalin, and Asvind). She posits that these are four “elemental guardians”, even though a) the Havamal doesn’t mention either elements or guardians (or anything that could be interpreted as such), b) she never explains WHY they are elemental guardians except (paraphrasing) “this guy is a dwarf and dwarves work with fire when they make stuff so he’s the guardian of fire”, and finally c) there is actually a fifth entity mentioned in the same paragraph, which she completely ignores. In the Havamal these are merely presented as entities who created runes and staves for their people (the Aesir, the elves, etc), nothing more.
This is not the only time she tries to shoehorn things in like this, just one of the most blatant examples.
I have no problem with someone interpreting and creating a modern magickal or religious practice out of Heathenry. I’m no strict reconstructionist by any means, and I truly believe in an evolving practice. What was done 900 years ago isn’t going to have much relevance today. What I do have a problem with is someone presenting their guesses or their own personal preference for doing things as some kind of scholarly work. If Aswynn had presented this as just the way she approaches it, that it is based on her own feelings, how she has read things and is not backed by any authority, just some ideas you might find useful in your own practice, I would’ve rated this book very differently because I could see how her ways might find a place with people of other persuasions, especially newer Heathens whose pagan path started or spent a significant time in Wicca. But here it comes off to the new reader as fact, that this is how Heathens practice, and she goes out of the way to stretch things to fit her ideas and give them false validity. For this reason I can not recommend this book, especially for novices.
Just a final note: If you’re going to present a sunwheel in a manner that is visually identical to the swastika, I really don’t recommend just breezing past the obvious as if there is no association, as Aswynn did here. It gives the impression to the reader that you are perfectly ok displaying and teaching symbols without taking the time to contextualize them in order to reduce the harm (or confusion) they may cause. I get that it sucks that symbols have been appropriated but we can’t just make that go away by ignoring it.
I quoted this because this sentence sums up the author’s ego in a succinct nutshell, and that ego is on display all over this book. Here, her UPG isn’t presented as “experimenting will determine whether or not you agree”, but as “experiment for yourself and you’ll see I’m right”.
She even, much earlier in the book, spends several paragraphs defending her belief that she came up with an idea first, going into great detail about how she shared this idea at conventions and such, even though there was no reason for any reader to question that or even care. But apparently she does, and really needed to make that known.
It also sums up her propensity for presenting conjecture as fact. For example, preceding this quoted sentence is a section in which she tried to shoehorn the modern belief of “quarters” into Heathen belief. She presents as “evidence” a couple of paragraphs from the Havamal which discuss the making of runes and staves, in which four entities are mentioned (Odin, Dani, Dvalin, and Asvind). She posits that these are four “elemental guardians”, even though a) the Havamal doesn’t mention either elements or guardians (or anything that could be interpreted as such), b) she never explains WHY they are elemental guardians except (paraphrasing) “this guy is a dwarf and dwarves work with fire when they make stuff so he’s the guardian of fire”, and finally c) there is actually a fifth entity mentioned in the same paragraph, which she completely ignores. In the Havamal these are merely presented as entities who created runes and staves for their people (the Aesir, the elves, etc), nothing more.
This is not the only time she tries to shoehorn things in like this, just one of the most blatant examples.
I have no problem with someone interpreting and creating a modern magickal or religious practice out of Heathenry. I’m no strict reconstructionist by any means, and I truly believe in an evolving practice. What was done 900 years ago isn’t going to have much relevance today. What I do have a problem with is someone presenting their guesses or their own personal preference for doing things as some kind of scholarly work. If Aswynn had presented this as just the way she approaches it, that it is based on her own feelings, how she has read things and is not backed by any authority, just some ideas you might find useful in your own practice, I would’ve rated this book very differently because I could see how her ways might find a place with people of other persuasions, especially newer Heathens whose pagan path started or spent a significant time in Wicca. But here it comes off to the new reader as fact, that this is how Heathens practice, and she goes out of the way to stretch things to fit her ideas and give them false validity. For this reason I can not recommend this book, especially for novices.
Just a final note: If you’re going to present a sunwheel in a manner that is visually identical to the swastika, I really don’t recommend just breezing past the obvious as if there is no association, as Aswynn did here. It gives the impression to the reader that you are perfectly ok displaying and teaching symbols without taking the time to contextualize them in order to reduce the harm (or confusion) they may cause. I get that it sucks that symbols have been appropriated but we can’t just make that go away by ignoring it.
April 25, 2017
I would have rated this five stars but I am not big into supporting the folkish branch of heathenry. However, the allusions to this ideology were soft-handed enough that I felt the book is very valuable to anyone interested in studying the runes and Northern Pagan Reconstruction in general. The other factor that dragged this book down a bit for me was that the ideas were a bit disorganized. The divinatory meanings were not easily laid out, and the reader really had to work to gain an understanding of how to practice runic divination. The divination section of the book seems more focused on specific spreads than on the actual practice of divining. The information offered is still useful though. So yeah. Overall really good book, just a little hard to follow in some places and a bit exclusionary of anyone not born in one of the classically Germanic countries.
December 13, 2008
I really wanted to like this book a lot more then I did. While it is probably the best of the many Wiccan influenced "Asatru" books that have been published she just carries too much of the baggage from those ideas for my tastes.
Northern Mysteries & Magick is mostly about runes, which I make no claims to be any kind of great expert in runology but she is obviously, and she admits it, heavily influenced by general occultism, Crowley, Kabbalism, Wicca and other "new age" ideas. Which I believe are not only incompatable with true Aryan Heathenry, they actually derive from forces that are in opposition to our folk. Even if you don't want to say it is an intentional conspiratorial subversion by people with "occult" or "new age" backgrounds writing books about Odinism the influence is still there.
While on one hand Aswynn does talk about keeping Northern European Heathenry authentic and Germanic, she also quotes Crowley two or three times and talks with high praise of two people of "African origin" being gifted at Runic divination. Also, and you can take this for what its worth, she claims that she fended off a would be attacker by shapeshifting into a hawk and flying after him.
She does have some interesting and feasable ideas though. She has a Pan-Germanic view of "Asatru", and seems to acknowledge a few times that it is Pan-Aryan, including Celtic, Slavic, and Greco-Roman Gods as being one and the same as the Germanic and also has some interesting observations on the Gods, the runes and the religious practices of the northern folk so its worth reading if you can get it from a library or pick up a cheap copy.
Northern Mysteries & Magick is mostly about runes, which I make no claims to be any kind of great expert in runology but she is obviously, and she admits it, heavily influenced by general occultism, Crowley, Kabbalism, Wicca and other "new age" ideas. Which I believe are not only incompatable with true Aryan Heathenry, they actually derive from forces that are in opposition to our folk. Even if you don't want to say it is an intentional conspiratorial subversion by people with "occult" or "new age" backgrounds writing books about Odinism the influence is still there.
While on one hand Aswynn does talk about keeping Northern European Heathenry authentic and Germanic, she also quotes Crowley two or three times and talks with high praise of two people of "African origin" being gifted at Runic divination. Also, and you can take this for what its worth, she claims that she fended off a would be attacker by shapeshifting into a hawk and flying after him.
She does have some interesting and feasable ideas though. She has a Pan-Germanic view of "Asatru", and seems to acknowledge a few times that it is Pan-Aryan, including Celtic, Slavic, and Greco-Roman Gods as being one and the same as the Germanic and also has some interesting observations on the Gods, the runes and the religious practices of the northern folk so its worth reading if you can get it from a library or pick up a cheap copy.
February 28, 2014
Freya Aswynn has been in the heathen community for many years. Her experience shows through her writing and in-depth analysis of the runes and their respective meanings. However, this book goes far beyond menial definitions of the runes that can be found anywhere. It doesn't just tell you "what" - it tells you "why".
I do not think, nor would I even entertain, that this book fall into the category of "New Age" as I believe it would be demeaning to the value of what's contained. For a woman who has been entrenched in the heathen community for more than two decades, and experience that extends beyond that, it's important to realize that she is writing from a learned place of study and practical application.
It begins with examination of the original runic concepts and Elder Futhark and then proceeds into a further study as to how the runes relate to one another. Northern Mysteries & Magick also provides layout options for rune castings without making it so over-the-top that anyone can apply the techniques. Ms. Aswynn encourages people to take time and practice with the runes - a warning and wise piece of advice that I would concur with. She has provided these layouts for this very reason and I applaud her approach.
There are no outrageous claims made in Northern Mysteries & Magick. What she writes is from a place of personal practice and informed guidance. This book will remain in my library and it's a pleasure to recommend.
I do not think, nor would I even entertain, that this book fall into the category of "New Age" as I believe it would be demeaning to the value of what's contained. For a woman who has been entrenched in the heathen community for more than two decades, and experience that extends beyond that, it's important to realize that she is writing from a learned place of study and practical application.
It begins with examination of the original runic concepts and Elder Futhark and then proceeds into a further study as to how the runes relate to one another. Northern Mysteries & Magick also provides layout options for rune castings without making it so over-the-top that anyone can apply the techniques. Ms. Aswynn encourages people to take time and practice with the runes - a warning and wise piece of advice that I would concur with. She has provided these layouts for this very reason and I applaud her approach.
There are no outrageous claims made in Northern Mysteries & Magick. What she writes is from a place of personal practice and informed guidance. This book will remain in my library and it's a pleasure to recommend.
March 16, 2009
This is a great book, but a good knowledge of Asatru is assumed, as is a basic understanding of thelema. This isn't a rune book for divination; it's a rune book for magical uses of runes. It's great for adding to your knowledge of the runes when you have a working understanding of them already. I love that the author is courageous. She doesn't tow any Asatru/Odinist/Heathen party line - She is very upfront about shamanic work and that being just as valid as what other Heathens call the Lore. Plus she speaks a lot about her personal life when relevant, which I adore. She seems HUMAN and SUPERHUMAN all at once, not just a Viking warrioress lost in days of old. (She's one firmly in today!) She does work with hexes, which I am not sure how I personally feel about that. There isn't very much written about magic and Asatru, so it's a gem to have. Of course it is written by a woman. :)
March 19, 2020
I’ve had this book on my shelf now for years. I was part of outing this author as Islamaphobic. I’ve read this book in order to figure out if she had good info or not.
Honestly, the info presented in her book is accessible through other, VERY less problematic authors and resources.
She was an integral part of pagan past, as well as a number of other things. That does not preclude her from being a better human being than what she already has been. Look to Patricia Lafaylle, Diana Paxson, Kvedulf Gundarsson, Ben Waggoner, and Morgan Daimler as well as The Troth for Heathen faith, rituals, runes, and gods.
Honestly, the info presented in her book is accessible through other, VERY less problematic authors and resources.
She was an integral part of pagan past, as well as a number of other things. That does not preclude her from being a better human being than what she already has been. Look to Patricia Lafaylle, Diana Paxson, Kvedulf Gundarsson, Ben Waggoner, and Morgan Daimler as well as The Troth for Heathen faith, rituals, runes, and gods.
January 7, 2010
I thought this was an excellent introduction to the runes, she connects them with Eddaic mythology and cosmology. She also discusses seidhr (which is like Norse shamanism) and a female slant to Asatru.
But I have been told by heathens this book has some inaccuracies. Still, I think it has its good points, just keep in mind it's mostly her personal interpretations, and modern not ancient practices.
Note: Previously published as "Leaves of Yggdrasil", (which I think is a more poetic name)
But I have been told by heathens this book has some inaccuracies. Still, I think it has its good points, just keep in mind it's mostly her personal interpretations, and modern not ancient practices.
Note: Previously published as "Leaves of Yggdrasil", (which I think is a more poetic name)
March 9, 2021
The book does bring up good points about how the feminine aspect of the Northern tradition has been left lacking due to, primarily, the Christian invasion of pagan lands. It's also really easy to read and pretty mentally engaging, but I still felt like it was missing something. If the book was always meant to be an introduction, I guess that makes sense, but if not, then it could've benefitted from more description or information in some areas. Sometimes I wonder if occult authors are scared to make their books longer and 250 pages.
It's a good book for those starting out on the heathen path, especially women. I just personally felt like something was missing.
It's a good book for those starting out on the heathen path, especially women. I just personally felt like something was missing.
February 18, 2018
This book keeps you interested not just teaching you runes, but how the Norse and Saxon used the Havamal and other writings to express their way of integrating them their everyday life. It is also interesting to learn about how runes are read almost as tarot cards are, except they are attached to certain gods. Recommend read.
April 17, 2022
She is the real deal. If you want to learn and know the Runes, this is the best book one can study.
I met her in real life and she lives the runes. This is what makes her work so personal and tangible for those new to the Runes, and even thise who have read other sources, she brings new insights.
I met her in real life and she lives the runes. This is what makes her work so personal and tangible for those new to the Runes, and even thise who have read other sources, she brings new insights.
October 24, 2019
This book is absolutely incredible!!! I would highly recommend to anyone interested in the northern mysteries, heathenism, rune work, and the divine feminine. The author does an awesome job of taking the reader on a deep spiritual journey. She also relates the rune work with astrology, and more importantly with psychology. As someone with a psychology degree I really appreciated the use of C.G. Jung’s studies and writings to interpret how rune work and the northern mysteries can be applied within western psychology!
December 24, 2012
Hmm. I found it dogmatic, indebted to Thelema and rather dismissive of Christianity in an unnecessarily narrow way. On the other hand, the focus on the "buried" feminine current beneath the Norse mythos is welcome. Jenny Blain provides an alternative, more inclusive perspective in her book on seidworking.
February 5, 2016
An indepth book on the runes tied in with some of experiences, a bit stilted in places whereas as a speaker her words flow better. However, her explanations on runic meanings is superb and gives more food for thought, too many books just focus on the almost one dimensional meanings for the runes and a bit on bindrunes but here they are given more scope.
February 11, 2012
This is by far thee best rune book out there. Aswynn's understanding and interpretations of the runes resonates deeply with me. I love her style of writing. The woman is a gem, full of wisdom. She is my hero.
November 24, 2007
Great Intro to the Runes, and their use in Divination,Magic, working with the Northern Gods, and alot more.Very practical imho for those interested in the Northern Tradition, and the Runes.
April 2, 2008
The author, Freya Aswynn, is one of the most well-respected Rune teachers today. Highly recommended.
October 26, 2008
My first serious book of the runes was by this author. Aswynn's grip on the runes is profound.
November 25, 2013
I really enjoyed her book!
October 26, 2016
Loved this book my boyfriend got it for me, it talks about the Runes which I am learning to use right now and how to use your feminine ways to incorporate with Magick. A must get and read!!
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews