RUNE DICE
ÝDALIR
WOODWORKING
RUNE DICE
Welcome to runecasting and congratulations on your new dice!
Here’s how I set up the configuration of my own rune dice,
to help you understand how they might be used in your own
practice. This layout is specific to my own dice products, but you
may find the interpretations useful for your own, too.
Everyone has their own style and method for reading runes and
rune dice, and I encourage you to research and develop a method
that works well for you.
I experimented with many different configurations for my
rune dice sets, and I found that many sets tend to double-up
meanings, or throw nonsensical readings fairly often. My final
arrangement helped balance out the readings and made more
sense as far as randomizing the runes you could roll with the
dice. It also allows for grouping runes for a stronger reading
dealing specifically with an area of concern.
The dice are designed so that you can throw a single die for a
simple reading, or throw all four for a more in-depth one. I have
also seen other casters throw sets of dice in multiple succession
for longer, more detailed insights. How you use them will be
determined by the meanings you attribute to each rune, and how
many runes you typically use in a reading.
THE FOUR DICE
Each die is inscribed with six runes:
Each die loosely contains one each of six areas of concern.
This equals four runes in each area:
Boon
Challenge
Action
Time
Race
Luck
BOON RUNES
The runes everyone wants to see! The boons walk us through
the stages of growth in our lives, from the very inception of a
project or action, to the tending and nurturing of it along the way
- and then the final harvest of what we’ve grown.
Abundance. Planting seeds for the future and time for
relaxation. A focus on family.
Growth. Rejuvenation, regeneration, and beginnings.
The start of a prosperous venture.
Success. The realm of social and financial increase.
Gaining what you’ve earned or won.
Balance. Gifts, contracts, and relationships.
Sacrifice and generosity in equal measures.
Some boons are hard won, and in the lore the best rewards are
earned through devotion, labour, and constant attention to a
goal. Nothing in life is guarenteed, but this tried and true fomula
has the best rate of success amongst the mythic heroes.
THE CHALLENGES
Challenges can be boons, too, if we keep an objective outlook.
Through adversity, we develop new skills and realise new
strengths. Without hardship, the opposite cannot exist.
Strength. A time to develop the energy and tenacity to
weather changes. Act in the moment.
Patience. Frustration. A time when our mind is our
worst enemy. Take a moment to seek clarity.
Conflict. Delay. A time to face our fears and overcome.
Look fate in the eye and meet it head on.
Destruction. Trials. A time to test our resolve and tear
down old habits. Control the chaos.
Difficulties will find us (or vice versa!) when we embark on a
chosen path, and this is simply life. Other people, finances,
physical limitations, and our own destructive unconscious
patterns can work against us.
Rather than shutting us down or telling us “no”, the challenege
runes offer guidance for how to persevere in a difficult situation.
Of course, there are times when a chosen path is desturctive
too, and it’s important to realise this and back away.
ACTION RUNES
Every goal requires planning, effort, and follow through. The
action runes suggest how best to proceed to achieve our goals.
Leadership. Take charge and play to your strengths.
Let rationality and logic guide you.
Teamwork. Move as a whole and make steady
progress. Trust loyal companions to guide you.
Protection. Defend your position and step up on behalf
of others. Let your instincts guide you.
Evolution. Take a larger perspective and make
changes. Travel can bring new perspectives.
Life is a balance of contemplation and action - complimentary
forces rather than opposing. The two work together to help us
identify what is best for us and what we need to do.
Even simple actions can have great outcomes. They confirm what
we already know, bring new information to light, or reveal who
our real friends are.
Action fires the engine of growth and progress.
RUNES OF TIME
Perhaps the hardest of the runes to pin down in a reading, time
can seem to work for us or against us. Whether linear, cyclical,
or all-at-once, our concept of time can make or break a project,
goal, or endeavor.
Dawn. Make plans. The time to embark on something
new. Everything is in balance right now.
Day. Positive change. The time to wield your power.
Acting now offers the best chance of success.
Dream. The unknown. The time to go with the flow.
Let yourself experience the world organically.
Harvest. Shifting seasons. The time to enjoy what
you’ve earned. Changes come in their own time.
Runes will necessarily be vague on how long something will
take and when we can expect an outcome, but they can offer us
insights when it comes to the time to wait, to act, to plan, or to
simply let things unfold in their own time.
THE FOUR RACES
The race runes represent the building blocks of our experience
in Miðgarðr. The ebb and flow, contrast and blending of these
forces drive how our lives unfold.
Humans. The mundane, every day physical world.
Practicality. Social order and cooperation.
Gods. The divine, ethereal world. Spirituality.
Communication and insight.
Giants. The raw, chaotic elements. Change.
Conflict and willpower.
Norns. The unknown threads of our lives. Secrets.
Fate and destiny.
In a reading, it may help us to understand what realm our
concern resides within. We can most directly affect a situation
that manifests within the physical world that we directly live in.
A spiritual concern may be in the hands of the gods, while our
fates may be either hidden or revealed to us by the runes.
The realm of change affects all of the others - underlying
everything we do and creating new concerns while it concludes
others.
LUCK RUNES
Luck encompasses everything from spiritual health to the power
of the Ancestors in influencing a current state. To the ancient
Norse, luck was an important aspect of a clan’s soul and power
in the world.
I consider luck in these readings to be a persistent condition of
the clan, tribe, or kinship as a whole. Some luck builds through
successive generations of kin, whereas other forms of luck
are tied to the associations a person makes through friends or
business.
Tenacity. The luck of determination, endurance, and
drive. Strong and reliable.
Creation. The luck of inspiration and making your own
way. Skilled and inspirational.
Joy. The luck of happiness, contentment, and
fulfillment. Prosperous and comfortable.
Heritage. The luck of physical belongings and material
gains. Gifts of the Ancestors. Safe and secure.
Personal luck is a combination of our accumulated ancestral
fortune and our world outlook. It is something we can build upon
or squander as we choose.
