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Exploring the Magic of Runes: Crafting, Divination, and Personal Connections in Witchcraft
523 Plays25 days ago
Welcome to The Bell Witch Podcast. A delightful Yorkshire show based in Leeds to give a sprinkling of magick to help you to get "Witching in the 21st Century"
In this 57th episode of the Bell Witch Podcast, host Swailes, the friendly green witch, shares updates, including adopting a new snake named Citrine. She thanks her Patreon supporters before introducing guest Chynna, a creative witch who recently launched Runic Crafts an Etsy for handmade runic items. Chynna discusses her journey into crafting magical goods, her deep connection to runes, and their significance in witchcraft. The conversation explores the magical properties of runes, their use in divination, and the creative process behind making runic items. The episode highlights the intersection of witchcraft, creativity, and independent business.
"At Runic Crafts we believe in making high quality, handmade, magical items at an affordable price. We are both daily practicing Pagans and have spent the last 10 years practicing Galdrar, Galdrastafir and runameistari and are devotee of the 6 Runic Masters. We pour our spirit into our work, it’s a way of showing our devotion, and sharing what needs to be shared. All items are blessed and cleansed before leaving our care and they are all safe to use. We believe in our craft and we believe in yours too! We hope these items help you further your practice. May the God’s shine upon you."
Find Runic Crafts here- Runic Crafts (@runic.crafts) • Instagram photos and videos
Shop Runic Crafts- RunicCraftsStudio - Etsy UK
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Made with love and magic by Swailes the Friendly Green Witch friendlygreenwitch | Twitter, Instagram, Facebook | Linktree
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#runes #runiccrafts #gods #mythology #lore #folklore #runestones
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Transcript
Podcast Introductions and Engagement
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello, is this thing on? Okay, good. I am sorry to interrupt your listening pleasure, but my name is Tiffany and I'm here to tell you about my podcast, True Crime Connections.
00:00:15
Speaker
It's an advocacy podcast that talks with real survivors about real shit. This is the place you want to be if you've been in a toxic relationship or anything tragic has happened to you and you're looking to find your strength and healing.
00:00:30
Speaker
No two episodes are alike. but they all give you useful tools that you can take with you. So make sure to find me on your favorite podcast platform, or you can go to truecrimeconnections.com and come join the Hope Building community.
00:00:46
Speaker
See you there.
00:00:49
Speaker
Darkcast Network, bringing our indie podcasts out of the shadows.
00:01:29
Speaker
Ey up, witches and beautiful souls. Welcome to another episode of the Bell Witch Podcast. With me, Swales, friendly green witch to help you get witching in the 21st century.
00:01:44
Speaker
century this is episode 57 and we've had a couple of bonus episodes to do with the old belton fire festival thank you very much to my recent flurry of subscribers joining my patreon of which i am going to shout out now jesse d jong i don't know i've said that already actually aj came back as a member thank you so much for coming back wendy wolf amy warrington tomo yoshimura oh my god i'm rubbish at this reading out names emma lane kitty diggins and uh yeah i think that's everybody
00:02:32
Speaker
I'm sorry if I have probably butchered your name because this is definitely a weakness of mine. Thank you so much for coming along and joining this podcast, Patreon. And I do encourage you to comment in the little box on Spotify. It's a brand new offering where you can comment on the episode. And I think that helps it in the old landscape of podcasts. So if you have got time, will you listen?
00:02:58
Speaker
Please pop a little bit of feedback or a little cheeky review or rating on Spotify or Apple. That'd be great.
Rescue Visit and Adoption
00:03:09
Speaker
In other news, you may have noticed on my Instagram,
00:03:14
Speaker
I got a new snake. Yeah, I went to Knaresborough to the amazing little K Rescue Centre, which is a reptile and exotic rescue centre on the high street. It's absolutely packed full of all kinds of weird and wonderful animals from scorpions, snakes, turtles. There's some skunks in there. There's a parrot. there's big ass fish.
00:03:41
Speaker
lizards of all kinds it's amazing and they're so friendly and they'll let you walk in and have a look and have a cuddle of snakes and lizards the volunteers there are really high qualified in terms of knowing stuff about reptiles at the history of the reptile you're looking at it was a lovely day out and i went on good friday with a friend annabelle and we had a look around the shop and it was heaving because it was the holidays and they had a few rabbits that were getting adopted on Good Friday, which was quite fun.
00:04:12
Speaker
I got shown an assortment of royal pythons, all absolutely
Introduction to Chyna and Rune Crafting
00:04:18
Speaker
beautiful. It was so hard choose the one I wanted. I ended up going with a little baby royal python who's like a banana albino type.
00:04:29
Speaker
She's so lovely, really bright yellow, will look beautiful in pictures. Just before I collected it, I went into the Crystal Buda, which is just down the road from the rescue, which is an amazing crystal shop. And they helped me choose the name just by geeking out about snakes and crystals.
00:04:46
Speaker
Therefore, I am going to call her. Oh, drumroll, please.
00:04:57
Speaker
Citrine because she's yellow and sunny, you see. Citrine and pebbles, pebbles and citrine. She is quite nervous. She hides a lot. She avoids me. When I get her out, she's all right, but she doesn't like me going in for her.
00:05:12
Speaker
So she needs a little bit of TLC, but she's just so cute and so did he. Not attempted to feed her yet. I shall let you all know how that goes. But I'm so happy to have two snakes again because never in my life have I had just one snake. I've always had a and minimum of two and a maximum of four, which was quite a lot snakes for me.
00:05:36
Speaker
and I just felt like something we're missing and it's been a while since my lovely little Heidi Snakey shuffled off her mortal coil and so it felt like the right time I'm also going to take it as a hint to cover Nairsborough and the amazing witch, my favourite witch, that is Mother Shipton and Mother Shipton's Cave. So that'll be the next solitary witch episode.
00:06:04
Speaker
And I've said it now, so it's got to happen. It would have happened this week, but I'm still chasing my tail from the Easter holidays with the kids. And also there was loads of episodes to record for Beltane. with an annoying crashing computer that keeps having a hissy fit every time a try and upload the latest episode.
00:06:26
Speaker
ah So today then, what have I got for you today, dear witch? Well, this is a lovely moot loot with a creative witch named Chyna.
00:06:39
Speaker
This one took a bit of pinning down because turns out that Chyna was quite nervous and had never done anything like this before. She's recently started up a little Instagram and Etsy shop and is creating these wonderful pieces that are runic and actually really quite powerful and I'm so drawn to them.
00:07:01
Speaker
I discovered her like I discover lots of my mootlook guests surfing the waves on Instagram and immediately knew that I needed to get her on the podcast to talk about the magic of creating runes as a witch and as a little independent business.
00:07:19
Speaker
I shall link Chyna's
Significance and History of Runes
00:07:22
Speaker
Instagram in the show notes below. Please do follow her. It's a tiny little Instagram. Definitely needs some more numbers to grow in there. So I highly recommend you go and have a look at her offerings.
00:07:34
Speaker
They are really beautiful. in Enjoy this mootloot interview and I shall speak to you in a couple of weeks for the next solitary witch episode all about Mother Shipton and her amazing magic waterfall.
00:07:53
Speaker
Hello and welcome, Chyna, to my little witchy podcast. Thank you so much for coming on. really excited to talk about runes because I know nothing, nothing about runes. And I've been looking for a witch to talk to me about creating magical goods as a business like and the process of that.
00:08:13
Speaker
Oh, I don't even know how to explain how it began. I guess it was a hobby that everyone kept saying, you should make an Etsy. And I thought, well, you know what? I was on maternity leave. I was, i so i suppose, looking for something.
00:08:29
Speaker
know, I felt that I had a lot of time, a lot of time to myself. So I just thought, well, if I could find a way to share what I love doing with other people, then I'd give it a go. And it kicked off a lot better than I thought.
00:08:47
Speaker
I don't make millions. I don't think any of us do. options there and I find that the most important thing. I've had a little nausea yet, you'd say it's very lovely and it's a family-run business, it says, so I presume you're kind of like born into it then. Well, it's more me and me and my husband.
00:09:06
Speaker
I say me and husband, I don't like to always say me, me me It's mainly me saying, look at this I made and him being like, that's really good and he has loads of ideas but he doesn't have as much time as me. He used to do some of the burnings because it was something that used to stress me out, but I felt really bad. He would come home from work and I would be like, yeah, this needs to be done in three days' time.
00:09:29
Speaker
and now I do all the wood burning myself and he's like, oh, well, that was my only job. mean, I found it quite easy to pick up. It's something that, I mean, I'm a tattoo artist, so it was quite easy, i suppose.
00:09:42
Speaker
It would be complex at first because it was a bit reversed to what I knew. But once I kind of knew the technique, I can't do as intricate stuff as him. He can do like all these curves and circles. And that's something I'm like, if it's a straight line, it's OK.
00:09:56
Speaker
So tell me, what's a rune then? what What would you describe a rune as? I mean, that is probably the most simple yet complex question you could ask. Of course, it's it's a ah form of writing, but aside that, you know, there is a ah magical aspect to them.
00:10:14
Speaker
They're a way of telling the future. They're a way of providing protection. And over the years, there's been a lot of documents that we can look into, which provide us a good context of what way this magic was practiced.
00:10:31
Speaker
It's a writing system. that was used in a magical practice. The word rune itself has several meanings and they all link to the word mystery or secret.
00:10:42
Speaker
And I suppose in today's age, they are very much still that. It's something that not a lot of people know a lot about and I mean, I find you can spend your life researching and even I find myself in a little rabbit hole of, oh, I thought I knew a lot.
00:10:58
Speaker
And then you realise you don't. There's so many different types of runes. But as we know, the main one is the foofark. And that's, I suppose, what you would call your generic lettering.
00:11:09
Speaker
And from those letterings, people can create bind runes, sigils, incantations. I love sigils. I was going ask you about that. Runes and sigils are very similar. I don't know if they're the same.
00:11:22
Speaker
They've got ah ah kind of like a regimented meaning and history, whereas sigils are just so created individually. Yeah, I suppose so. So you can get, obviously, a rune on its own, which is just rune on its own. You can then combine them. You can...
00:11:38
Speaker
create a bind room. I have a dog that keeps getting caught up in this charger. have all the things coming So have a look at dog then? Nala, come here. Say hi to the doggo.
00:11:50
Speaker
Ah, so gorgeous. I want a dog. So yeah, I mean, sigils are... I suppose, a combination of different types of runes to create a larger meaning.
00:12:03
Speaker
A lot of sigils look, I suppose, more complex because people don't see the runes they recognise and don't realise that they're not runes. Because like coming back to what we said with the generic Fufark, which is your standard people know that they have a letter and they have a little meaning.
00:12:23
Speaker
But those are, I suppose, what we would call the runes that were given to humans. There are different realms and each realm has their own set of runes. So you have, say, elven runes, you have dwarven runes, you have giant runes.
00:12:37
Speaker
A lot of things that if we go too into, it becomes super complex. I don't want to end up giving you too much information and turning it to a completely different topic. I really like your work.
00:12:49
Speaker
I think I discovered you via Instagram just searching for witchy creatives because you are a witch, aren't you? Would consider yourself a witch? Yeah, I would. Yeah, I mean, I um like to take all aspects and put it into one, as I think it should be. yeah And that's fine. There's some people that they like to be more herbology. They like to do more herbal stuff.
00:13:15
Speaker
Or some people like to do crystals, whereas I've kind of found a way to link all of them together. know, I find that, say, some gods have some runes and those runes and those gods will also be represented by herbs and by crystals. So to be able to kind of, I suppose, link.
00:13:34
Speaker
Runology into witchcraft has been something I suppose I spent my whole life doing. If I wanted to do an offering for, say, Freya, we can get some runes which would represent her or make a bind rune. I like to make, say, bind runes for gods. I like to translate their name back into runes and then put that on, say, a bind rune or a sigil and then some runes that might link into them.
00:14:02
Speaker
And then i would like to also get some crystals which they would be associated with. So with Freya would be a lot like amethyst and amber. And then to link the herbs which would go really well as an offering. So things like brambles and berries and chamomile and lavender.
00:14:23
Speaker
And then, yeah, I suppose combined it all together, everything I do, it's just in my brain. ah kind of just goes in a flow of, oh, I'll get this and oh, I'll get that. Anytime we do any sort of, say, offering, you'll just see me for like 30 minutes to an hour beforehand.
Chyna's Personal Experiences with Runes
00:14:39
Speaker
Oh, and this as well. And oh, this will be really nice. and And then it just kind of goes on and on until I think, okay, I think that's everything I need. The stuff you create there, the runes that you put on them, they help the function of the item.
00:14:54
Speaker
I suppose it depends on the item, but yeah, it will help say invoke what it is to say if it's an item for Freya. It will help invoke and hopefully connect people and get the results that they want.
00:15:08
Speaker
Yeah, I have a lot of stuff which people can choose what it is that they want. And then I can offer ah bind room to help with what it is they're trying to invoke and their intention behind that.
00:15:22
Speaker
I love that you do the skulls. They're so gorgeous. Yeah, I've got a couple here that I haven't listed yet. Everything I make. I make with such love that there's a part of me that I'm like, oh I'm going to miss that.
00:15:37
Speaker
But i I love that it going to its new home and hopefully providing them with what it is that they need. know, I like to know that there's just little whispers of the gods just being spread throughout the world.
00:15:51
Speaker
ah just Just buy a little tiny Etsy shop. What do you call the wafters? The feather smudges. Is that what they're called? Because I was trying to discuss it with a friend other day. She was going, you know them things with feathers? And i was a bit like, I don't know what they're called, actually.
00:16:06
Speaker
It's just a smudge stick. Because I the smudge sticks was what you burned, like the herbs. I'm sure there's a word. that There is. I mean, I've always known them to be feather smudges. It depends on what culture you're looking at.
00:16:20
Speaker
some Some people will call them a spirit stick and I'm sure there'll be countless of names, but we're all talking about the same thing. That's all that matters. So the actual process of doing your runes on your items, that must be magic in itself. Have you got a process of like circle setting?
00:16:39
Speaker
I like to just, I suppose, I do it because I've got a one-year-old. So it's not a great time to do it when she's around because she loves to help. But she's also a good tester because she likes to shake him after. And if they can survive a one-year-old, I like to think they're pretty sturdy.
00:16:56
Speaker
yeah My main thing is i I love my rabbit pelts. As you can probably see, I've got quite a few of them. So I like to kind of set. I've got a nice altar spread. And then I put the rabbit skin and then I choose the feathers, which takes me much longer than it probably should because I like to try and get things really symmetrical.
00:17:16
Speaker
And I'm trying to find symmetrical feathers on something that isn't very symmetrical. I like to do it with with silence on my own. Kind of use it as like a meditation practice. I find a lot of peace in doing it.
00:17:29
Speaker
yeah And the intention of the eyeset in knowing that I'm providing something which is going to help someone else. Yeah, and I find that important to have that in mind, that I am providing people with the tools that they require to do whatever it is that they do.
00:17:50
Speaker
and do you know exactly what you're going to put on it, or is it kind of like it just flows? Sometimes, say with the feathers... A lot of them, obviously, people order them and then I make them to order.
00:18:03
Speaker
And there's sometimes I'll be like, is there a certain rune? And they will say, no, that's absolutely fine. I'll let you choose. And I just feel a connection. I'll just look at a rune and I'll be like, this is the rune that needs to go on that.
00:18:16
Speaker
And sometimes I'll get a message and be like, that was a very fitting rune. That was exactly what I needed. i just go with the feel. And I just trust that, that feeling that,
00:18:28
Speaker
it kind of sticks out. You have these pile of rooms and there'll just be one and you think, that's the one. I don't know why, but they'll know why, because it's not for me. That's magic, isn't it?
00:18:39
Speaker
Yeah, well, i I do. I just, I kind of trust that magic process of I will sit there and I'll think of the customer that I'm making it for and it just sticks out. And I think, well, that's, this is the one.
00:18:52
Speaker
I'm not sure why, but this is the one. And you paint them on, do you? I know you burn them, don't you? I suppose it depends on what items. I've got some stuff that I burn, some stuff I paint, and then some stuff will have beads on.
00:19:05
Speaker
What would you say is your favourite rune, if you have any? Is that hard question? I'm going to go with Jera, or Jera, because obviously we're in in Iceland. They don't have a Y. A Y is technically a J. And I'd say I'm more connected to that rune, because it was the first rune,
00:19:27
Speaker
that was presented to me. it was the most bizarre thing that ever happened. It was it was about eight years ago now. And obviously, the more that I'm going into learning and the more I'm turning it into, I suppose, a lifestyle of this isn't just a hobby. This is what I believe. This is what i practice and it's what i do And I remember I was i was with my mum and I was with my niece who was around three or four at the time.
00:19:55
Speaker
and I've got it my pocket and I find this room. And I'm like, I'm talking to my niece and I'm like, have you put this in my pocket? And she goes, no. And I'm like, no, you're not in trouble.
00:20:07
Speaker
Did you put this in? She's like, no. asked my mum and she goes, And I thought, well, the only person I know with not only a set of rooms, but with this set of rooms, is me. So I get home, I search my runes, and it's not from my set. And to this day, I have absolutely no clue where this rune came from.
00:20:27
Speaker
And I have never found it as any of my missing sets. Oh my gosh.
Historical Context and Literature on Runes
00:20:33
Speaker
That's like a glitch in the basement. I know. And I'm just, I have no idea. And I had it on a necklace for years. And one day,
00:20:42
Speaker
I was on the Isle of Wight and I got really upset when I noticed when I got home that my necklace must have broke. i was i was a bit sad that I lost it, but then I realised that that rune had provided me with the power that I needed and it was off to find someone else. So I would hope that someone was going for a walk, found it, picked it up.
00:21:05
Speaker
It then became their rune and I like to think that it's just continued doing that over the last few years. You mentioned you were a tattoo artist. Do you tattoo rune runes on people?
00:21:17
Speaker
On yourself? That is... Well, not on myself and on my parties. Just see the state of them. Just covered. And I mean, he is covered. He's he's probably got about 80% of his face and head done.
00:21:32
Speaker
Oh, that's awesome. He's like a grimoire, just walking. Which is fantastic. as ah if you If you don't understand runes, he just looks like this this runestone work of art.
00:21:44
Speaker
But then we go to places like Glastonbury and they're like, I can read your head. And he's like, thanks. I want to know what his head says now. Most of it's pretty fitting, apart from he does have on the back of his neck, it says, get effed.
00:22:03
Speaker
So there's a few times people will be like, I can read the back of your neck. And he's like, oh, and they're like very funny. Have you got any on you? i say I spend all my time tattooing people that I don't end up getting many myself.
00:22:18
Speaker
And because I know what i want, I've kind of just waited to get what i want. Otherwise, I'm just going to end up with stuff for the sake of getting it. But there's because there's an artist side of me. i have to explain to him I don't want to end up like a drawing pad.
00:22:32
Speaker
and Just doodles. yeah I'll just end up with doodles everywhere. Gosh, if I were a tattoo artist, I would so do that. always be doodling on myself. I grew up with runestones. My mum had the you know the basic in a red pouch, clear.
00:22:49
Speaker
Pick them out, don't you? And that's all I really know about how to use them because that's what she used to do. But I mean, how many is this? It's a 28 or something. I suppose it depends on the set. You've either got like a 24...
00:23:02
Speaker
believe it's 24 or you've got 16 yes it's like remembering everything that one little runestone means and ah my memory is not the greatest and I could never do that I know I mean I can agree with you I'm there like just give me two seconds to go through all of my little journals of scribbles got more information than I can remember the names of but yeah that's why I mean I've got loads of leather books up here that we'd just like to go through, depending on what it is we need. But yeah, I suppose the main thing that people know runes for is you can use them, I suppose, like tarot cards.
00:23:37
Speaker
You can pull three out, seven out, however many out, and read them. And then, as people do with tarots, link into what they're trying to either tell or what it is that's trying to connect to you. i mean, back to the question of what are runes,
00:23:58
Speaker
Runes would not only be an alphabet used as a writing system, but a tool used in magical practice. The word rune has several meanings throughout Iceland, Germanic and Scandinavian languages, and its main root is mystery or secret. And even after all the records and hidden lost texts found, I find, and a lot of us probably do find, that they do remain a secret.
00:24:25
Speaker
You know, some people, you know, they dedicate their life to gain the true knowledge and understanding of secret of the secrets. But I personally think that there is only so much that our human selves can learn on this plane.
00:24:40
Speaker
And that comes back to the fact that magic was removed from us centuries ago. know, humans became greedy and they abused the gifts that the gods gave us, and in turn, they turned it back into a hidden knowledge. That's why I suppose in today's age, you'll get people that are born with natural gifts and natural abilities that others don't have.
00:25:03
Speaker
They still have this spark left of a magic we once possessed. And, you know, some people find themselves connected to it, and some people find themselves drawn to it.
00:25:14
Speaker
And a lot of us spend our time practicing it, whether you want to call it witchcraft, Wiccan, light magic, whatever, that it's it's all the same thing. all stems from the same link.
00:25:26
Speaker
There are clear records and magical beliefs of this practice, and they give us a good context of in the way this magic was practiced. You can find a lot of this in things like the poetic Eda or the Havamel, and this kind of explains how...
00:25:45
Speaker
not only the runes, but the magic that the runes possessed were used and how they were an incantational formula that was used to chan, sing or to carve.
00:25:57
Speaker
And we can find a good link to that in the Have a Mal, which you've got stanza 144, which explains, do you know how to write? Do you know how to read? Do you know how to paint, prove, ask, offer, sacrifice, send?
00:26:15
Speaker
and to immolate. And I just find that really important to myself, my own practice, and for what it is I do. know, I love to be able to share knowledge, but in a respectful way. Yeah, there are some things, as you know, we can't just send certain energies to people that don't understand them, because that's how people end up abusing or sending it in the wrong way.
00:26:44
Speaker
Which is why a lot of my stuff I tried to keep not only generic, but with a slight more complex and advanced base level.
00:26:54
Speaker
Like we said, I know you can go on the internet and you can find things like bind runes. Of course they're there with the explanation, but Some of them can be slightly incorrect or people don't know how to use them correctly because the bind rune wasn't created either for them or by them. So they don't actually know the true intention behind it.
00:27:18
Speaker
Bind runes were a way of keeping something hidden. So you'll see a bind rune somewhere. And you wouldn't know what it meant, but it was probably a little protection sigil.
00:27:31
Speaker
But it was in a hidden text, so people couldn't just understand what it was. That's like in the realms of higher magic, isn't it? Like all the secretive. It is very it is very much secretive.
00:27:43
Speaker
It's funny, I've recently recorded ah solitary witch episode about my sigils and how how I do them and stuff. And I did a tiny little bit of history research. I mean, it's massive, isn't it? I mean, you know you could have loads of episodes about the history of it all.
00:27:58
Speaker
But I stumbled across the Bluetooth logo, which is... you know about that? How cool is that? It's like a combination of... the initials of this king. People forget that they had a sense of humour then as to they do now.
00:28:14
Speaker
So not everything is all magical... like you'll find rune stones and it will be like so-and-so was here. Just like graffiti. Yeah.
00:28:26
Speaker
Because obviously there was a writing context. Not everything we see is actually, you'll find some things and it is it's just a joke. you i There'll be like banter going on in runes, on rune stones, where someone's got an issue with someone else and they're just like writing lies about each other on these stones, hoping other people come across them.
00:28:48
Speaker
Medieval text messaging. I want a sword, a replica of the, is it the Bergenot's sword? and it's got runes on it. Oh, yeah.
00:28:59
Speaker
I know I won this from Witchfest. But when I looked into the history of this sword, it is just it like A, B, C, D, F, G on it. people are thinking, oh, it's magical and mystical and deep meaningful and meaningful. And I think it was just some dude trying learn how to make a sword and was practicing, you know, the runes. I was just like, eh,
00:29:21
Speaker
Well, there's there's a lot of stuff like that, which obviously links back to what I was saying with what, with the Etsy, it's why I like to try and provide a more advanced base level.
00:29:34
Speaker
So people don't just have A, B, C, D, F, G. So they have something that's not only more personalized to them, but has more power behind it.
00:29:45
Speaker
Hopefully being able to invoke what it is that they're trying to do or connect to whatever deity it is they're trying to connect to. All about intentions. Yeah.
00:29:56
Speaker
Have you read The Poetic Edda? Yeah, I've got, I think, three copies of it. Have you? I'm well impressed. Yeah. I mean, ah to be honest, the one I would recommend anyone to get would be Jackson Crawford.
00:30:11
Speaker
I find him fantastic. He's a really great insight into not only the translation of these texts, but... but with pronunciation as well.
00:30:23
Speaker
And I find him to be not only so such a good source, ah that's because he is completely atheist. He has no religion. He is a professor in runology.
00:30:36
Speaker
He will acknowledge that there was a magical belief behind it, but he is very much Professor... This is the old text and this is it translated and this is it translated again in a modern context for us to understand.
00:30:54
Speaker
Anytime I think, because he does a whole verse of the Havamah and every time i kind of think of the Havamah, I hear it in his voice. I just trust him. I just trust that because he's got no opinion, he's got no biased belief.
00:31:10
Speaker
yeah You've got some people in runology and they're, say, more drawn to giant magic or dwarven magic. And they'll then slander the Aesir or the Vanir.
00:31:24
Speaker
So it's really nice to get just a neutral, i am a professor, this is my lecture on the poetid Eda.
00:31:35
Speaker
So Yorkshire, edda Eda, Eda, Eda.
Ethics and Techniques in Rune Crafting
00:31:39
Speaker
Eda, Eda. It's like s sco s scone, scone, scone. did buy a copy and I attempted to read it and it must not have not been a very good one because it was like, there's no way, there's no way I can get through this book.
00:31:52
Speaker
In our house, it's something we have it on because um Jackson Crawford also has it on Audible. So it's just something that you know, we'll just play in the background. And obviously listening to it enough times, you do end up remembering things.
00:32:07
Speaker
You if we go to Glastonbury, we'll end up listening to it on the way up there. Could you explain what it is? Written stories and folklore, which were written down on runestone, which through the years have been uncovered and put together in a more understanding way.
00:32:25
Speaker
You know, a lot of these stories were broken up because where they were found on, obviously, runestones and in buildings, there was no, this is chapter one and this is chapter two.
00:32:37
Speaker
So this book kind of put it in more of a chronological order, which was able to be understand if it was read as a story and a book. Otherwise, you're just trying to figure out what's going on.
00:32:49
Speaker
I like the story of the gifts that were given to the gods. And you'll find a lot of gifts that were given to the gods were always through Loki being mischievous.
00:33:04
Speaker
He had a great tendency... to do things that he thought would be really funny, get himself in trouble, try and rectify what he had done, and then people ended up with gifts from it.
00:33:17
Speaker
ah One of them being when Loki was like, yeah, we can we can get this giant to build the wall around Asgard. So to make sure that the giant lost his bet, Loki being a shapeshifter transformed himself into a horse.
00:33:33
Speaker
This giant had a horse helping him lug all of these stones, and he mated with this horse so that they could win the bet, and then they ended up with Sleipnir, which is Odin's greatest steed.
00:33:47
Speaker
Is it Heathenry and Druik? It depends, because obviously you've got different types of Edas or Eddas, whatever is you want to call them. I'd say the poetic is more of the stories of the gods and...
00:34:03
Speaker
of the magic, you've got so some of these, they're just, they're like law texts from Viking ages. And you're just reading the law and what happened on this day with this guy. The newspaper.
00:34:17
Speaker
Pretty much it is. I've got one them. I can't remember which one it is. I've got this thick book and it's pretty much just a newspaper. Yeah, again, I'm forgetting that it's not all magic and spells and witchcraft. It is just how people communicated with each other.
00:34:32
Speaker
and because the belief set was all very mystical because science was not around. You know, that's why... They keep going, oh yeah, it's magical. Oh no, it's not, it's not. But it can be.
00:34:44
Speaker
Yeah, it's always great to have the history and the knowledge and then also understanding the magical side. Yeah, runes have a large history. there's There's one concept which a lot of people that are even new to it aren't very aware and that's that even though Odin gave the runes to, say, mankind, Odin did not create the runes.
00:35:09
Speaker
The runes existed before him because Odin was never a god. He was actually a man who spent his life through sacrifice and on this personal journey he was on to gain knowledge.
00:35:22
Speaker
And that knowledge was the knowledge of runes. He then shared that with the gods. He then shared that with the humans. But there from a primordial time, they existed before us, before Odin.
00:35:36
Speaker
They're an energy that just existed and people are able to understand and harness and conjure in the way that they want to. Have you got any books you could recommend for all this that you always go back to? I've got some which I'm trying to think of some good basic ones.
00:35:54
Speaker
yeah You've got stuff, which I'd say this one. a lot I've got a lot of advanced now, which is all like limited edition, super rare, can't come across it, have to know a guy that knows a guy. I'd say a good start when you get past all your introduction books or your your standard foof arc, what they mean, what letter they represent. But then I suppose when you want to get more into...
00:36:19
Speaker
the magic behind runes. I find the Galdra book a really good book. It's a book of Icelandic magic and it's a grimoire which has been turned into, it's it's not a very big book, but it is very authentic, I suppose, in its layout. It's got a lot of stuff which has been found, but of actual sigils and bind runes and more more than just your generic, oh, this is runes and this is the alphabet.
00:36:51
Speaker
So I do find the Goudreau book a really good book for people that just want to look into something a little bit more complex. And this book I find fantastic, actually. If you want to do um old school and you want to do it traditionally, it would tell you that you need, like,
00:37:07
Speaker
A foot of a sparrow and you need to boil it into a broth and you put that in a bag and then you put this rune with this little broth bag and you put it under someone's pillow if you don't like them.
00:37:19
Speaker
and There's something about inks as well. can remember reading somewhere that runes traditionally were in red ink or is that just a myth? To be honest, I think there's probably because it's the most overpowering colour If we're talking from an artist's sense, red will stain and it will stay for a long time.
00:37:38
Speaker
If you're staining stone with red, that's going to last long term a lot more. But then the magical side behind that is most runes you would, say, paint or blot them in blood to activate them.
00:37:53
Speaker
So this would either be mimicked by paint or maybe it is actually someone's blood. We don't know. Getting a bit dark there. It ain't can get a bit tough.
00:38:05
Speaker
But yeah, that that's something that me and my partner talk about quite often to people. When you talk about, say, ah blood sacrifice, people think, oh my goodness, I'm going to have to gash my arm open. but We're talking about like pinprick.
00:38:20
Speaker
But that just depends on your practice. you don't have We live in a day of age. We don't need to bloody do sacrifices and blood everything. But there are, say depending on what you want to do, you that is possible, but you don't have to cause yourself horrific injuries.
00:38:35
Speaker
Just a little, I find a nice thing, is a little sewing needle and just a little pinprick as if you were to if you're diabetic and you're just taking a blood reading. Or alternatively, there are ways you can make magical inks, which is something obviously used in more than just runic magic. That's something that's that can be found through any sort of witchcraft practice.
00:38:58
Speaker
And these inks you would use to activate a rune. And that's another good one. you know, there are multiple ways to make inks. You can make them from berries and whatnot. I've got good book on things like that, actually.
00:39:11
Speaker
And it's nothing to do with runes. It is just the complete book of incense oils and brews. And there is a section in here on how to make inks.
00:39:22
Speaker
And it's very simple. It's just nice to know that Yeah, you can just simply have a little book and it'll just tell you how to make some inks. But I mean, as we know, the more depth you put into it with these little things, you can obviously make it more powerful. But the intention is the main thing.
00:39:43
Speaker
You don't need to go out and make an ink or do a blood sacrifice. You can draw it in pencil if that's all you can offer. It's about what you can offer and the intention behind that.
00:39:56
Speaker
I find the big thing is what you can offer. If you don't have a lot to offer, that's the whole point of an offering is to offer what you're able to give. You don't need to go out and spend money to go buy new things because you think that it will increase its chances of succeeding in trying to conjure whatever it is you you're trying to do.
00:40:19
Speaker
as as we know, if your intention is set, do it with a crayon if you have to, if that's all you have. yeah know if you're If you're setting a space and you're taking that time and you're creating the energies that you want, then that's the most important thing. Yeah, I've never worked with my own blood and I mean to, and I just never get around to it. Do you use that? if you do, you find it helps the magic?
00:40:45
Speaker
Is it more powerful? I do, but that's only because it links more into my journey. I find it more spiritual. But that's just me personally. That's what we work with.
00:40:59
Speaker
you It's not that everyone has to do it for it to work. I don't use it all the time, but there are some things, like, for example, there is um a ritual that you're supposed to do with, obviously, your mjolnir, which is Thor's hammer.
00:41:13
Speaker
You'll see, obviously, people wearing them. There is actually a ritual you're supposed to do You're supposed to do this ritual and blood it with your own blood, to then link it to you, to make it yours.
00:41:26
Speaker
That's like historical ritual. Yeah, I suppose so. And, you it's just a way to, I suppose, but you know, to bind yourself physically and spiritually to something and increase its power.
00:41:41
Speaker
And then it makes it yours. And that also links into it it's so no one can take it off you. If anyone was to take it, it's sealed with your blood. It belongs to you. I always get a bit twitchy with my hair, you know, when you brush your hair from the brush. I'm a bit like, as a witch, I'm really aware of where i put my hair because it's so powerful. john When I'm packaging up my parcels and I send them off, I'm like making sure none of my hair's fallen in there because I'm like, what happens if I've sent this and this person just decides I'm going to curse you?
00:42:13
Speaker
i think all the time. I'm trying to make sure I do my parcels in like the most hair-free place ever just in case the wrong person gets hold of my hair.
00:42:26
Speaker
Like the power they could have from that hair. No, you can never trust someone. You don't know what power they possess. Everyone just looks normal on the outside. I'm so glad it's not just me that feels like this.
00:42:38
Speaker
Hair, nails, don't like that. Like eyelashes. I mean, I'm a polite person anyway, but I even try not to be rude to people because even I think what happens if I've just like got on the wrong side of someone on the wrong day.
00:42:53
Speaker
yeah could do anything. They could, they could do anything. Have you got a favourite item that that you sell in your Etsy shop that you just love doing? My skulls. I get so attached to them. I do i just find them so powerful.
00:43:05
Speaker
I just find that they radiate with energy. It's quite funny because I'm a vegetarian. ah don't eat meat, but I've got a house full of dead things. But I just find that there's such beauty in like being able to preserve something and to be able to keep this gift alive.
00:43:24
Speaker
yeah Even though it's not with us physically and there's a lot of stuff that I just find it to be more powerful when it's on bones I don't know why that is there is nothing that I have read or have been taught that suggests that I just find that anything that's carved or painted onto a bone I just find it to just hold a lot more energy Do you find them when you go out walking?
00:43:52
Speaker
Some of them I have done, yeah. I mean, we live in such a small country that to be able to come across something is quite lucky. You see these people in America and they can go hiking for three days and come back with like eight sets of antlers.
00:44:10
Speaker
So lucky. I know. And i it is on I have a strange bucket list, but my bucket list is to be able to find some antlers. Just to find even just one, just to stumble across one. But we yeah we live in such a small country that if a the antlers have been shedded,
00:44:26
Speaker
chances are it's on someone's land and they've already collected them. We don't have large enough spaces for something to not only to stay there, but to be left there. Yeah, and I've never found anything either. I do have bones and antlers and stuff, but I've bought them from other witches.
00:44:43
Speaker
Yeah. I've found them or sourced them from hunters or, you know. The main person I go to, he's a farmer, so all of his stuff is all...
00:44:54
Speaker
ethically sourced. So I try to source things that aren't done through hunting. It's not that I don't believe in hunting. I think it's, if we were to do it the way it should be done, I 100% agree.
00:45:06
Speaker
You know, i love the whole idea of that you're hunting something because you you need what it's able to provide, but then you use all aspects of that. I've always found it interesting with even say like the Native Americans,
00:45:21
Speaker
These native Indians, they would use absolutely every part of what they killed because it provided life for them, a way for their community to be able to continue.
00:45:34
Speaker
Whereas this whole hunting for sport, so i foot for that reason, i just tried to get everything ethically sourced. And a lot of people want to know where their bones came from.
00:45:46
Speaker
yeah They want to know. yeah i had a lot of ah You probably saw on my Etsy, I had a lot of stuff that was from a fox cup. A lot of the bones on there were from a fox cup. And that was because it sadly got hit by car and it didn't make it.
00:46:00
Speaker
So the person I get my bones from obviously did what they do and then cleaned them all up. And yeah and i that's where I find the beauty in it, to be able to preserve that beauty.
00:46:12
Speaker
that you It's very sad that that happened. but we'll still be able to honour even though something tragic happened to her. It reminds me of a conversation I had on an episode called Beauty in the Maccabi, and it was a lady who did taxidermy in Europe, and she was lucky enough to have a job where she could walk next to the railway lines and then find all the animals that were hit by the trains, and then she'd bring them home and clean them up and make them into beautiful, magical items. And the whole discussion about like you know when you find someone dead...
00:46:44
Speaker
You can take it and give it another lease life and more respect and, you know, sell it to people going to treasure it. No, I find that you're immortalising this creature, you know, even though it never knew it, but it was going to live a long life and provide people with so much joy.
00:47:03
Speaker
ah find animals to be much more connected spiritually to things than we are, which is why I find that there's a lot more power in in what's left of them. They radiate that this energy that they had, this connection to the spirits that we can kind of reach through them.
00:47:24
Speaker
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00:47:35
Speaker
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00:47:46
Speaker
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00:47:58
Speaker
For those who are interested in your work, can you give yourself a little plug where we can find you and where we can buy? course. so I'm runiccrafts and you can find me on Instagram under runiccrafts and on Instagram it's under runiccraftstudios.
00:48:16
Speaker
You there's lots of stuff that you can buy off the shelf or I'm always happy to do custom and personalised orders. As we said earlier, there's a lot of stuff that I don't want to just put out there with not knowing the knowledge that people have.
00:48:31
Speaker
I don't want to just give them something that they don't quite understand because I want them to be able to use these crafts correctly. So anything that people want customised, I'm more than happy to have a little conversation and work with people to kind of create something that will be more fitting for them.
00:48:50
Speaker
And finally, have you got any advice to new witches about how to begin the working with the runes in general? Like where would they start?
00:49:01
Speaker
What would you advise? i would advise to to get to know them. I found a good thing to do is every day choose a rune and learn its name and its basic meaning.
00:49:15
Speaker
And if you do that through the set, however many times, you're going to eventually remember them. Otherwise you're going to overload yourself with every single letter, every single meaning, trying to do it all at once. If you just focus one at a time, and then when you feel more comfortable, you will be able to understand them a lot more. Yeah, and a good thing to do as well is once you feel more comfortable with them is start reading with them and just sit there.
00:49:44
Speaker
pick one out, read what it has to offer. I always think with witchcraft, you're always learning. You never stop learning with anything really, Taryn. So don't get bogged down and and overwhelmed that there's just so much to learn. never get overwhelmed. Every time I thought I knew what I was doing, i would find a rabbit hole which made me feel like I knew nothing.
00:50:04
Speaker
But that's that's the journey. That's what excites us to continue to learn, to continue to find out more information. For anyone, I suppose, looking... into learning runic magic, there's a few things that you can do.
Advice for Beginners in Rune Work
00:50:18
Speaker
you can do what we call, say, you can find a runic master. And this would either be something that you choose or they choose you.
00:50:30
Speaker
if they choose you, you'll see signs manifesting into your visions or your day-to-day life. And if you haven't found one, you can find a quiet place And use a simple definition method, which just allows you to find your teacher.
00:50:45
Speaker
You have different teachers. You've got Odin being the main one. And then we won't go into all the depths of others because then we just end up going through different laws.
00:50:57
Speaker
But yeah, and you can even you don't even have to have a ah runic master. You can just simply let the runes guide you. Sit there with them.
00:51:08
Speaker
yeah I always found it really handy to have my pouch of runes and keep them for me. So I've got a pouch of runes which are only mine. I'll only use them on myself. They'll stay with me only I've touched them.
00:51:21
Speaker
They're my runes. My precious. They're my runes. They were given to me by this green witch years ago. i find when someone gives you something that's so much more powerful than if you were to buy it yourself. I don't know why I feel that way. I just feel like it's It's more meaningful if someone was to give you them than to just buy them. So I do feel really connected to these runes. They're not even the best runes.
00:51:48
Speaker
They're like worn, half painted on, but I just feel really connected to them. and I've had them for so long. And I suppose people could also make their own. Yeah, if you can't. i mean, like I said, you don't even have to go all out, even if you can only do a piece of paper cut up into squares with runes on.
00:52:06
Speaker
But I've seen some fantastic set of runes and I think I want them, but I don't need to spend that much on them. Maybe just yet. At some point in the future, probably.
00:52:19
Speaker
on, don't you create runes, Dunes? I do, but then I always see, like, I've seen some recently. They're, what is it? that They're made out jade. Oh, nice.
00:52:31
Speaker
I know, and I'm like, oh, they're just so lovely. Other sexy runes. Yeah. Yeah, it's like I've got set of rune dice at the moment, which you've probably seen is my newest one that I've done on the Etsy.
00:52:44
Speaker
You can either buy them on their own or in a box. I just find the dice so much easier if you just want to throw them because then you're not throwing 20 or more runes and then they scatter everywhere and you can't find them, at least with the dice,
00:53:03
Speaker
A rune set fit perfectly on four dice that I just find them much more pleasant. You know, then you're only having to read four runes. You're not trying to scavenge around, find where all these little tiny stones have flown off to.
00:53:17
Speaker
And you sell them as well. Plug in, yeah. Just plug in.
Podcast Conclusion and Listener Engagement
00:53:23
Speaker
You have been listening to the Bell Witch Podcast, created with love and magic by me, Swales, the Friendly Green Witch. Big thank you to my lovely guest for this episode.
00:53:39
Speaker
And thank you to you, dear listener, for choosing the Bell Witch Podcast to fill your ears. If you have a witch business, an independent podcast, a witchy topic you'd like me to talk about, or a trailer you'd like me to play, reach me on the Bell Witch Podcast at Yahoo!
00:54:03
Speaker
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00:54:22
Speaker
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00:54:35
Speaker
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