How to Cast Runes for Divination: a Practical Guide and Historical Context
2026-07-22
Unlike divination systems with a documented ancient origin, modern rune casting for divinatory purposes is a practice consolidated mainly in the 20th century — which doesn't make it any less valid for those who practice it, but is important context for understanding where the most common method today comes from.
The modern origin of the most popular method
Much of the rune-reading format practiced today — drawing runes from a bag and interpreting them individually or in small spreads — was popularized by 20th-century authors, notably Ralph Blum, whose book "The Book of Runes" (1982) had a major influence in spreading the practice across the United States and Europe, though it has also been criticized by historians of the Norse tradition for simplifying, and in some cases inventing, meanings with no basis in the historical Elder Futhark sources.
Step 1: prepare your set of runes
A traditional set of divination runes includes all 24 Elder Futhark runes, each inscribed on a stone, piece of wood, or other small material. Some modern sets include a 25th blank piece (the "blank rune"), though this piece has no correspondence in any historical Futhark inscription — it's a 20th-century addition, with no documented basis in the ancient sources.
Step 2: formulate your question and draw
Hold the bag of runes with your question in mind and pull out one or more pieces without looking, generally placing them on a flat surface in the order drawn. Simple spreads use a single rune; more elaborate spreads may use three positions, similar to three-card tarot spreads.
Step 3: note the orientation and interpret
Many modern practitioners treat a rune's orientation as it falls — whether "upright" or "reversed" — as part of the reading, assigning different meanings or opposite nuances to each position. It's worth noting that this practice of reading reversals has no basis in historical inscriptions (where a rune's orientation was a matter of writing, not fortune) and is, itself, a convention consolidated within modern divinatory practice.