Working toolRandom drawModern practice
Background
The Elder Futhark is the oldest runic alphabet, used by Germanic peoples from the 2nd to the 8th centuries. Tacitus (98 AD) describes Germanic lot-casting, but whether runes were used is unclear; modern rune casting largely dates from Ralph Blum’s 1982 Book of Runes.
How it works
Runes are drawn one by one from a bag (or cast on a cloth). Each rune’s traditional name — for example fehu, "cattle, wealth" — and its stanza in the medieval rune poems inform the reading.
Notes and limits
Culture: Runes are part of the heritage of living Heathen communities. Some runic symbols have also been misused by hate groups; this site uses them only in their historical alphabetic meaning.
Safety: A draw is a prompt for reflection, not a prediction.
At a glance
- Also called
- Runic divination, Rune stones, Elder Futhark runes, Runecasting
- Traditions
- Germanic, Modern Heathen, New Age
- Regions
- Europe, Worldwide / modern
- You need
- A question, A random draw
- Time
- About 3 min
- Price
- Free