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3: Freyr, Njorð, and Freya. This represents the point of view of the gods of abundnace,
3
fertility, love, and riches. This can also represent the foundation of the question, the gen-
eration of circumstance, or those things that must be endured. It can also represent past
influences on the issue at hand.
These two spreads can be combined with good results resulting in a five rune "wheel."5
A sixth rune can be added for additional verification purposes:6
5
Wheel and equalateral cross type symbols are fairly common among the Indo-Europeans
6
A friend of mine, John Peckham, introduced me to this practice which he invented. It has worked well for me.
96 CHAPTER 8. DIVINATION
1. Sovereign help, divine influence
in the question.
1
2. Past influneces.
3. Present circumestance or action.
4. Future probability
5. Chthonic aspects to the issue
6. Summation of the reading
2 3 4 6
The reader might note that I read this
spread much like an expanded Nornic
spread. I do not see each rune here as a
perspective on the issue but rather as
an influence that either is in place or
will likely come into play. As a result,
5
this spread can be quite complicated and
deserves some greater discussion.
Each of the places here represents a
rather abstract complex of ideas as the runes do themselves, allowing a greater interconnection of the
runes and the placements. The first place represents the First Function and the Heavenly realm This
rune represents the divine order of the situation, which it must eventually conform to. This rune is
rarely negative in the long run, though the results of it can be painful. As a result, it can be thought
of as representing the help that the gods will give the situation.
The second through forth places represent a stream of events and their legacies as in the Nornic
reading. Here again, Urð can also be taken to mean something akin to the "karma" of a situation as
we saw in chapter 3, Verthandi meaning the current action, and skuld representing what will likely
come to pass if conscious action does not change its course.
The sixth place represents the final summation of the reading. It can represent the matter at hand,
or it can represent the totality of the other runes. It can even represent advice. I use this rune as a
starting point for meditations into the issue at hand, and I have always found this practice to be very
useful.
Another possible divinatory practice is to meditate and ask for an answer as before and draw one
lot from the container. This rune can then be meditated upon and the results used to make choices.
8.5 Dream Interpretation as Another Traditional Form of Divina-
tion
Another form of divination described in the literature is that of dream interpretation. In the Volsung
Saga particularly, dream interpretation seems to be one of the most important means of divining
the future. Indeed, it occurs no less than four times, while the only other reference to any sort of
divinatory practice is particularly vague and probably represents a similar concept to the Celtic idea
of the Second Sight.7
In the first dream which is spoken of and interpreted, GuÃYrÃ~n ("Knower of Battle-Runes")
dreams that when she and many of the other characters in ths saga leave a bower, they see a huge
stag with hair made of gold, and finer by far than any other deer. They all wanted to catch the staf
7
Volsung Saga, chapter 13. It is said that Gripir could see the future and know the fates of nen. He is Sigurd s mother s
brother, and told Sigurd all that would transpire in his life.
8.5. DREAM INTERPRETATION AS ANOTHER TRADITIONAL FORM OF DIVINATION 97
and only Guðrun could do so. But then Brynhild shot the stag down right in front of her, causing her
great sorrow . Brynhild then left her with a wolf-cub which spattered her with the blood of Hogni
and Gunnar (her brothers).8
Brynhild interprets the dream as follows: The stag is representative fo Sigurd, whome Brynhild
has chosen for her husbond. Guðrun will marry Sigurd because he will be under the influence of
the draught of forgetfulness but quickly lose him Guðrun with then marry Atli and then lose her
brothers. Then she will kill Atli. All of this comes to pass.
It is hard to see how all these fortellings can be derived from the dream. I maintain that much of
the interpretation is simply placed there for dramatic effect or representing some other soothsaying
powers of Brynhild. However, when we take Brynhild interpretation as a starting place, a symbolic
picture emerges which is more compelling. The stag is Sigurd, and his hair of gold represents the
gold he gained from slaying Fafnir. GuÃYrÃ~n was then the only one who could marry Sigurd, and
Brynhild would cause Sigurd s death early on. The wolf s cub probably does represent Atli, whome
Guðrun marries and he causes the death of her brothers. Note that Gudhrun, warns her brothers by
tying a wolf s hair to a golden ring and sending it to them along with runes urging them not to come
to meet Atli.9
In the second instance, King Atli dreams that GuÃYrÃ~n thrust a sword in him. He furthermore
dreams that there were two reeds that he never wished to harm, but they were torn up by the roots
and bloodied. Then he dreamed that there were two hawks which flew from his hand, but died
because they had no prey to catch, but that he ate their hearts mixed with honey, that some whelps
(probably 2, given the rest of the dream) lay beofre them and he ate them willingly.10
In all cases the pairs of beings represent the two sons of Guðrun and Atli. Guðrun kills their sons
and serves their roasted hearts to Atli and he eats them without knowing their true nature.
Atli is not alone in his dreams of this disaster. Gunnar s wife dreams that another river swepth
through their hall destroying it, and that fire destroyed everything, and a bear came in, destroyed the
throne and incapacitated all. Then she dreamed that that an eagle, whom she recognized as King Atli
came and spattered everyone with blood. Gunnar tries to convince her that he will be fine, but he is
captured and placed into a pit of poisonous serpents by Atli.11
Hogni s wife also has such dreams. She dreams that a bloody sword is brought into the hall
and that Hognis is run through with that sword. Furthermore, dogs howl at both ends. Then she
dreams that a somber-looking woman chose Hogni for a hosband and believed this to be a spirit
from another world. Hogni s reply is more accurate than Gunnar s, but he shrugs it off. He does not
believe it unlikely that he will be going to his death. He is captured with Gunnar, and his heart cut
from his chest and shown to Gunnar.12
In each of these cases, the dreams were symbolic of events which were about to happen. The
symbolsim manifests from a complex mythic symbol set which then describe events which are about
to transpire. For this reason, dream interpretation is an advanced type of divination today because it
requires, even more than Runic divination, a strong grounding in the mythic tradition.
For those interested in this advanced technique of divination, I can offer several suggestions to aid
you in the quest for reliable interpretation of the dreams. The first suggestion is study the symbol set
of your tradition, in this case the Germanic and Norse myths. This is important because this develops
a set of symbols for communicating with your unconscious aspects of yourself.
8
Ibid. Chapter 27
9
Ibid. Chapter 35
10
Ibid. Chapter 35. Starts at the beginning of the chapter.
11
Ibid. The dream occurs in chapter 36, and his death at the end of chappter 39.
12
Ibid. The dream occurs in chapter 37 and his death in chapter 39.
98 CHAPTER 8. DIVINATION
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