Preparing The
Staves
Do you know how to cut?
Do
you know how to read?
Do you
know how to find?
Do you know
how to explore? Do you know how
to demand?
Do you know how to celebrate?
Do you know how to project?
Do you know how to redeem?
(from Havamal v. 143)
One of the best choices for the beginner
is a set of oaken Rune staves which you may order from the Knights of
Runes in kit form. The Runes are burnt in the face of these staves.
What it needs now is some of your own charging, to make these staves
powerful, personal tools to trigger Rune energies. By taking great care
to do the finishing work on these staves you will be able to get in
tune with each Rune, stave by stave, and end up with a fully charged
set. So now you have the staves burned into the wood to start you off,
and it is up to you to sand them and polish them and charge them with
your own energies.
Before you begin on any Rune, read up
on the meaning of it. When you are sanding and polishing, be aware of
the meaning of the Rune that you are working with. Be also aware that
there is much more meaning and significance yet to come, which will
open up to you as you progress with your practice and study.
Ideally you should do this work in a
ceremonial setting. Set your work table, or altar, EPG, and light your
candle. You may use the ceremonials outlined in the book "Runic Ceremonials."
If this is not possible, get as close as you can to it.
With each Rune, you proceed as follows:
[Position, or hand position, of IS]
Say: Self conscious I am antenna
For the rays and vibrations
From the Realms of Creation.
[Position or hand position, of UR]
Say: Self conscious I draw power
From the deepest depths
From the spheres of the Earth
From the womb of All Mother.
[Position or hand position of MAN]
Say: Self conscious I draw power
From the highest heights,
From the cosmic realms,
From the great universe.
[Position or hand position of the Rune
you are working with]
Say: Powers of . . . (Rune name)
Come to me
Stay with me
Give me the wisdom and power
Of your Realm!
Note: If body or hand positions are
not yet known, strongly visualize the Rune with which you are working,
in your inner eye.
Now you can sand and polish. While doing
this, project energy into the Rune. The Runes MAN and YR, KA and AR,
FA and OS, need to be notched or otherwise marked at the bottom of the
Rune stave, so that you know later which Rune it is.
The first step is to sand with a fairly
coarse sandpaper, rounding off corners and tidying up. You can go straight
to the fine sandpaper from here, or use medium before going on to wool.
You can oil the Rune with a good quality oil designed for wood. Some
oil polishes and stains require you to steel wool the surface when wet,
or soon after drying. Check the label to ensure perfect results.
Once the Rune feels good to you, hold
the stave in your right hand, look at it and say:
You became the carrier of the powers
of . . . (Rune name) Tied to you is the power of the Rune.
Sing the mantra of the Rune. Murmur
the song of the Rune if you are a student of the order, or recite the
stanza of the magical poem, if you are not familiar with the Song. Draw
the Rune in the air with your dagger, power rod, or wand. Next say:
Powers of . . . (Rune name)
Thank you for your energy.
Flow back to the Realms of Creation
Ground by chanting the Rune IS three
times while visualizing all surplus energies drain in the ground, then
go to the next Rune stave.
It is best to prepare on stave at a
time. This takes a long time, but you will end up with a well charged
set of Runes, fully tuned to you; well worth the effort you put into
it.
If the set of Runes is for the group
(castle or lodge), proceed similarly, but have the group present or
in mind while preparing the staves. As an alternative, all members of
the group can assemble and finish the Runes in a group ceremonial using
group energies. In this setting it is permissible for all the members
to take part simultaneously, each finishing one Rune at a time, until
they are all done.
It is important however that group staves
are used for group practices only and that individuals' staves are use
only by the person to whom they are tuned. The only exception is where
a Rune master of Knight uses his or her own personal set for the ceremonials
of the castle. Similar provisions apply to the use of Thor's Hammer.
Whenever you use the staves, make sure
that there is nobody around who may project negative energies or ideas,
disbelief, hostility, and so forth, into your Rune staves. Should you
suspect, or become aware of too much negative energy building up in
your Runes, it will be necessary to de-node, i.e., purify them and then
recharge them.
Purification: Fumigate in Frankincense,
being aware that this action will remove all negative energy. Do this
one Rune at time. |
