Tales from the Ironwood

I've been planning this article for some time. Clearly there is much more to explore on the topic of Rune-Zodiac correspondence as well as indications of Zodiac references in the old lore. With this article, I only begin to scratch the surface. Written on 7 and 8 April 2023. ********* Various Rune Masters have long associated runic systems with the Zodiac. This has been accomplished in different ways, however, through the years. Siegfried Kummer provided such correspondences in his Holy Rune Might: Rebirth of Armanendom through Rune Exercises and Dance . His system aligned a single rune with each of the 12 Zodiac signs over a three-year cycle, for example, he aligned Aries with FA in the first cycle. Kummer used this method, in part, to address the challenge of aligning 18 runes with only 12 Zodiac signs. Hence, over three years, the 36 Zodiac signs (12 x 3=36) align evenly with two sets of the 18-Rune Futhorkh (18 x 2=36). If one reviews the diagram of Kummer’s rune circle, you w

The article that follows served originally as a chapter of my Treatise on the Armanen Runes that was submitted as my masterwork to satisfy one requirement to become a Runemaster in Knights of Runes. The Treatise was written between 3 June 2019 and 15 August 2021. Edited on 7 April 2023. ********* The Armanen Runes stand out among the various rune systems in that, by nature, they are esoteric. The other systems, especially, the Elder Futhark may be studied and used in mundane ways, for example conveying a simple message – or even writing lengthy articles or books. I recall a project in which an organization was planning to produce and publish a copy of the Poetic Edda  written entirely with Elder Futhark runes. As questionable as such a project may have been, it would certainly have been foolish had the plan been to use the Armanen Futhorkh. The Armanen Runes are found originally in the Hávamál – "the words of the High One." Many tend to forget that this important lay from