The Practice of Discharging Runic Energy

This essay was composed on 22 August 2022. On 20 August, I taught a Rune Yoga class to a large number of students. At the conclusion of the class, I was asked why one should discharge runic energy. Why wouldn't the practitioner want to store up this power? The essay that follows constitutes my research to properly respond to such a query. It is also a good reminder to master and beginner alike as to why such a practice is recommended and how it reduces the chance of undesired consequences of Rune practice.

Minor edits on 26 February and 3 and 14 July 2023.

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Masters of Rune Yoga, especially Armanen Rune Yoga, have long suggested that accumulated runic energy be discharged at the conclusion of one’s yoga work. It seems that the first Armanen Master to advocate the importance of this step was Siegfried Adolf Kummer in his Runen-Magie (Rune-Magic) of 1933. Most practitioners have continued this practice without pausing to understand why this act is necessary and strongly recommended by most Rune Masters.

To understand why discharging runic energy is recommended, it is essential to take a step back and consider what is happening when one practices Rune Yoga. In modern times, the earliest masters who developed the essentials of Rune Yoga were Friedrich Marby and Siegfried Kummer. Marby described his ideas using the Anglo-Frisian Runes while Kummer utilized what has come to be known as the Armanen Runes —the primary system in use for magical purposes in Europe from 1908 when Guido von List revealed them in his Das Geheimnis der Runen (The Secret of the Runes) through the 1990s when many came to prefer the Elder Futhark. Kummer described the receiving of Rune energy using technology metaphors commonly understood at the time. Primarily he wrote of “radio-like” waves and the use of the human body as an antenna. Here he described such energy as it related to the rune IS:

“In the I-rune position, the practitioner is tuned to specific radio-like All-waves as an antenna of nature, which receives according to the fundamental vibration of the practitioner either good, healing and strong, or bad, weak, and even demonic fine-force waves.”[1]

Kummer had not developed a good name for the runic energy that he described. Later masters have used a variety of labels including: Odic energy, Vril, Life energy, Orgone, and even prāṇa, the Sanskrit word for “breath,” “life force,” or “vital principle.” Kummer continued to use the term “radio waves” when he revealed this important principle for his practice:

“It is always better if the student practices the rune positions outdoors whenever possible because rooms are often permeated by radio waves, which are not good for the student in his early stage of development and are absorbed by him unconsciously. Also, consider that the walls, the ceiling, and the floor of the room are heavily drenched with the influence of the moods, occurrences and thought powers of former occupants.”[2]

Kummer goes onto explain that even if a previous occupant of the home or apartment in which one performs their Rune work were filled with melancholy, hate, or various perversions that one might encounter such negative energy. He adds that this is especially possible if you are performing Rune Yoga at a time when the star positions (zodiac) for demonic[3] influences are strong.

In his description of the rune position (stellung) for MAN, Kummer keeps up this general line of explanation. He writes:

“[He] thinks sharply that radio-like All-power waves penetrate into the back of his head and flow through his spinal cord, while at the same time the waves penetrate into his hands, flood his arms and his body, surrounding him with the All-powerful waves which unite in the sympathetic create a very peculiar, blissful, beautiful feeling; yes, it evokes a resounding in the practitioner and awakens a deeper All-knowing and All-love.”[4]

Kummer explains that one’s will, good wishes, and thoughts may be fulfilled as long as one lives in harmony with the All-wave forces. In so doing, the practitioner aligns himself with the All-Father and may even rule over the zodiacal influences of the stars. In so aligning one’s thoughts and will, one may become a master magician or “God-Man” as Kummer calls it.

One year later, in 1933, Kummer’s language was slightly fine-tuned. For his description of the IS position he writes of the “reception of subtle cosmic energies.”[5] He describes Rune energies as “subtle currents of the All-power.”[6] Such “currents of power” free the inner-Self from the bonds of the body allowing for the abilities to recall ancestral memories and even astral perception.[7] He notes that “every rune has a different type of current, a different strength, vibration, and rhythm.”[8] Most importantly for this essay, it is here that Kummer first describes the need for discharging Rune energy. He writes,

“After ending the exercise the Runer should drain off any energies which have been too strongly accumulated, or unfavorable waves accumulated through false thoughts, in the following manner: In the MAN-Rune posture, hum the m in a high tone, then sink to the lowest tone, while thinking, consciously willing, that all waves harmful to the Spirit, Soul, and Body are bound to the tone vibrating in the body, and flow through the body and fade away under the soles of his feet into the earth with the deepest tone.”[9]

Later in the same volume, in his chapter on “The Formation of the Grail-Chalice,” Kummer once again recommends a “good discharge of power” and points his readers back to the MAN exercise described above.[10]

Karl Spiesberger took a different approach to this matter. Rather than emphasizing a discharge of energy, Spiesberger leveraged the traditional final resting pose of Hatha yoga, Shavasana. The Sanskrit word savasana from which this term is derived means "corpse pose." Its intention is restoration and relaxation following a course of Hatha or modern yoga. Spiesberger calls this pose the SIE-rune asana. The SIE rune is the negative or dämonium of the IS-rune. In other words, rather than standing vertically, one lays down horizontally. Spiesberger writes of the SIE-rune asana:

"it invigorates body and mind by strengthening the nerves, regulating blood pressure, normalizing the heartbeat, improving blood circulation in the brain, eliminating waste products, taming thoughts, remedying mental illnesses, providing higher insights and much more."[11]

The SIE-Rune asana is formed by laying on the floor generally with arms to either side of the body, palms facing upward, and legs partly spread. While Spiesberger likely intended relaxation through this pose, I find it to be a highly effective method to discharge runic energy.

Karl Welz describes the practice of runic discharge of energy in several places. In his Rune Yoga course, he writes, for example:

“To end the practice, we ground the energies. Grounding after practice is essential, because it sends back any surplus energies. To ground, we stand in position of IS and we visualize all energies drain through our bodies into the ground, in a similar way as water goes down the drain. With this visualization in mind, we chant IS three times.”[12]

Welz also commented in his "Letter of Instructions # 11":

"Never forget to ground surplus energy at the end of every ceremonial, ritual, or other Runic practice. When grounding, visualize IS, pose IS in grounding-position, and visualize all surplus energy flow[ing] through your body into the ground. You may also sing the Rune, beginning with the highest possible pitch and lowering the pitch more and more, [notice] the energy flow down your body, and into the ground. This practice prevents you from being overcharged after the ceremonial." [13]

Aelfric Avery provides the best explanation of why to use the practice of discharging Rune energies. He uses the IS method described by Welz above. He explains:

“The IS discharge is really a ‘shutting down’ of the runes, making them inactive so they no longer continue to build up their energies in you, which they would otherwise continue to do until they are shut down (which can cause some problems.)”[14]

Avery is perhaps the first to associate such discharge with making an offering to the gods. He writes,

“The discharge of excess runic energy also serves as an offering to the gods, much as is the case in a sacrifice or offering in a ritual of worship. This offering of vril acts as a gift for a gift: it nourishes the gods and helps maintain the bond and mutually beneficial relationship between gods and men.”[15]

In my own practice, I have incorporated the IS discharge by moving from the IS-Runen-Allschaltung --the IS rune formed with arms above the head, to the IS-Grundstellung --the IS posture with arms at my sides. The lowering of the arms is accompanied by chanting the "I" sound and modulating the pitch from high to low. I follow this either with Spiesberger's SIE-Rune asana or by moving to a variation of the SIG-Rune posture in which I place each of my hands directly on the ground for a count of nine seconds. Energy may be felt moving out through the hands.

In conclusion, in order to understand the importance of discharging runic energies, we must appreciate the subtlety of those energies. When we become human receivers of such energy, we may, through the power of our conscious or unconscious will, absorb either positive or negative energies associated with each rune. If our purpose is uncertain or filled with foul-intent, we may influence such energies and become filled with negative energies. This is especially the case for those who have yet to master the power of the runes. It is important to understand that runes are technically neither “good” or “evil” but rather have “positive” and “negative” aspects. The power of runes may be thought of as electricity. Uncontrolled electricity has the power to kill, but controlled electricity powers our homes and our technologies. Rune energies may also be influenced by other magnetic or electrical fields. It is for this reason that I always recommend removing all electronic devices from one’s proximity prior to performing Rune Yoga. In fact, it is best to move as far away from such devices as possible. It is certainly in this sense that Kummer wrote of “rooms being permeated by radio waves.” Today we are constantly barraged by electromagnetic fields (EMFs) that may interfere with the receipt of subtle Rune energies. We should consider also that Rune energy originates in the chaotic space that was described in Germanic mythology as the Ginnungagap. Such energies may, as Kummer indicates, be influenced by various star patterns and may be stronger or weaker depending on various astrological happenings. As an example, Rune energies are generally significantly heightened at the time of a full moon.

Finally, for those of us of a Heathen background, Avery’s point of a gift-for-a-gift certainly rings true. We might consider the Rune energies as a gift to those who know how to wield them. As such, they are a powerful force for self-healing, healing of others, and generally for bringing the success of our magical intentions. When we have concluded our magical working, we should shut off that “power switch.” We may return the unused energy to the gods, or if we prefer, to their cosmological origin. Through such a practice we use only what is required, knowing that we can draw upon such power when it is again needed. The practice of discharge at the conclusion of Rune Yoga work is an important step in one’s practice. It not only better aligns the Rune practitioner with these energies of the universe, but limits the risks of undesired consequences.

Notes:

1. Siegfried Adolf Kummer, Holy Rune Might: Rebirth of the Armanendom through Rune Exercises and Dance, trans. Aelfric Avery (Vavenby, CA: Woodharrow Bund Press, 2019), 44. 

2. Ibid, 46. 

3. One should note that many more modern authors have replaced the word “demonic” with “Murk-Stave” “Bane-Stave” or other terms to describe a negative force associated with the rune in question. This is especially so during the practice of runic divination. A rune cast and landing in a horizontal position rather than its normal vertical position may be read for that rune’s negative qualities. 

4. Kummer, Holy Rune Might, 51 

5. Siegfried Adolf Kummer, Rune-Magic, trans. Edred Thorsson (Bastrop, TX: Lodestar, 2017) 12. 

6. Ibid. 

7. Ibid, 13. 

8. Ibid. 

9. Ibid. 

10. Ibid, 15. 

11. Karl Spiesberger, Runenexerzitien: Runenpraxis der Eingeweihten (Berlin: Verlag Richard Schikowski, 1982), 42-43. 

12. Karl Hans Welz, Rune Yoga Course, “Rune Yoga Lesson 1.” https://runemagick.com/runeyoga/rune_yoga1.html 

13. Karl Hans Welz, Letter of Instructions # 11: The Rune SIG, https://knightsofrunes.godaddysites.com/lesson-11:-sig

14. Aelfric Avery, Armanen Runes and the Black Sun in Modern Heathenry, Volume III (Vavenby, CA: Woodharrow Gild Press, 2018), 26. 

15. Ibid.