Tales from the Ironwood

This portrait of Friedrich Marby was begun on 28 December 2024. Marby is one of those figures that is filled with contradictions. His work, as perhaps the first modern Rune Magician, however is highly influential on most who practice Rune Magick today. Some simply avoid mentioning him while others distort his life based on their own political and social outlooks. ********* Friedrich Bernhard Marby was born on 10 May 1882 in Aurich, Ostfriesland, a historic region in what is now Lower Saxony, Germany. A pivotal figure in esoteric and magickal Rune practice, Marby was the first to develop the concept of forming Rune postures with the body—a practice he called Runengymnastik (Rune Gymnastics), which is now more commonly known as Rune Yoga. Marby provided detailed occult explanations for the energies and benefits associated with his practice. However, like many early 20th-century Rune Magicians, much of what is said about Marby consists of half-truths and distortions—shaped by both his fie...

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. ********* 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 re...

This essay was originally written on 4 July 2019. Perhaps, with numerological significance, it came to serve as the eighteenth chapter of my book, Tales from the Ironwood . It was in 2016 sometime that I attended my first Rune Yoga class. I had learned of the practice sometime earlier with my first read of Edred Thorsson's Futhark: A Handbook of Rune Magic. Over the years, I have come to teach Rune Yoga on many occasions to several dozen students. I continue to explore its power and mystery each day. What follows contains a few minor edits and updates from that work which was published in 2019. ********* I was excited, if not perplexed, when I received an invitation to a class on “Rune Yoga.” Skylands Ásatrú Fellowship always placed a major emphasis on education. There were classes offered on a wide range of subjects from “Cosmology” to “Eschatology.” But what exactly was “Rune Yoga?” While I had never practiced yoga, I was quite aware of its popularity. There must be at least a h...

This essay is offered to describe a practice that may help to align one's life rhythm with the energies of the runes. It is intended for those already familiar with the practice of Rune Yoga, Mudras, and Meditation.  ********* What follows is a description of a technique and approach to ritualizing Rune Yoga on a daily schedule. I shall assume that the postures are already understood through familiarity with the works of Kummer, Marby, Spiesberger, Welz, or Thorsson. It is important to understand what I intend by the use of the term, “ritual.” Ritual is, by definition, a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, or actions performed in a specific sequence. From a magical perspective, each element of a ritual should be meaningful or sacred. The inference here is that by setting aside each element or aspect of one’s rune yoga practice that more meaningful results may be attained. The ritual that follows may be used for either Rune Yoga or Rune Mudras ( Runen-Griff ) or some ...