LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Runes: People
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In ancient times, runes were used for divination and magick, in addition to writing. The word "rune" means mystery, secret or whisper. Each rune has esoteric meaning and properties beyond its mundane meaning and phonetic value. Each rune translates into a word or a phrase signifying concepts important to the people of old who used them, representing the forces of nature and mind. Each rune has a story attached to it, a relationship to a deity.
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The runes were introduced to the Germanic peoples in the 1st or 2nd century. (The oldest known runic inscription dates to ca. the 160s and is found on a comb discovered in the bog of Vimose, Funen. The inscription reads harja; a disputed candidate for a 1st century inscription is on the Meldorf fibula). This period may correspond to the late Proto-Germanic or Common Germanic stage linguistically, with a continuum of dialects not yet clearly separated into the three branches of later centuries, viz. North Germanic, West Germanic and East Germanic.
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The factual appearance of the runes is quite different from people's beliefs on how they first were done. In the Norse religion, the father of all gods and men is a powerful god named Odin. This is used from the even older name Woden (where Wednesday comes from). Odin ruled in Valhalla.
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In some cases additional runes were added, in others runes were combined; in Scandinavia the number of runes was reduced to just sixteen, while in certain parts of England the number was increased to as many as thirty-three. However many people feel that this 'tampering' with the original alphabet only serve to weaken their magical potential.
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Today, runes have been rediscovered as a symbolic system and have gained immense popularity as a means of divination. They are... much more than a curious alternative to Tarot cards for telling fortunes. They provide a key to understanding the lives and beliefs of the ancient people who created them, and have much to teach us about a way of life that was perhaps more inimately connected to the natural world, and to the realm of spirit, than our own.
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The power of the runes was once the domain of a chosen few, when only a minority sought spiritual enlightenment. Today, many people seek answers to questions, and these "seekers of wisdom" should have access to clear instruction about this ancient oracle.
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