Learning the Runes
	Where to begin learning the runes.... well, the first and most important thing to know about where to begin is this:  You have to begin within yourself.  No one can teach you the secrets of the runes- like any esoteric system or magical alphabet, there is a certain amount of Will involved.  You must take the time to work with the runes in a personal way and aquaint yourself with what works for you.  Any written guidlines or lessons are only there to help- they may not and cannot work for everyone.  What follows this little disclaimer is a breakdown of some of the methods that I have tried or know others personally who have tried them and found them successful.  Whenever possible I will give names of references if the original idea came from a known midgard (our world) source other then my own grey matter. When I first began working with the runes, it was because I had found a little book which came with a set of runes.  They didn't make any sense to me, and having worked with tarot cards for some 12 years prior to working with the runes I was frustrated at being forced to look up correspondances to each rune, flipping it about and not being able to attach any real concrete image links with the runes.  Tarot had been so easy for me, the pictures made so much sense.  So here I was with a little bag of Ideograms that meant squat to me.  I gave up, put the rune set away, and got rid of the book. Five years later, I found myself no longer interested in using the tarot, and stumbled across my store bought rune set. A little bit before this time I had realized that my interest in wicca had never been sincere, and my love of Taoism was blocked by only finding teachers who  had no interest in teaching to a young caucasan female.  At my wits end with earth based spirituality I made a plea to my dead grandmother for guidance.  I asked her to show me my path, to help me find my spritual and religious truths, to find the path of my ancestors.  Thus began my earnest interest in the runes and heathenry.  This is also the basis of the first exercise that I have to offer.
		A Prayer and Offering to Ancestors
		Daily Rune Practice
					A Brief History of the Runes
				Divination
				Magic
					Main