Wolffe's Ways

Has been an interesting excercise thus far. Some days it has been incredibly challenging to reach inside myself and find a grain of what it means to connect with the rune of the day. Some days it has been almost like taking candy from a baby it has been so easy. I can't even begin to explain it. I do know, that I'm thrilled to be doing it, because it is taking me into places I would not have actually actively have considered going otherwise... Though I think about the runes frequently and talk about them almost constantly in one manner or another, I don't really do them as daily meditations, and I never really put a Vanic slant on them before. I am almost ashamed to admit, that like the majority of runic practitioners out there, I have allowed myself to fall into the trap of becoming focused on them as an Odinic 'gift' to the world without realizing that when Odin gave the runes to the world(s) that meant that those beings whom He gave the runes to would have incredibly different applications for them based on the way in which their peoples lived. Why I didn't think in this way I don't know, after all I have developed my own personal slant on the runes as the years have gone by. Different tribes of people in the 'every day' world even if they are of the same base culture have different interpretations for very basic things, and it becomes more pronounced when there is a cultural shift thrown into the mix. So obviously the runes would have different applications and interpretations when being utilized by the Vanir,Duergar or the Jotunar than by the AEsir or by humans. I am sure that there have probably been other attempts to do this, but that I am unaware of them. I am thrilled to know that having been part of the current of Vanic Consciousness for as long as I have, being a Vanic practioner, that I have perceived and used the runes in a primarily Vanic way. Though I do think, that in many ways I span Vanic and AEsic thought and at times like to refer to the current I embody as VAEsic. This is a term I have only coined recently. I am hoping it will catch on with others. What makes the difference between fully utilizing the runes in a Vanic method and using them as a VAEsic practitioner? It seems to me that when I associate the runes in their primarily Vanic roles that I reach out to others more, and when I utelize them in the more standard AEsic method, I become more self focused. If I cross currents as it were, it becomes at least for me, very powerful. Each way can be used for casting of magical wards spells and the like and each has its own secrets. Learning when to utilize which mode of being, and when to 'cross currents' takes a lot of practice. Do I consider myself to have mastered the runes? Not by any means would I even begin to say that. I think that to make such a claim is a statement of whimsey and comes from the ego. If others wish to make such a statement about me that is another thing entirely but I believe it takes a lifetime to master them and I am still young enough not to want such a title. After all I'm only 39, I started studying the runes when I was 24.