Runecasting and Ogham

Domain XIV · Western esoteric, divinatory & new spiritual movements · Ralph Blum, Paul Rhys Mountfort · 1982

What it is

Runecasting is a modern divinatory use of the runic letters (runes) of the Elder Futhark. In Blum's system the set holds 24 Elder Futhark runes plus a 25th blank stone, which Blum called Wyrd and linked to the unknown, fate and potential not yet formed; stones are drawn from a bag, singly (a daily…

Format

• This is a framework for the psychotherapist working with a client who uses runes or Ogham, not a protocol from the practice itself. No source gives session counts; the phases below are and can be woven into any ongoing therapy.
• Format: individual sessions are assumed; family or partner sessions where accommodation of reassurance seeking is involved.

Evidence status, as the guide reports it

• What it is. Runecasting is a modern divinatory use of the runic letters (runes) of the Elder Futhark. In Blum's system the set holds 24 Elder Futhark runes plus a 25th blank stone, which Blum called Wyrd and linked to the unknown, fate and potential not yet formed; stones are drawn from a bag,…

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Does it involve any substance, plant preparation, remedy or supplement? Has your doctor or prescriber been told, especially about any medication you take?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• How do you and the practitioner understand what is happening, in spiritual or cultural terms? Is that a source of comfort, worry, or both?
• Does it use a device, heat, cold, water or a physical procedure? Has a medical professional checked that it is safe for you?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• referrals that feel like dismissal of the practice; working when the client follows through.
• frequent consulting driven by guilt; anniversary escalation; exploitation of bereavement; working when the client can grieve with or without readings.
• repeated re-casting after a blank draw, which is a sign of intolerance of uncertainty; working when the client can sit with an open question for longer.
• abrupt change from the client's baseline; loss of functioning; working when you can say whether the experience fits the tradition and the client's history.
• the IOCDF-described pattern in which reassurance gives only brief relief and the doubt returns quickly; working when the client recognises the cycle as theirs.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.