Rune Healing Stories: Egil’s Saga, Historical Context and Limits

Wooden rune tiles beside an open book on a warm study desk.

Updated 8 September 2026

Rune-healing stories can tell us about literary themes and beliefs; they do not by themselves show that a rune can cause or cure disease. Reading the source carefully is more useful than treating every dramatic account as a warning about hidden danger.

Three things are often mixed together: runes as writing, stories about magical use, and modern spiritual practices. Keeping them separate makes it easier to appreciate the material without making claims it cannot support.

Runes were also an alphabet

The Viking Ship Museum’s introduction to runes explains the Viking Age writing system. A rune is not automatically a healing instruction. Its role depends on the inscription, source and context.

For any symbol you encounter, ask where the interpretation comes from. Is it a translation of an inscription, a passage in a saga, a modern handbook or the author’s own reflection? Those are different kinds of material, even when they use the same shape.

What the Helga episode actually says

In chapter 75 of the W. C. Green translation of Egil’s Saga, Helga has been ill. Her father says a neighbouring landowner’s son carved runes and she became worse. Egil finds the inscription, removes it and carves replacement runes; the narrative then describes her improvement.

Correction: an earlier version of this article incorrectly made Egil the person responsible for the harmful carving. The source places him in the role of removing it. The episode should be described as a saga narrative, not a verified medical case.

What a story can—and cannot—support

You might read the episode as a warning about acting without knowledge or claiming authority over another person’s welfare. That is an interpretation of the story. It does not follow that a modern practitioner can treat illness by using the correct symbol.

Likewise, a passage involving a curse does not establish that a present-day reader is cursed. Before sharing an alarming quotation, check the speaker, the translation and the surrounding scene. Avoid passing on an isolated line as though it were a scientific finding.

Evaluate a modern healing claim separately

A reference to “energy” or “quantum physics” does not replace evidence about a specific treatment. Ask what outcome is being promised and what research supports it. A testimonial cannot tell you how often people did not improve or what else affected the result.

The NCCIH guide to complementary approaches recommends discussing such practices with a healthcare professional and not using unproven approaches to replace or delay medical care.

Explore a symbol without making a treatment claim

You can read, draw or reflect on a rune as part of a personal practice. Write down the source of its meaning, your own association and one ordinary question it raises. Keep those notes distinct from claims about someone else’s health or future.

If you try the site’s three-rune reading format, treat it as an interpretive exercise and check claims against their sources. For a separate discussion of a physical practice, the breathwork benefits and safety guide addresses its own evidence and limits.

You do not need a costly ritual to make a historical text safe to read. Curiosity, source checking and clear boundaries are a sound place to begin.

The History of Runes

The history of runes can be traced as far back as 200 BC. There are many different theories about its origins that scholars have discovered but no one really knows how and who made them first. The countless uses of the symbols probably evolved over time from severely practical pieces of communication to symbols that we’re used for divination. Each rune is not only a single letter that can be used to form words, but is also a complete word in itself, with many different meanings. The “rune-masters” of ancient times understood how to use runic grammar for contracts as well as the hidden or secret meanings. For this reason they we’re both respected and feared. Because the word rune means secret or whisper it was clear to the ancient consciousness that there are great mysteries contained within the runes.

The Elder Futhark is the most popular of the rune alphabets used today. In this set there are 25 runes all with symbols carved into them except one which is blank, the blank one relates to the unknown. The meanings of the runes are connected with fertility, weather, sunlight, darkness the cycles of the seasons and reflect the relationships of the ancient tribes with their environment.

Learning to read the runes takes much time and study. Studying the runes can be difficult because rune working died out in the seventeenth century. This has left only fragmentary literary sources to tell us what the runes mean. None of the literature tells us what the symbols on the runes represent. Modern rune lore is therefore based not only on study and tradition, but also on psychic intuition and opinions.

Reading the runes is a mystical art of discovering hidden things, psychic foreseeing future events or discovering the likely outcome of current situations. There are no records of how ancient rune masters used them for divination, so methods used in other systems such as the tarot have been adapted. Usually runes are pulled out of a pouch and placed into a set position and interpreted. The different formats for which runes are laid are known as runes casts or spreads. When asking a question using a rune cast it is best to keep it simple and direct.

The symbols of the runes are attractive and believed by some to be quite powerful. This is why you can purchase jewelry with carved rune symbols on them, pendants are very common. A specific symbol can also be chosen for the astrological correspondence.

7 Tips to Clean Your Aura

Cleaning your aura is essential for spiritual hygiene. By cleaning your aura on a daily basis, you protect yourself against psychic attacks and illnesses. A clean aura is charismatic and will encourage better relations with others. People will naturally be more considerate and grant favors to one whose aura is clean and radiating with energy. Here is where we influence people and get them to do as we wish. Negative thoughtforms used in black magick and generated from the ill will, jealousy and/or anger of others attach to one’s aura and invite misfortune such as accidents, illnesses and so forth. Cleaning one’s aura [as long as there are no serious problems] only takes a few minutes a day and is well worth it. When one is ill, and/or depressed, the aura is dirty and can take many meditations to clean. What is within reflects in one’s aura. When there is illness, whether it has already manifested itself, or is pending, the aura will take on a dirty grayish color. Here are a few simple ways to do it.

Here’s How:

Comb Your Aura – Wash and dry your hands throughly. Using your fingers as a comb, comb through the space surrounding your body starting at your head continuing downward to the toes. Afterwards, clean your hands with running water allowing all-picked up energies to be washed away.
Take a Shower – Stand under an outdoor waterfall or indoor shower. Allow the water to flow generously over every inch of your body: head, face, arms, torso, legs, and feet. As you watch the water disappear down the drain or disperse away from your feet breathe freely and imagine all your troubles and stress flowing away from your mind along with the water.
Rainwater Cleansing – Walking in the rainfall. There might not be anything more satisfying than walking outdoors when it is raining. Look up to the skies as you breathe in the humid air as raindrops fall onto your face. Refreshing… cleansing!
Wind and Play – Free your mind and shake out any grungies that are clinging to your auric field by running freely and playfully in the wind. Go ahead, stretch your arms outwards and give your body a spin on the grassy lawn or meadow. Not too fast, you don’t want to fall down.
Whisk Aura with Feathers – Using a single feather or feather whisk make sweeping motions through the space surrounding your body. Begin at your feet and work upwards…. much like a bird would fly from the ground to the top of a tree. Ask a friend to assist by sweeping your backside or any areas around your physical being that you cannot reach easily.
Smudge Your Aura – Smudge the area surrounding your body with the smoke from sage, lavender, sweetgrass, or other smudging herbs. You can also gently breathe in some of the smudged air (not recommended for the asthmatic individual).
Saltwater Soak – Treat your auric field and physical body by soaking in a steaming tub of water with epsom salt or a sea salt bath treatment. Choose from a variety of unscented or scented bath salt products. Eucalyptus is wonderful for cleansing the sinuses or discharging fluish ickies. A lavender sea salt bath cleanses and calms body and spirit. Unscented is best for scent-sensitives.

Tips:

Turkey or owl feathers are especially good feathers to use for sweeping the aura.
Take care to do some deep breathing exercises while cleansing your aura to aid in flushing your inner body.
Caution: Do not walk in the rain during an electrical storm.

Crystals for Healing and Raising Your Vibration

images (3) Because of quartz and other crystals’ unique structural properties, many people believe that when a current or energy is run through a crystal, it resonates at a certain frequency helpful to the body or to a particular emotional or physical condition. It is also believed that crystals can retain energies or ‘programs’ to help a person with their healing.

The main goal of a spiritual journey is to transform our energy so that we are vibrating at a higher frequency. It’s in states of high vibrational energy that love, compassion, and abundance reside. When we vibrate high levels, we have access to those energies and we can live in a state of bliss.

We learn to raise our vibrations through the practice of meditation, crystal healing and yoga. But holding on to those high vibrations can be difficult when we return to work, interact with low energy people and become bombarded by the violence and news and media. Using large crystals in the home maintains high vibrational energy of your space and body.

Large crystals are the high vibration crystals because they hold the presence and energy of the earth. Earth energy reminds us to connect with the divine that created everything with the intention of love, compassion and abundance. Keeping high vibration crystals in each room will help foster a deeper spiritual life. Simply seeing a beautiful piece of the earth everyday, as opposed to a manufactured decorative item, will begin to transform your mindset.

In our opinion, the best large crystals for the home are amethyst, selenite, elestial quartz and celestite. These are the crystals we keep in our showroom, and our homes, and when people walk in, they always comment about the shift in energy. Using crystals in the home can vary from crystal to crystal and room to room.

Large Amethyst Crystals: Amethyst should be displayed in a room where your family and friends tend to gather, whether it’s in the living room, kitchen or some other unique space.It constantly pulls the negative energy from a room and emits positive energy back into it. The larger the crystal is, the better its ability to rid the space of negative energy and fill it with positive energy will be.

Large Selenite Crystals: Selenite is the ultimate protection crystal.

Placing crystals in the home for protection requires that you put them by the doorways to prevent negative energy from coming in.You can also place selenite by your seating so you can place your feet on it when you need to reground and relax.

Large Celestite Crystals

Celestite’s light blue color instantly brings tranquility and peacefulness.It’s an ideal crystal to keep in the bedroom to promote restful sleep.You can put it in any space where you’d like to feel gentle, uplifting energy and rid the space of stress, anxiety or depression.

Large Smoky Elestial Quartz Crystals: A smoky elestial quartz is an extremely spiritual stone that will connect you with the divine, while also teaching you how to use what you learn from your spiritual journey and integrate it into the modern world. You can keep an elestial in your sacred space to foster the relationship between you and the divine during meditation. You can also keep it in an area of your home where you spend a lot of time and want to continue to foster your relationship with the divine.

Any large crystal you use will have an impact on your space. The important thing to keep in mind, is picking one that you resonate with, as that will help to transform your energy the best.

Healing Through the Runes

Rune Healing is very powerful and is considered to be an advanced, ancient method of emotional re-balancing. The runes are core geometrical patterns that are found within nature, as well as the human body. They have a direct correspondence to all models of the Tree of Life, allowing the individual to change the negative patterns and cycles that inhibit their true nature. Here we discuss how they are used in healing.

One of the great advantages of symbolisms over incoherent arrays is that symbolisms can be applied to specific parts of the universe.

Only intense practice with Runes can bring about a clear understanding of the mechanics of healing with Rune energies. However, what we describe in the following will give some ideas of what healing with Runes is about. Some experience with Rune exercises will be helpful.

Runes constitute a symbolic description of energies of the levels of creation. The symbolism furnishes you with a spectrum of energies coming from the levels of creation. There are some analogies with the spectrum of natural colors, but runes and colors are different things.

When you practice Rune Magic or Rune Healing, then you work with energies from the levels of creation. Runes allow you to act creatively upon your universe. To know the characteristics of the Rune “spectrum” is a condition for your participating in creation. When healing with Runes, you project energy upon the person to be healed. To this energy you attach the specific Rune vibration from the levels of creation.

Unlike projection of Light or of White Light, Runes allow the use of the specific “colors” of their spectrum. In any particular case, there may be a certain color that has beneficial effects and another color that blocks those beneficial effects.

The person who projects Light alone without consideration of the spectrum would be like one who prescribes every drug on the market assuming that one of them will do the trick. There may well a few of those drugs that counteract the beneficial effects of certain others.

Projection of Runes for healing purposes may yield spectacular results. Yet we caution not to abandon fully any other treatment in favor of Rune Healing, or any other psychic or spiritual healing, See the note on a previous page concerning this matter.

Only a Rune master skilled in hermetic knowledge is capable of selecting specific Runes for given conditions. To such a Rune master, Runes are also helpful in finding the actual root causes of a specific complaint, or undesirable body condition, such as too much body fat.

The fact that Runes are not limited by our self-imposed limitations of space-time allows the skilled Rune Magician to establish beneficial mechanisms of healing that come from beyond our space-time continuum, and that can extend their influence into the future. Thus Runes can be one of the best means for the prevention of ailments as well as for the improvement of the overall condition for extensive periods of time.

Projection of Rune energies can be produced in many ways. One of the most used methods is with the hands. Others involve charging the food, water, or even the air of the person being treated. Special diets, combined with Rune projection, will greatly enhance the effectiveness of the treatment, Another important addition to the treatment is practice of Rune Yoga. This is a discipline, which helps attract beneficial Rune energies by establishing specific shape vibrations that are in tune with vibrations of the energies that come from the Realms of Creation.

An important adjunct to Rune methods of healing is the observation of specific cycles and Rune trends. For millennia, astrologers have searched for an esoteric astrology, but they have based their research on the materialistic symbolism of astrology. From this they indeed gained deep insights but not much else. The traditional astrologer tries to “rule the stars” or his destine, by wisely adjusting to the existing trends. The person who uses the Rune symbolism for his astrology finds the appropriate tools to MAKE TRENDS. This has a much more profound impact upon destiny, and is for our purposes a much more thorough approach for overcoming ailments, and for improving the overall condition of the body, soul, and mind. There are also valuable spiritual benefits in this kind of approach,

TRADITIONAL CORRELATIONS BETWEEN RUNES AND HERMETIC MEDICINE

FA – ailments of the head. Feverish diseases. Burns off fat. Ailments of skin and bones. Purification.

THORN – Aura of health

OS (as its variation OTHIL) – Chest, back, neck (with UR).

RIT – Charka of the throat.

KA – Digestive organs (with IS), feverish ailments,

HAGAL – Kidneys and bladder, loins,

UR — Healing Rune in general. Finds roots of ailments. Neck. Liver. Nervous system (in combination with IS). Chest and lungs. Students under the instruction of a Rune Master will use UR in combination with OTHIL, a variation of OS.

IS – Neck, liver and nerves (with UR); digestive tract (with KA) accidents and injuries (with MAN) blood, gout, arthritis, arteriosclerosis

NOD – Infectious diseases and skin problems, (with LAF).

AR – Strengthens life force. Counteracts hallucinations and possession.

SIG — Nerves and tendons (with MAN)

TYR – Blood« gout- arthritis, and arteriosclerosis (with IS).

BAR – Female sex organs, birth.

LAF — Infectious diseases and skin problems (with NOD).

MAN – Accidents and injuries (with IS)? Nerves and tendons (with SIG).

YR – Lower abdomen, sexual organs.

EH – Balance glands, lymphatic system counters depression.

GIBOR – Procreation, transmutation.

The preceding correlations may be understood in many ways, depending on the level at which the Rune Magician is operating.

Apart from the healing effects, Runes, and especially the shape vibrations of Rune Yoga, have strong effects on the spiritual centers (chakras) in the body. Projection of specific Runes upon these centers will awaken them and purify them. The knowledge of which Runes work with what chakras is not public knowledge, for the danger of misuse is too great. Students of a Rune master usually meet with these matters in dealing with the Rune IS.

How to Use the 7 Styles of Rune Healing

Healing is a very popular subject, especially metaphysical healing, as it seems like everyone wants to live long, strong and healthy. In my opinion, all of the runes have a potential to be used in healing in many ways. Even ones that don’t seem to make perfect sense, like Hagalaz, have a potential for being using in healing methods.

Rune healing covers a very wide range and there’s a lot of information that you can find on the internet. But the key point to rune healing is energy. The New Paradigm of the Laws of Quantum Physics tell us that all is energy. You and I are energies, the runes are energies, our planet, Solar System, Galaxy and even the Universe is energy.

The Runes are keys to the Creative Energies of the Universe. They are the most powerful symbols and tools you can use to attract more health, wealth and love into your life.

Since we are energy beings we connect to all other energies in the Universe with our Auras. In fact the energies we carry in our Auras attract our physical realities. You want more health, wealth, and love? Then you must have the energy that vibrates to health, wealth and love in your Aura.

Then you must have the patience to allow these energies in you Aura to attract your new reality of health, wealth and love. It takes time.

Another powerful law of Quantum Physics is the law of Resonant Frequencies. A Rune UR symbol is a resonant frequency to the Universal healing energy. Like attracts like.

By practicing one of the following seven methods of Rune healing you can attract the healing energies of UR out of the Quantum Ocean of all energies and into your Aura.

Once the rune UR energy is in your Aura, it will start the healing process that will bring you health.

The following seven methods need a symbol of the UR Rune to be effective.

1. Rune Breathing: With the Ur Rune in your lap, look at it and intone “I am now breathing the divine healing energy of the Rune Ur out of the Quantum Ocean and into my Aura.”

2. Rune Magic: This is a wide open field for you. Runic magic is the most visible tip of a school of magic called the Northern Path. Northern magic uses the myths, god forms, philosophy, and ritual forms of the various Germanic tribes. Part of that magic is the runes.

3. Rune Yoga: Practice the Rune Ur body and hand postures.

4. Rune Meditation: With the UR Rune in your lap relax, breathe deeply and meditate upon it. No thoughts just a simple runic meditation.

That is all you have to do. Your mind will make the needed connection.

5. Rune Cooking: Make a batch of your favorite cookies and inscribe or make an icing symbol UR on them. Every day eat one knowing that the laws of Resonant Frequencies will attract and unleash the healing power of Ur into your body.

6. Rune Mantras: The power of the spoken Rune Mantras is not to be overlooked.

7. Rune Radionics: The 21^st century has not only given us the Laws of Quantum Physics, but also the Internet and the new Science of Radionics. Combining Runes with Radionics powers up all your Rune exercises.