Kenning the Runes

My story with the runes is an amusing one, though I wager some who read this blog can relate. When I was a wee baby pagan, no more than 13 or so, I learned the runes from Uncle Bucky's big blue book and from Doreen Valiente's Witchcraft for Tomorrow. I began to keep my journal written in runes…in
red ink, of course. By 17, I had made my own set of runes for divination. Around age 18, I started a small business making runes, medieval board games, jewelry and leather crafts. The sets of runes I sold were made of oak, and I wood burned the runes into them. Each came with a leather casting mat and a book that I wrote*, printed and hand-bound (see left for my original set).

Back in those days, I had a rudimentary understanding of the runes. I only knew a few of their magical uses, I didn't understand their pantheon (except perhaps Odin and Thor) and I certainly didn't ken (old word for understand/know/grok) their cultural context. This is understandable, if you think about it. Most introductory witchcraft manuals include the runes. But they also generally include very little information about them, usually in a chapter or section about magical alphabets. It's as if these authors are saying "hey guys, here are some really neat ancient alphabets, use these in your magic! Naw, don't worry, all you need to know is what letter they correspond to - go forth and make some magic, whee!"

This is not at all the case. First of all, the runes encompass more than one culture, more than one time period and more than one set of letters. On top of that, they are complex. Each has many levels of meaning that is inextricably linked to the culture that created it, to the other runes and to the deities that they represent. Babywitch Tanaria didn't know any of this. She didn't even know that she didn't know.

In recent years, I've been working to expand my knowledge of the runes. I've been reading. I attended some classes run by local Heathens that were very helpful. Most helpful of all, I'm blessed to be a part of a wonderful, smart study group. This year we're studying the runes in a systematic, disciplined and in-depth fashion.

One of the recommendations in the books we are studying is to put the runes on some type of food and ritually eat them. In this way, we can take the essence of the runes into our being. We decided to do this at one of our meetings, and I volunteered to make the treats for the first aett**. It seems to me that most people put them on cookies or cakes, as pictured on the right.

But I'm a healer, and I just couldn't wrap my head around eating eight sweet treats in one sitting. It didn't seem like a responsible thing to do. So how else could we get these runes into us without sugar? I thought and thought. At length, inspiration hit. Carrot chips and some type of dip. The carrots would provide a nice flat surface for the runes. But how to do it? I thought about carving them in with a knife. Briefly, I considered heating up my runic leather stamps*** and attempting to burn the design into the carrot.

Then I thought, surely I could make a savory frosting! Frosting is usually a base of some fatty or creamy substance. So far, so good. The body of frosting comes from powdered sugar ordinarily, but there must be some substitute. To the intarwebs! And lo. It has been done. I read through a long post on a forum, saw a lot of different methods and resolved to create my own savory frosting.

Behold! Not pictured is a veggie dip that I created and served with them. Read on for the recipe:


Carrot Rune Chips with Savory Frosting & Herbed Veggie Dip

By Tanaria Lightbearer

For the chips:

1 lb. bag of carrots - pick the fattest ones you can find.

For the savory frosting:

8 oz. cream cheese (or neufchâtel)
3-4 T. butter
3 T. Korean go chee jang sauce (a sweet hot red pepper paste, add to taste)
A lot of red food coloring (it still turned out salmon colored; I might try beet juice next time)


For the dip:

16 oz. sour cream
1/2 c. mayonnaise
1 package Knorr vegetable recipe mix
1 good handful fresh herbs (I used sweet basil, tarragon and oregano)

Method:

1. Set out cream cheese and butter to soften.
2. Peel and slice carrots on the diagonal to create big flat surfaces, using the fattest part of the carrots. A mandolin slicer would be great for this. 
3. Wash and mince fresh herbs. Don't be stingy with these - you generally need more fresh herbs than you would if you were using dried. Pick your favorite combination. This is what I had on hand in the garden and what sounded good to me. It turned out awesome.
4. Mix sour cream, mayonnaise, Knorr vegetable recipe mix and herbs in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate. (make at least two hours in advance to allow the flavors to develop)
5. Using a hand mixer, cream together butter, cream cheese, red pepper paste and food coloring. Taste and adjust flavors and colors as needed.
6. Load frosting into a cake decorating bag with a #2 round tip. 
7. Spread out carrot chips on a paper towel covered cookie tray. This keeps them from moving around. Pat dry with a clean towel if needed.
8. Frost the runes on to the carrot chips carefully while chanting the runes. Note that this frosting doesn't hold its shape as well as buttercream or such. Embrace the wabi sabi imperfection of it all. Drink wine to accomplish this if necessary.

Et voila! Eat them in good health, and may this recipe help you further your own studies of the runes.

XPXPXP****

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*Based on research; I was never THAT naive or arrogant.

**Traditionally, the runes are organized in three sets of eight, aka "aett".

***Tandy Leather makes a complete set of rune leather stamps. They are rad! Sadly, I think they have been discontinued.

****Approximation of Gebo and Wunjo; this is sending you all a gift of knowledge in service to the Gods.