Using the Gothic alphabet for runic divination

• Examines the divinatory meanings of the 25 Gothic staves and how they correspond with the 24 runes of the Norse Futhark

• Provides a series of rune spreads and several divination techniques for different approaches to questioning and gaining insight

• Explores the Goths’ spiritual beliefs, cosmology, and magical systems

Originating in Scandinavia, the ancient Goths viewed runes as mystical symbols from the spirit realm, using them to read the cycles of fate, known as Orlög. As the Goths migrated across Europe into North Africa, they adopted a new alphabet to mask their Pagan origins. Yet the staves, or characters of the Gothic alphabet, were rooted in the sacred runes and still used for divining, leading the Roman Catholic Church to declare the Gothic alphabet “heretical” 1400 years ago.

Revealing here for the first time the system of seership embedded in the Gothic alphabet, Nigel Pennick examines the 25 Gothic staves and compares their divinatory insights with those of the traditional Futhark of the 24 Norse runes. Pennick considers each stave alone and as part of its aett, the three divisions of the runic alphabet. He provides rune spreads and reading techniques, including the Raed Waen divinatory rite, and explores how new meanings arise as staves are combined in dyads or triads.