Diana L. Paxson, Taking Up the Runes (2005) — an honest review

The verdict, briefly. Taking Up the Runes is a ready-made 14-month course on the 24 runes of the Elder Futhark, grown out of a live class Paxson has run since 1988 in California. It is a modern revival system of American Heathenry, not ancient knowledge — a synthesis built on Thorsson, Freya Aswynn, Kveldulf Gundarsson, and personal "revelation" from Odin. Its chief virtue, rare for the genre, is epistemic care: Paxson herself separates "Ancient Meanings" (from the rune poems) from "Modern Meanings" (modern invention), states plainly that the ancient method of divination is unknown, and admits that the "tarot-like" disc layout is a modern device. Read it if you want a structured, field-tested group or solo course and can hold the frame "this is a 20th–21st-century system." Skip it if you're after the historical truth of what Germanic peoples actually did with runes — for that, read the academics.

Layering. Below we tag claims: [historical] — confirmed by inscriptions/philology; [revival, 20th–21st c.] — constructed in modern times; [practice] — what the author prescribes doing; [unproven] — a claimed magical effect with no test of external causation. This isn't nit-picking; it's how we stay honest — and it's the thing almost no esoteric book does.

What the book is

Diana L. Paxson is an American author and priestess in the Heathen / Ásatrú tradition, founder of the "Hrafnar" kindred in the Bay Area. The book is explicitly framed as a group course of about 14 months (two runes a month) and grew out of a rune class she has taught since 1988. It isn't a quick-read reference but a curriculum with homework, meditations, and a final initiation.

Structurally there are two big layers. Part 1 gives, for each of the 24 runes, its "meanings": first the ancient layer (quotations from the Anglo-Saxon, Norwegian, and Icelandic rune poems), then the modern interpretations (gathered from revival authors) and practical applications. Part 2 is a set of ready rituals and pathworking meditations for each pair of runes, plus divination and a final "runic initiation" (a night spent bound to a tree, in imitation of Odin's hanging on Yggdrasil). The book's school is American Heathenry, leaning heavily on Edred Thorsson (Stephen Flowers), Freya Aswynn, Tony Willis, and Kveldulf Gundarsson; the academic layer comes through H. R. Ellis-Davidson, the Eddas, and the rune poems.

What in the book is ancient, and what is a 20th–21st-century invention

The real value of an honest review is separating the layers — and here Paxson does much of the work for us: she structurally splits "Ancient Meanings" (the poems) from "Modern Meanings" (modern invention). The key point: the poetic layer, and the fact that runes existed and were used, are ancient; the whole system of meanings, god-correspondences, and magical applications was assembled in the 20th–21st centuries.

What's telling is that Paxson's system of meanings is syncretic: it's assembled from several 20th-century revival authors (Thorsson/Flowers, Aswynn, Willis, Gundarsson) plus personal revelation — "downloads" from Odin, presented as living mystical truth. This matters not for sensation but because the lineage inherits the context of the Germanic rune revival — more in the rune-revival timeline. Unlike the von List → Marby → Thorsson line, the bodily rune postures are not central in Paxson (her focus is chant, visualization, ritual, initiation) — a useful contrast for Rune-yoga: origin and ethics.

Strengths

• Epistemic honesty above the genre average. Paxson structurally separates poem quotations from modern interpretations, states plainly that the ancient divination method is unknown, and admits the "tarot layout" is new. For an esoteric practice manual this is rare and the book's chief virtue.
• A ready, field-tested course. Not scattered techniques but a coherent ~14-month program with meditations, rituals, and gradual progression — road-tested on live groups since 1988.
• Rich practical material. Each pair of runes gets a pathworking, a ritual, and applied spells; as a practice manual the book works very well.
• An ethical stance on appropriation. In the preface Paxson notes plainly that Othala, Tiwaz, and Elhaz appear in neo-Nazi symbolism, and distances herself from white-supremacist readings — an honest and necessary gesture.

Weaknesses and cautions

• Syncretism + revelation as foundation. The system of meanings is assembled from several revival authors plus personal "downloads" from Odin, presented as living mystical truth. Where someone else's synthesis ends and personal revelation begins isn't always visible to the reader.
• "Results" = anecdote. Spell efficacy in esoteric literature almost always rests on confirmation bias and survivorship; there's no controlled data on runes. Where the effect of ritual/trance is real, it's explainable through the body, attention, and expectation — see Body and state — posture, breath, flow. To her credit, Paxson names the psychological mechanisms outright ("psychology of costume," shifts of consciousness, energy and grounding).
• Free translations of the poems. Poem quotations are often "freely translated"; for academic cross-checking, use the originals and scholarly editions rather than her renderings.
• Disagreements on specific runes. Her "modern meaning" of a given rune sometimes diverges from Thorsson and Aswynn — these are different interpretations, not the "correct" meaning; cross-check with the reconstructed rune names.

Should you read Paxson's Taking Up the Runes — and who it's for

Yes — if you want a structured, field-tested course on the 24 runes — for a group or for yourself — and you can hold the frame "this is a modern system." As a practice manual it's one of the best in the genre, and its honest "ancient vs. modern" split makes it safer than many competitors.

No — if you want history: what Germanic and Norse peoples actually did with runes, how inscriptions are dated, what the rune names mean philologically. For that, read the academics — see our review of Thorsson's companion book and our reference to the 24 runes.

A practical tip: take Paxson's course structure and practices, but cross-check her correspondences against the academic layer, and keep in mind that the system of meanings is revival, not ancient. That's exactly what our layer-tags are for.

Conclusion

Taking Up the Runes is an excellent modern rune practice manual and one of the most honest in its genre, but not a textbook of rune history. Its strength is a ready, road-tested program and a discipline rare in esoteric literature — "what's ancient / what's new"; its nature is revival synthesis plus personal revelation, which shouldn't be mistaken for an ancient tradition. Hold that in mind, and the book stays very valuable.

Our editorial rating: 3.5 / 5 — high as a practice course and a model of epistemic honesty for the genre; neutral-to-low as a source on ancient runes (which it doesn't claim to be). (The rating is editorial and honest; we assign it as the reviewer, without inflation.)

FAQ

Is Taking Up the Runes about ancient runes or a modern system?

About a modern system — but with honest labeling. The book (2005) is a 20th–21st-century revival course: its system of meanings is assembled from revival authors (Thorsson, Aswynn, Willis, Gundarsson) plus the author's personal revelation. That said, unlike most, Paxson explicitly separates "Ancient Meanings" (rune-poem quotations) from "Modern Meanings," and admits the exact ancient method of divination is unknown.

Who is Diana Paxson?

Diana L. Paxson is an American author and priestess in the Heathen / Ásatrú tradition, founder of the "Hrafnar" kindred in California. She has run the rune class the book grew out of since 1988. She writes as a practitioner of a modern revival tradition, not as an academic historian — two different roles, and not ones to confuse.

Is Taking Up the Runes good for self-study?

Yes, though the book was originally written for a group class (two runes a month, ~14 months, with a final initiation). The course structure, pathworking meditations, and rituals transfer well to solo practice. That's its strength: not scattered techniques but a coherent program with gradual progression. The author explicitly does not recommend the final "runic initiation" (a night by a tree) for beginners without preparation and helpers.

What does Paxson say about the ancient method of rune divination?

That the exact ancient method is unknown. She states plainly that the sources mention runes for healing more often than for divination, and that the "tarot-like" disc layout is a modern, tarot-inspired device, not an ancient practice (citing Kodratoff 2003). It's an honest position that many esoteric authors lack, passing off their own spreads as ancient.

Does Paxson's rune magic work?

There are no controlled studies of rune magic, so one can't claim it "works" in the sense of external magical causation — that's an open question. Reported "results" usually rest on confirmation bias and survivorship. That said, some of the techniques (chant, visualization, ritual, trance, the "psychology of costume") have an explainable psychological effect — through attention, expectation, and state, with no supernatural cause required. Paxson herself names these mechanisms fairly directly.

Further

• Our internal book summary: Diana Paxson — Taking Up the Runes (2005)
• A companion review: Thorsson — Futhark (1984)
• Revival context: the rune-revival timeline
• The ethics and origin of the bodily practices: Rune-yoga: origin and ethics
• The academic layer: the reconstructed rune names · the 24-rune reference
• Why the practices have an effect: Body and state — posture, breath, flow

Bibliographic data

Diana L. Paxson. Taking Up the Runes: A Complete Guide to Using Runes in Spells, Rituals, Divination, and Magic. — Boston, MA: Weiser Books, 2005. Tier T2 (esoteric revival, American Heathenry). The source for our analysis is our internal book summary (from a user-provided copy, EPUB).