About the Rune-Gild
The Rune-Gild bases its structure upon the ancient model of earlier craft and professional guilds, and may therefore seem a bit unusual to a modern person encountering us for the first time. A brief explanation of what we are and what we are not—and the nuances of both—will be helpful for someone considering joining our ranks.
The Rune-Gild is an initiatory order of the spirit, mind, and body. It is an esoteric, philosophical, and practical school that strongly upholds the lore of the old Germanic world, but welcomes insights drawn from the latest scholarship. Although we pry deeply into the history of religion itself, we are not an Asatru, pagan, or religious organization. We set forth no religious dogma ourselves; rather, we strive to work through age-old mythic paradigms. Each member’s beliefs are personal. Our members range from atheistic rune-magicians to devout heathens, animists, and people whose spiritual stances aren’t easily categorized or defined. Again, ours is a way of working and not a doctrine to be followed.
The Gild’s core curriculum is found within our handbook, The Nine Doors of Midgard (2018). The contents of this book, along with further internal teachings, articulate our guiding principles. Beyond this, individual members are encouraged to discover religious explorations that are right for their own initiatory development.
First and foremost, the Rune-Gild is a school. As such, our role is to teach the Runes and to help our members forge their Runic Selves. We also strive to strengthen the true expression of the Runic tradition in the modern world. Those who enter our halls and set out on this path can find friendship—often lasting a lifetime—among the Learners, Fellows, and Masters of the Gild. Although we use modern tools of communication, we are not a social club, virtual or otherwise. We place the highest value on working together face to face, so that true knowledge can be passed directly from mouth to ear, leading to ever-greater wisdom.
The goals of the Rune-Gild are rooted in a higher, eternal tradition from which we draw our inspiration. By contrast, modern social, political, and even religious organizations base their positions on the mutable events and attitudes of the day. Members of the Rune-Gild are free to hold whatever socio-political positions they wish. As a school, we will not dictate or censure individual members’ outside activities (political or religious) so long as they do not give the appearance of being sanctioned by or indicative of Rune-Gild policy. In the words of our founder and Yrmin-Drighten Edred Thorsson: “On the goals of the Gild and on the character and scope of its mission we must be together—outside of these goals we must be tolerant of all sorts of diversity.”
Some of the greater goals of the Gild are:
—Expansion of consciousness (which also entails war against non-consciousness, embodied in the Thurses).
—Preservation of Odian and Runic traditions.
—Understanding of the hidden workings of both consciousness and nature.
—Development of communicable methods of instruction.
—Empowerment of the Individual- and Gild-Self (conceived as both a “spiritual” and “physical” entity).
—Development of wisdom and knowledge of justice.
As you are likely seeing this statement on the screen of an electronic device, a few words about the Rune-Gild’s true ways of working are in order. The current manifestation of the Gild was founded in 1980, which is to say, in a “pre-digital” age. Although we keep up a presence on the internet, the Gild’s teachings—our ways of learning and doing, and the fruits that are borne of that work—are anything but “virtual.” Those seeking online correspondence courses, or quickly downloadable answers to the mysteries of life, would do best to look elsewhere. The Rune-Gild is oriented toward the true and timeless lore of the Runes; we offer no instant enlightenment. We are unconcerned with the current paradigm of incessant—and all-too-soon obsolete—updates, news alerts, Facebook posts, and RSS feeds. Most of our “announcements” are only pertinent to our initiated members and therefore stay well within our halls. Our purposes do not require us to engage in outreach or marketing. If you are reading this text and wondering if we are “still active,” rest assured: we are, and our website is, indeed, current.
We keep a public presence in order to help the stalwart few who share our goals and methods to find the Gild. We have no wish to proselytize or convince anyone to join us. The path of winning the Runes is long and hard, and indeed without end, but its rewards are boundless. If our mission resonates with you, and if the Runes sing in your deepest Self, then we are here—and if you prove willing and able to stride through the Doors of Midgard, we welcome you to gather with us in the halls of the Rune-Gild. Seek the Mysteries!
The Outer Hall of the Rune-Gild
Runes are the mysteries that underlie all of the worlds—they lie hidden in, and give power to, all things. These Runes pull those who seek them ever onward and upward. Knowledge of them and the quest for their mastery, both within the self and throughout the worlds, is the Path of Oðin. This quest leads to transformation—in the Self and in the Worlds. As a practical matter, the Odian Path has, until recently, been obstructed by a general lack of available information on a refined and authentic level. The Rune-Gild has undertaken to remedy this lamentable situation. But beyond this goal, our intention is to provide a gateway into the practical application of runic principles. It is imperative that a number of individuals be initiated into the intellectual and working aspects of runology: Rune-Lore and Rune-Craft. The soul of our folk has little chance of survival—much less of being as great as it is destined to become—if it is not armed with the Secrets of the Self. These secrets are the Runes. Because knowledge of the Runes has languished under suppression in the distant past, and under ill-conceived superficial studies in the more recent past, it is now necessary that seekers along the true Rune-roads gain deep and sound intellectual knowledge along with more practical work in Rune-Craft. Knowledge and Work must always go hand in hand.
The Work of the Gild can be summed up in the Seed-Word Rûna—“The Mystery,” especially as extended and articulated through the stave: Reyn til Rûna—“Seek toward the Mysteries!” Rûna is the Hidden in the World, and the Sense of the Hidden lying within the depths of the Self. This eternal Quest is the essence of Rune-Work—and its fulfillment is the highest goal of the Gild. The curriculum of the Gild is based on the oldest and most traditional runology of the Erulians. From this traditional base – which all profane approaches to the Runes recently published lack—Gild-members will be guided to levels of knowledge completely unavailable through other avenues.
The Gild is profoundly unlike many other esoteric organizations that have been known to the world in past years, and which arise and pass out of existence frequently in the modern “occult scene.” The Gild is the core of a serious cultural movement. Its leader and many of its members are qualified experts in the established intellectual world, holding Doctoral or Masters degrees in Germanic Studies and comparable disciplines. Much of its membership consists of well-published authorities on the subjects of the Runes and the Germanic Tradition. The Gild is not a haven for fantasy and escapism, or a place to cultivate “virtual” identities and achievements in place of real ones. We are a traditional school that requires rigorous, often challenging study, practice, and Self-development. Our process depends upon personal contact between Masters and Apprentices. This is the way it was, the way it is, and the way it shall be forever.
Structure of the Rune-Gild
In the Inner Hall of the Gild there are three levels, or “degrees,” of initiation. These are based on the most ancient steps of learning any skill known in the elder age—that of apprentice, journeyman, and master. In the terminology of the Gild, however, these are reflected in the names or titles: Learner, Fellow, and Master.
The Gild is divided into Inner and Outer Halls. The Outer Hall of the Gild is made up of those who are now working on the curriculum of the Nine Doors of Midgard and who want to be in close contact with the Gild and its Hall-Workings. The Outer Hall is comprised of Learners and Associates of the Rune-Gild. If there is a Leader in your area who is running a Gild-Hall, there will likely be Outer Hall Workings and gatherings which you could attend including Rûna-Workshops. It cannot be said too often that the Gild does not deal in “mail-order occultism.” All Associates must be sponsored by a Gild-Master to gain Initiate Membership (Learner status), and become apprenticed through in-person and direct contact with that Gild-Master.
The Inner Hall is made up of the Drightens and Masters of the Gild, and those Fellows who have been personally Named by a Gild-Master, and who are working through, or have completed, the Nine Doors of Midgard curriculum, or its equivalent, under that Master’s personal tutelage. A word should be mentioned on the Gild-Masters and Drightens. They are a distinguished group of individuals each with their own area of expertise, each with their own unique gifts to offer the Gild. Many of them hold advanced academic degrees in fields related to our Work, and all of them are well-regarded writers and teachers of the Runic Mysteries.
Associates, Learners, and Fellows are encouraged to set up Rûna-Study Groups (for exoteric study) and Rûna-Workshops (for esoteric practice) in geographical areas where no Hall exists.
The Outer Hall of the Gild is not overly formal in its organization—it is rather like an extended magical study group. The practical advantages to actual Association with the Outer Hall are the extensive personal contacts that can be made, information on all the latest developments in the world of Rune-Work, and most importantly the inner keys to making the Hall-Workings true magical bonds between yourself and the Gild-Halls (both Inner and Outer) around the world.
Goals of the Gild
Among the most important goals of the Gild are the continued development of traditional and transformational Runelore and the dissemination of that system to those who are inspired by the quest for the Runes. We continue to institute Rûna-Workshops around the world. In addition to this, there is an ever expanding network of Outer Gild-Halls open to Associates and Members who are personally invited by a local Hall-Leader to join a Gild-Hall. There are active Gild Halls in several regions of the United States, and in Europe as well.
It cannot be overemphasized that the main work of the Gild is centered in each individual, and its main aim is the Self-transformation of each Gilder according to the ancient Odian principles. For it is only from this basis of transformed individuals that the new Gild can be reborn in the full essence of the elder Gild of the Erulians.
For such transformations to occur there come key moments in the individual development of each Runer when personal contact with a true Runemaster is Needed. The Rune-path may begin in solitude, and may end there, but in the middle there comes a time to interact with those who bear the Flame and who can show it to you.
Welcome to the Rune Gild.
