Unclear about a rune reading - help?

[Wanderer894]

This was the first time I did a rune reading at Samhain. (If it matters, my first ever rune reading was the first of this year as an attempt to see what the coming months would bring.) I used a five-rune spread that I saw in a video from someone who developed it specifically for the occasion. A sort of introspection-geared spread, the center is meant to show where you are presently. The runes to the left are meant to show what is on the way out, like in the near past or thereabouts. On right, things which are coming.First rune in the center, the other four are in the four corners, like if you laid them out to form a square.

Center rune was Mannaz, on its side.

Runes to the left: Wunjo (reversed) and Fehu. Wunjo on top, Fehu on the bottom.

Rune to the right: Ehwaz (reversed) and Perthro. Ehwaz on top and Perthro on the bottom.

I'm...not sure what to make of it. I think what's throwing me is having Mannaz on its side and then, well, how does everything else related to that? Or does having a rune on its side not mean anything at all?

Workday starting. Gotta go, will check back later.

[Kylara]

This was the first time I did a rune reading at Samhain. (If it matters, my first ever rune reading was the first of this year as an attempt to see what the coming months would bring.) I used a five-rune spread that I saw in a video from someone who developed it specifically for the occasion. A sort of introspection-geared spread, the center is meant to show where you are presently. The runes to the left are meant to show what is on the way out, like in the near past or thereabouts. On right, things which are coming.First rune in the center, the other four are in the four corners, like if you laid them out to form a square.

Center rune was Mannaz, on its side.

Runes to the left: Wunjo (reversed) and Fehu. Wunjo on top, Fehu on the bottom.

Rune to the right: Ehwaz (reversed) and Perthro. Ehwaz on top and Perthro on the bottom.

I'm...not sure what to make of it. I think what's throwing me is having Mannaz on its side and then, well, how does everything else related to that? Or does having a rune on its side not mean anything at all?

Workday starting. Gotta go, will check back later.

There are many, many ways to interpret orientation with runes.  Some people don't read orientation at all, the rune is just the rune.  Of course, some runes are symmetrical and really don't have other orientations, while other runes can be facing different ways.  I've seen people who draw and read them much like tarot (with and up/down orientation for reversed).  I've seen face up/down also given meaning.

I personally cast (I have both stones and staves), so there is room for a lot more variation in orientation.  I tend to read how runes land in relation to each other, as opposed to a more traditional take on reversal.  So, if one rune is pointing to another, or if a rune is at a right angle to another rune.

I am a very feeling driven reader:  I see what impressions I get from the runes, and that is the meaning I go with.  I might see a sideways rune as something that is being built (like how you might assemble furniture on it's side, and then when it is ready, stand it up), or it might feel more like it was something that had gotten toppled over (it's still whole, just knocked off it's feet at the moment and needs to be set right).

Or, you might take it as a message to flip the whole reading on it's side:  look at it from the side where the center rune is right-side up (you may or may not choose to read the rest of the rune's orientation).

Given what you have said about the position of the outer runes, it could also mean that you are 'leaning' towards the past..that you may feel like you are getting dragged back into old issues, lost in memories or otherwise focused on what has already come to be.  That you are holding back from moving forward.

[Wanderer894]

I am a very feeling driven reader:  I see what impressions I get from the runes, and that is the meaning I go with.  I might see a sideways rune as something that is being built (like how you might assemble furniture on it's side, and then when it is ready, stand it up), or it might feel more like it was something that had gotten toppled over (it's still whole, just knocked off it's feet at the moment and needs to be set right).

That was the impression I got.

I'm new to runes, so I go by a mix of feelings and whatever meanings are associated with the runes (I have a book about them that I keep on hand for reference during a reading). Probably over time I'll lean more towards one or the other.

Given what you have said about the position of the outer runes, it could also mean that you are 'leaning' towards the past..that you may feel like you are getting dragged back into old issues, lost in memories or otherwise focused on what has already come to be.  That you are holding back from moving forward.

Having thought about it overnight, I think this is very close to what my faint, initial impression was. All the bad stuff might be on the way out, but other factors are making me feel like I'm being dragged with it and thus back into that bad spot. It feels like I keep seeing chances for a change that will keep me from that fate, but for me, it's figuring out which one seems the best one to take that holds me back.

[ehbowen]

There are many, many ways to interpret orientation with runes.  Some people don't read orientation at all, the rune is just the rune.  Of course, some runes are symmetrical and really don't have other orientations, while other runes can be facing different ways.  I've seen people who draw and read them much like tarot (with and up/down orientation for reversed).  I've seen face up/down also given meaning.

In accordance with my understanding of the Bible, I personally don't practice any form of divination other than the occasional coin flip (which has some Scriptural justification, Proverbs 16:33). However, it seems to me that the intention here is to establish communication with the divine (small d, IMHO). So, depending on your personality and that of whoever is on the other end, I would expect that the precise techniques would vary accordingly...what works for Bill may not work for Ted. "One Size Fits All" solutions usually don't.

I would also ask you to consider the possibility of "interference". If the questions you seek answers to are not earthshaking, actual aggressive interference may not be a frequent consideration. But, as a Christian, by definition what I seek to do is overthrow the present order of this world both seen and unseen. So disruptions are to be expected more often than not...which is, again IMHO, the practical reason behind the forbidding of soothsaying and similar which is seen in the Scriptures.

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[Klaw]

This was the first time I did a rune reading at Samhain. (If it matters, my first ever rune reading was the first of this year as an attempt to see what the coming months would bring.) I used a five-rune spread that I saw in a video from someone who developed it specifically for the occasion. A sort of introspection-geared spread, the center is meant to show where you are presently. The runes to the left are meant to show what is on the way out, like in the near past or thereabouts. On right, things which are coming.First rune in the center, the other four are in the four corners, like if you laid them out to form a square.

Just a thought to help learn the runes. Pick one and spend a week or so meditating with it as you can. Then write or draw about it in a journal. Also if you pay attention you may just see rune signs in your day.