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Ylva and runes
I came into contact with runes when I was young, up in Norrland. At the time, the Futhark was my guide, but it didn’t quite feel right; the runes "spoke" to me, but not in that sequence. I had a set of runes made from birch that I carried with me, occasionally drawing a rune mostly for fun but always with respect and delight since energies have always appealed to me.
Runes weren't popular when I was young. I then ventured into Tarot, which has been my major passion, but the runes have occasionally demanded attention. After publishing my first books on Tarot, realizing I enjoyed writing, I wrote a small book about runes, like a fortune-telling book with short texts on each rune.
In contact with a "guide," I received instructions to tattoo runes on my body, they were to come to me in different phases of my life. My first thought was it sounded like fun. But when the first rune, Uhr, was tattooed on my left wrist, I understood the power of runes. In Sweden, it’s easy to explain that they were our first alphabet, and the word for letters comes from "staves" in beech. We also have runestones with tales from the Viking Age. But what are runes beyond that? Each rune is a symbol with engraved knowledge.
My first rune initiation was from a shaman, a magical experience for me, as I seldom feel fear. It created too much energy; I experienced no boundaries between realities. Time went on; for me, everything has meaning, a purpose. I traveled to Ukraine to participate in a TV program. There I met Raven, one of the contestants. We were the only ones with tattooed runes and found each other in magic. We had meetings with rune initiations, communicating through runes since he spoke Ukrainian/Russian, and I spoke Swedish/English. When I returned home, I compiled the book "Runemagic," where I also wrote about bindrunes. The runes accompanied me, and I linked them with Tarot, as I do with all spiritual tools.
In 2019, I moved to Spain and found a spot on my estate where I internally envisioned a rune garden—a labyrinth with 25 large stone slabs each inscribed with a rune, a place to stand and feel the energy. During the summer, one of my closest friends asked if I could hold a rune course. I've learned that when I say yes spontaneously, it’s best to go for it. The course was magical, one of my best—the participants attended every session, completed their assignments, and surprised me with their knowledge. For me, it's about having everything within us; sometimes, it just takes another person or event to awaken the memory. I’m eternally grateful for all course participants who trust me.
My students wanted more, so I wrote about the bindrunes that we had only briefly covered, which became part two, and later a part three. Runes, once my private hobby and development, became something I shared with others, becoming an even bigger part of my daily life. One evening, I felt compelled to open a new document, which turned into a book.
I've never written a book in "novel form," only for educational purposes—a challenge. Could I accomplish this? But Uhr urged me on. Uhr is who the book is about, the first rune magician. The book is partly based on information from him and partly on my imagination surrounding him, as well as energies, which are what runes are. Each rune symbol creates energy, is a pattern, a process, an event, like reading a rebus by laying runes.