The Runes Have Walked Beside Me for Most of My Life

My relationship with the runes began long before they became part of my work. Growing up in northern Sweden, I was surrounded by stories, traditions, and the ancient Nordic world. As a young girl I learned the Rune Chain, although most people around me worked with the traditional Futhark. I tried to follow that system, but something never felt quite right.

The runes spoke to me. Just not in the order everyone else said they should.

I owned a small rune set carved from birch wood that stayed with me for many years. Every now and then I would draw a rune, partly for fun, but always with respect. Energy has fascinated me for as long as I can remember, and the runes felt alive long before I understood why.

More Than Ancient Symbols

Unlike Tarot, which quickly became a major part of my professional life, the runes quietly followed me in the background. Every time I thought I had moved on, they somehow found their way back.

After publishing my first Tarot books, I wrote a small book about rune divination. At that time I still saw the runes mainly as an oracle.

I had no idea they would eventually become so much more.

The Runes Became Personal

During one of my spiritual experiences, I received what felt like a very unusual message.

I was told to tattoo runes on my body. It sounded completely crazy. Then I had my first rune tattoo.  Today all twenty-five runes, together with several bindrunes, are tattooed on my body. From that moment on, the runes stopped being historical symbols. They became living energies.

More Than an Alphabet

Most people know the runes as the ancient alphabet of the Nordic peoples. They appear on rune stones throughout Scandinavia and tell stories from the Viking Age. For me, however, they are much more than letters.

Every rune represents an energy.

A process.

A lesson.

A pattern.

A possibility.

Rune Initiations and Ukraine

My first rune initiation took place when I was only eleven years old. It was one of the most unusual experiences of my life. The energies became so powerful that it almost felt as if the boundaries between different realities disappeared.

Years later, in 2013, I traveled to Ukraine to participate in a television program.

There I met Raven. We were the only participants with rune tattoos, and we immediately recognized something familiar in each other. He spoke Ukrainian and Russian. I spoke Swedish and English. Yet somehow we communicated through the language of the runes.

When I returned home, I wrote my book Rune Magic, where I also introduced my work with bindrunes.

The runes had become another piece of the larger picture I was already building through Tarot, astrology, colors, Reiki, and personal development.

When the Runes Found Their Place

When I moved to Spain in 2019, I found the perfect place for what I imagined would become a rune garden.

I could already see it in my mind. A labyrinth built from twenty-five large stone slabs. One rune carved into each stone. A place where you could literally stand inside the energy of a rune. That dream still lives within me, even though the location is no longer there.

My First Rune Course

One summer, one of my closest friends asked, “Could you teach a course on runes?”

I've learned that whenever I instantly answer "yes"... I should probably just go ahead and do it. That course became one of the most magical teaching experiences I've ever had. Every student attended every class. Everyone completed the exercises. Everyone surprised me. Moments like those remind me that we already carry the knowledge within ourselves.

Sometimes all we need is someone—or something—to awaken the memory.

From Personal Passion to Life's Work

My students wanted more. I wrote a booklet and had a course about bindrunes. Then another. Then a third. What had once been my own private fascination gradually became something I wanted to share with others. The runes became part of my everyday life.

When Uhr Began to Speak

One evening, I was sitting in bed with my laptop. For no particular reason, I opened a new document.

That was the beginning of my first novel. Until then, I had only written educational books and course material.

This was different. Every evening, Uhr told me another chapter of his story. I never knew what would happen next. I simply listened... and wrote.

Uhr became the central character. Some parts of the book are fiction. Some parts come directly from what Uhr shared with me. I'll let you decide where one ends and the other begins.

More than anything, the story is about energy. Because that's how I experience the runes.

Each rune is an energy.

A pattern.

A process.

A lesson.

Reading the runes is like solving a symbolic puzzle.

Every rune reveals another piece of the bigger picture.

The Runes Today

Today I see the runes as living energies rather than ancient symbols. They help us understand ourselves. They reveal patterns. They highlight possibilities. Most importantly, they remind us that transformation is always possible.

Whether through a reading, a course, rune magic, or simply spending time with a single rune, my hope is always the same:
To help you discover your own relationship with these remarkable symbols.

Perhaps one rune... One insight... Or one key.. .is all it takes to unlock new possibilities.

— Ylva Trollstierna