This weekend, I made my first proper set of runes, in preparation for an Instagram divination challenge. I have honestly wanted to make my own runes since middle school, when I picked up a tiny book called "Runes" by XX. I have been fascinated by runes for much longer than any other divination system. I love how they can be used not only for divination, but also magic and writing. I remember watching Duncan MacLeod in Highlander getting a pouch of runes with a secret message. In my first Book of Shadows in high school, I wrote the title "Book of Shadows and Light" in both the Elder Futhark and Oghams, because it seemed to be the witchy thing to do. I also made a very flimsy rune set with pieces of paper ripped from my notebook. They sadly didn't last long in the disaster of my book bag. My love affair with runes has only grown, so it was past time I made my own set.
Making my runes was fairly simple - I formed the clay, carved the runes, baked them, sanded them, and decorated with the paint pen. The whole process took two days, but I didn't work on it the whole time. The hardest part was working the clay. It was very stiff and didn't want to be molded into shape. The most tedious part was sanding all of the runes. You could probably get away without sanding or painting the runes, but I feel like it makes it more finished.
You will need:
- Clay - I used Sculpey Medium Clay in Grey. I have since read reviews that this is not the best polymer clay, but it worked well for me. I may try other clays in the future.
- A roller - I bought an acrylic Sculpey roller, but a kitchen roller or broom handle would also work.
- Cutters - Again, I used Sculpey brand oval cutters. Any cookie cutter will work, but make sure not to use for food afterwards, just to be safe!
- Parchment paper
- Butter knife or other thin tool - A butter knife worked well, but you can use the back of a paint brush or toothpick.
- Baking sheet
- Liquid soap - I used Doctor Bronner's Lavender Hemp soap, because I love the smell. Lavender is also great for clarity of thought, which is great for any divination tool.
- Wet and dry sandpaper in following grits - 400, 800, and 1500 - Make sure this is marked as Wet and Dry! Normal sandpaper won't work with water on the baked clay.
- Paint pen - I used a gold paint pen for ease, but any acrylic paint or even a Sharpie will work.
- Bag, box, or scarf to store runes in
- Incense, Florida water, candles, etc for charging - It's best to use your intuition with these items. I used dragon's blood incense and white candles, because that's what I use with my tarot cards.
Method:
- Prepare your surface. I wanted to make sure I didn't get clay all over my table, so I put down a large square of parchment paper.
- Roll out the clay. Sculpey clay comes in a big brick. I tore off small chunks and worked them between my hands until they became small balls. I rolled out the clay into a sheet between 1/4 and 1/2 of an inch thick. This is very hard, because the clay is super stiff. I had to squeeze the clay between my hands as hard as I possibly could. Using the acrylic roller helped a ton, because I was able to push my whole body onto the brick and manipulate it.
- Cut the clay into tiles. I used the second biggest oval in my set, and cut out about 4 tiles per sheet. I would pull all the scraps together and re roll them until all 25 tiles were cut out. I found that the more I worked with the clay, the thinner I was able to make the tiles. This caused me remaking several tiles until they were all around the same thickness.
- Hand shape the tiles. I didn't like the look of the cookie cutter tiles, so I used my hands to shape the tiles into a more organic shape.
- Carve the runes. Using the picture above as a guide, I used a butter knife to carve the runes into the shaped tiles.
- Bake! I baked the runes according to the Sculpey directions on a baking sheet lined with the parchment paper I had formed the tiles on. In the future, I would bake them for less time, since several of my runes ended up being brown on the bottom. I let the runes sit out overnight at room temperature to make sure they were completely cool.
- Sanding. Sanding is the longest and most tedious part of the whole process. Taking the advice of people on the internet, I put a drop of Doctor Bronner's soap in a dish with about two cups of water. Starting with the 400 grit sandpaper dipped in the soap water, I sanded each rune until it was smooth. I then repeated the process with the 800 and 1500 grits. At the end, the tiles felt smooth and almost satiny.
- Wash the runes. Taking more water and Doctor Bronner's soap, I rubbed all the runes down with a paper towel and left to dry.
- Paint the runes. This is optional, but I'm extra. I used a gold paint pen to highlight the carved runes and to draw stars on the backs of the runes.
- Bless and charge the runes. There are a lot of resources for charging your runes prior to use. One site I found suggested putting the runes in your vagina while menstruating so the blood soaks into the wood runes. Obviously, don't put things in your vagina that will cause harm. Dildos? Yes. Wooden runes? No. If anointing ritual items with menstrual blood (or other blood) works for you, there are easier ways to go about it. For me, I lit some dragon's blood incense and waved each rune in the smoke.
Now that I have runes, did I use them? I originally wrote this article in 2017 when I made the runes, and I'm sad to report that I haven't used them all that much. For right now, tarot and oracle cards are my divination tools of choice. That being said, I loved making these runes and will probably make more things out of clay in the future. I need to get some candle holders for my chime candles, but maybe I'll make them out of clay instead!
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