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Bifrost Layout

Here again we have a rune cast that makes use of Norse Mythology. According to Norse Mythology, Bifröst is the bridge that connects two worlds together, the world of the gods and the world of the humans. Since Bifröst acts as a connection between the humans and the gods we get a sense with this layout that our answers and the help the runes give us are coming straight from the gods themselves.

The order for this layout is again a simple one. Bifröst is often said to be a rainbow bridge between two worlds so we make use of the basic colors of the rainbow for the position. You may have seen the “Roy G. Biv” trick taught to children to help them remember the colors of the rainbow. This is where we come up with the positions and names for this layout.

Bifrost Layout

Bifrost Layout


  1. Red: Attitude of the past
  2. Orange: Effects of the past
  3. Yellow: Attitude of the present
  4. Green: Effects of the present
  5. Blue: Attitude of the future
  6. Indigo: Effects of the future
  7. Violet: Overall outcome

Things to be aware of for this cast

This cast is pretty straightforward and there’s not too much you need to be aware of. You just want to make sure that you’re reading the correct runes for the position you place them in. It’s basically a “Past, Present, Future” layout with a few exceptions. More often than not in a “Past, Present, Future” layout we are only dealing with the effects of each and not the attitudes of those positions. The attitude portions of this cast help to give us insight into why the effects have taken place, are taking place or may take place. If you’re not sure what I mean by this let’s look at a simple example.

We’ll pretend that you’ve cast this layout to find out about a possible promotion at work. When you start to read your runes for this cast the first rune you select will be for the “Attitude of the past” – meaning your attitude about past promotions you may or may not have received. In the past, if you had been a hard worker with a positive outlook and have received a promotion, the runes may be able to let you know that it was, in fact, your outlook and work efforts that helped you get the promotion.

One other thing you need to be aware of is the last rune for this cast, “Violet: Overall Outcome.” For most “Past, Present, Future” rune readings you won’t have an overall outcome because the “future” position will usually represent the outcome. For this rune layout the overall outcome position is there to help provide a more in-depth look at the outcome. We still need to make sure that we look at the overall meaning to the cast by taking all the other runes into consideration, but we must not forget that there is also a rune to show us the overall outcome. Such a rune can be very helpful to us at times so we should not take it too lightly.

Recording Sheet

If you wish to record your rune casts I’ve created a a printable recording sheet for the Bifröst Layout rune cast.

[download id=”7″ format=”1″]

‘Casting Lots’ in Sagas

We see in a few of the sagas the mention of ‘lots’ and the act of ‘casting lots’ for many purposes. On each of the saga pages I had said that it was uncertain if these lots were really runes or something else completely. There is some evidence that these lots may in fact have been runes or pre-runic magic symbols that were carved on branches.

In the first century A.D. the Roman author Tacitus wrote his Germania 10 in which he gives an account of some divinatory practices of ancient Germanic people.

For divination and the casting of lots they have the highest regard. Their procedure in casting lots is always the same. They cut off a branch of a nut-bearing tree and slice it into strips; these they mark with different signs and throw them completely at random onto a white cloth. Then the priest of the state, if the consultation is a public one, or the father of the family if it is private, offers a prayer to the gods, and looking up at the sky picks up three strips, one at a time, and reads their meaning from the signs previously scored on them. If the lots forbid an enterprise, there is no deliberation that day on the matter in question; if they allow it, confirmation by the taking of auspices is required.

The different signs that were scored on the wood could have only been one of a few things. First off it’s possible that they had carved magical symbols onto the strips. If this is the case they may have been the runes being used as magical symbols or actual magical symbols that date to a pre-runic time. We have to take into account a few things here. If the symbols were in fact magical pre-runic symbols then why would we find items, such as swords and rings, from this time period that contain magical inscriptions carved in runes. Not the pre-runic symbols, but the actual rune symbols. However, there’s another side to this coin. If the runes were used for magical inscriptions then why would we see so many variations in different rune sets? If they were used for magic then there would be no need to make changes to the design of the symbols. It would be similar to the symbols used in astronomy, since each symbol stands for something specific, like the sun or the moon; there is no need to change the symbol. So the symbol gets passed from culture to culture and through time unchanged. However, using the runes as a writing system would give reason to why there were changes in the shapes of the runes.

There is one other possibility that could lead us to believe the symbols carved were rune shapes. This possibility is that the runes were used for both magical purposes as well as for writing. The magical inscriptions were simply oral commands carved onto an item to give the power of the command to the item it was being carved on. This seems to be the more likely explanation. The runes used as a system of writing would allow someone to add magical inscriptions to something without having to know a separate list of magic symbols.

With all that said is it safe to assume that the terms ‘casting lots’ and ‘lots’ referred to the runes in the sagas? Well without any solid proof the answer would be no, we can’t say for certain. However, the possibility of this happening is greater than the possibility of it not happening. At least that’s what I am lead to believe, still you should try to decide that for yourself.