The Revival of the Runes by Stephen Flowers is a profound journey into the history, evolution, and esoteric power of the runic tradition.
Anyone familiar with this channel or the magical path at large likely knows Dr. Flowers, also known under the pen name Edred Thorsson for his more esoteric works. His writings as Stephen Flowers often emphasize historical and scholarly analysis. This book represents a mature, monumental contribution to the community—a harmonization of academic rigor and spiritual insight.
“To understand the runes is not just to study symbols, but to remember the bones of the Earth’s forgotten language.”
Stephen Flowers, Ph.D., in Germanic languages, offers an unparalleled lens into the runes. Having founded the Rune-Gild and contributed significantly to the Order of Set and other groups, his understanding of both the magical and linguistic roots of the runes runs deep. This book particularly focuses on the historical and academic progression of the runes while giving due attention to their magical context.
Flowers addresses critiques of his previous esoteric leanings by reinforcing the historical evidence of runic magic. Drawing from sources like the Poetic Edda and archaeological finds, he elegantly charts the evolution of runes from language to sacred symbol.
What makes this book indispensable is how it clears misconceptions perpetuated by overly mystical interpretations. He offers a timeline that grounds the development of runes: from Renaissance decline, through Romanticism and the Enlightenment, to the Nazi appropriation, and finally the post-war revival.
He explores how runes were not merely decorative or linguistic but served religious and psychological purposes. For instance, he examines their usage on amulets and rune stones, uncovering magical intentions encoded in form and phrase. His emphasis on scientific runeology versus esoteric runeology provides clarity for both scholar and practitioner.
Of notable importance are the six pillars of esoteric systems that Flowers identifies: correspondence, the presence of mystery, the living nature of reality, the role of imagination and meditation, experiential transformation, and the application of transmutation. These principles form the backbone of any serious esoteric engagement with the runes.
As Flowers moves through history, we witness how the runes passed through the clandestine hands of priestly classes, Gothic revivalists, and eventually 20th-century occultists. The Renaissance to Baroque transition highlights how esotericism and Hermetic Christianity influenced runeology. He details how scientific runeology blossomed during the Enlightenment, while Romanticism gave rise to symbolic reinterpretations and neo-pagan fervor.
Then, the book bravely enters controversial terrain: Nazi misuse of the runes. Flowers separates genuine esoteric lineage from propagandist reinvention, showing how Hitler’s regime twisted rune symbolism into instruments of ideology. He documents the ways Nazi interpretations often deviated wildly from traditional meaning.
This historical damage is followed by post-war rebirth. As the Third Reich fell, the Rune-Gild and other organizations emerged to rediscover and restore the sacred use of runes. Figures like Carl Theodor Weigel and the Fraternitas Saturni played pivotal roles in this revival, bridging science, spirituality, and symbolism.
From the emergence of the Armanen Futharkh to musical and geometric correlations like the rune cube and space cube, Flowers opens new doors into understanding runes not just as tools but as archetypal expressions of cosmology. He even correlates runes with the Kabbalistic Tree of Life and Sacred Geometry, bridging Nordic magic with universal esotericism.
In his review of key contributors—like John Bauer and Thomas Karlsson—Flowers paints a sweeping picture of how art, politics, and metaphysics have shaped the revival of runic consciousness. And through it all, he weaves a compelling case for an “integral runeology”—a living system that respects both scientific evidence and the power of myth.
This isn’t a guidebook of rituals. It’s a sacred map for the serious seeker, a call to look deeper than the surface symbolism. If you’re looking for magical techniques, look elsewhere. But if you desire to know the soil from which this sacred alphabet grew, The Revival of the Runes is essential.
As the episode closes, Adam reflects on his own lifelong feeling of “otherness,” invoking a poetic monologue on witchcraft, nature, and the sacred role of mystery in a world gone numb. He reminds us that perhaps, what we need isn’t more clarity—but more beautiful unfamiliarity.
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Before proceeding, please acknowledge and accept our formal position. We do not accept the models proposed by various occult groups that portray angels or demons as abstract beings with agency or will of their own. Rather, we view them purely as representations of the practitioner’s individual psyche. We also regard the reasons for their changes over time and the similarities between cultures as evidence of a shared human unconscious, referred to by Jung as the collective unconscious.
This means it is not “the devil” that makes people do harmful things; people alone are responsible for their actions. When someone has an unhealthy relationship with these parts of the psyche, their experience can become distorted. They may require professional therapy and the guidance of a mental health professional; otherwise, they risk taking these powers of the unconscious to a dark place because those parts have been corrupted by misinformation, trauma, or both.
Our position is that each person is the ruler of their own kingdom/reality, and that spirit has no interest in human affairs and is not subject to an ego.
Accordingly, our interpretation of occult systems—from the Tree of Life and Tree of Death to the Goetia and Shem—is purely symbolic. We treat them through the IFS (Internal Family Systems) model as representational frameworks that illustrate splits within the human psyche, and we work with them in a manner similar to “duality therapy.”
Therefore, any person claiming that a spirit instructed them to do X or Y is expressing a cry for help and should be treated as such.
This is why this movement is clearly marked by the identifier “God Is Not Therapy.” We are not here to provide therapy, but to present a model of these forces and practices for the purpose of understanding, navigating, and working with one’s own unconscious. By proceeding, you acknowledge your responsibility to seek professional assistance if you are experiencing any of these issues before continuing with this work.
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Before proceeding, please acknowledge and accept our formal position. We do not accept the models proposed by various occult groups that portray angels or demons as abstract beings with agency or will of their own. Rather, we view them purely as representations of the practitioner’s individual psyche. We also regard the reasons for their changes over time and the similarities between cultures as evidence of a shared human unconscious, referred to by Jung as the collective unconscious.
This means it is not “the devil” that makes people do harmful things; people alone are responsible for their actions. When someone has an unhealthy relationship with these parts of the psyche, their experience can become distorted. They may require professional therapy and the guidance of a mental health professional; otherwise, they risk taking these powers of the unconscious to a dark place because those parts have been corrupted by misinformation, trauma, or both.
Our position is that each person is the ruler of their own kingdom/reality, and that spirit has no interest in human affairs and is not subject to an ego.
Accordingly, our interpretation of occult systems—from the Tree of Life and Tree of Death to the Goetia and Shem—is purely symbolic. We treat them through the IFS (Internal Family Systems) model as representational frameworks that illustrate splits within the human psyche, and we work with them in a manner similar to “duality therapy.”
Therefore, any person claiming that a spirit instructed them to do X or Y is expressing a cry for help and should be treated as such.
This is why this movement is clearly marked by the identifier “God Is Not Therapy.” We are not here to provide therapy, but to present a model of these forces and practices for the purpose of understanding, navigating, and working with one’s own unconscious. By proceeding, you acknowledge your responsibility to seek professional assistance if you are experiencing any of these issues before continuing with this work.
This content on this website is reservered for registered members only. Please log in to view it.