THE TORAH

From Proto-Hebrew (Phoenician) to English

 Script from Bet HaShem Midrash

The Proto-Hebrew-Phoenician letters (above, on the left side), are the letters with which
the Torah was first written. (The square block, Chaldean characters were devised
centuries later near the time of Ezra).
 The more ancient Hebrew-Phoenician letters (above and below) were transformed into
the written language of the Greeks, and used by the Druid scribes and Hebrew prophets
of Central and Eastern Europe to embellish and interpret the Law. These oracles were
subsequently brought to Egypt in the centuries before the Christian era and translated into
the Septuagint version of the Bible (the Tanach...or what is erroneously refered to as the
Old Testament...It is very much alive)...
 ...with which the Gospels were written before they found their ways into Latin...and
eventually into English and the King James Version of the sacred Scriptures.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
From 22 letters to 26

King James?...Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel; there is no secret they can
hide from thee...

Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him,
Thus saith the Lord God; THOU SEALEST UP THE SUM, FULL OF
WISDOM AND PERFECT IN BEAUTY

Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God...(Ezekiel 28:3, 12,13).

EAST
 EDEN, IN THE WEST

Ten Sefirot and 22 pathways connecting them. These correspond to the 22 letters of
the ancient Hebrew alphabet, with which the Most High inscribed the Law (Exodus
32:15,16) and passed the Ineffable Name down to the world.

From above to below:

The Divine Name YHVH (Y = 10 H = 5 V = 6 H = 5) equals 26. The Four descending

sefirot on the Central Pillar of the Oracle, 1 + 6 + 9 + 10 = 26. It requires the full 26
 letters of the English alphabet (the unknown tongue in the time of Christ) to
interpret the Name in our time.

Dear Shmuel,

Orlando J. Smith recommended your expertice to us concerning the paleo Hebrew Alef-
bet. The following message was forwarded to us regarding the original text of the Torah.
If you have information regarding the validity of the following, would you please
enlighten us. Please excuse this intrusion into your time, but we are truly seeking The
Truth and need assistance. Todah Rabbah, Susan, William and Darrell.

Following is a segment of a much more exhaustive paper...The most recent revision

(9/99) may be found in its entirety at http://ldolphin.org/barrychron.html

THREE MAIN VERSIONS FROM ONE ORIGINAL TEXT:

From the time of Ezra and Nehemiah (about 440 BC) until the Council of Jamnia (around
100 AD) there existed a "Vorlage Text" of the OT in Paleo-Hebrew. This Vorlage was
essentially the original complete Old Testament text. With time, the Vorlage gave rise to
three "recensions". The first of these was the Samaritan Pentateuch (SP), again in Paleo-
Hebrew, about 408 BC. Tobiah the Ammonite allegedly took a copy of the Law with him
when he was cast out of the Temple by Nehemiah (13:4 - 9 and Ezra 4:1 - 4). And set up
the rival system of worship in Samaria. The SP was essentially a copy of the Vorlage
Pentateuch.

The second recension was the Septuagint Greek (LXX) which was translated from the
Vorlage Text about 250 BC by 72 Jewish scholars at Alexandria. This version became
necessary because of the number of Greek-speaking Jews that
were resident in Egypt under the favourable Ptolemaic Dynasty. It has been noted by
most authorities that the LXX translation of the Vorlage Pentateuch was particularly
carefully done because of its revered position in the Canon.

Finally, the Masoretic Hebrew Text (MT) was re-written in square "modern" Hebrew
characters at the Council of Jamnia around 100 AD, with the vowel points added around
900 AD. In "Our Bible and the Ancient manuscripts", p.49, (Eyre and Spottiswoode,
London), Sir Frederick Kenyon commented that this dual procedure could easily be "one
considerable source of corruption" in the MT. But let us put this all in its proper context.

The Dead Sea Scrolls And The Council Of Jamnia.

A very important article, that impinges on the question of the best manuscript to use for
dating, was written by Siegfried H. Horn, Professor Emeritus of Archaeology at Andrews
University, Berrien Springs, Michigan. It appeared in "Ministry" for November 1987, pp.
4-8, and was entitled "The Old Testament text in antiquity." He pointed out that the Dead
Sea Scrolls can be clearly divided into two groups. There are 170 manuscripts from the
11 Qumran caves and fragments from Masada, all of which pre-date 70 AD. The second
group comprises manuscripts from the desert caves in the Wadi Murabba'at, the Nahal
Hever, and the Nahal, Se'elim. The records show that they were hidden there shortly after
100 AD.

Importantly, these two groups of scrolls show two distinct text types. Those pre-dating 70
AD have a text that agrees with both the LXX and the OT quotations used by Christ and
the Apostles in our New Testament (NT). These quotes were essentially from the original
Hebrew Vorlage. Those post-dating 100 AD have a text virtually identical with the
Masoretic Text in our present OT. The dividing line between the two text types came
somewhere between 70 and 100 AD. What happened to change the text type? Remember,
the original Hebrew (Vorlage) version existed from the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. The
Masoretic Hebrew can be traced directly to 100 AD.

.As Professor horn points out, the answer is the Council of Jamnia held around 100 AD.
He states that "A unified text suddenly became the standard at the end of the first century
and [the fact] that not one copy of a divergent text survived (except the Dead Sea scrolls
that had already been hidden when Jamnia convened), indicate clearly that the Council of
Jamnia must have taken actions in this matter.

Rabbi Akiba ben Joseph was this Council's undisputed leader, though its chairman was
Yohannan ben Zakkai. (John, the son of Zachariah? No, a later Yohannan, one who came in the name
of the first). In his later years, Akiba endorsed the rebellion of Bar Kokba against Rome,
and supported him with his wealth, even endorsing him as the Messiah. Akiba was
eventually captured and taken to Rome where he was executed in 137 AD at the age of
82.

The Council of Jamnia rejected the LXX and the original Hebrew on which it was based
(Vorlage) because, as Professor Horn points out...it had become the Bible of the
Christians..."

Indeed, as textual expert Sir Frederick Kenyon writes (op. cit. p. 56): "In the second
century of our Era, this repudiation took form in the production of a rival version."
Professor Horn, Sir Frederick, and other textual scholars are unanimous that this "rival
version" was the Masoretic Text, which, with some variations, has been used as the basis
of most OT translations.

The Council of Jamnia produced this unified text of the Old Testament and ensured that
all divergent texts were destroyed. (The original texts are hidden in the Cave of Treasures). This
unified version, the MT, was written in so-called 'modern' Hebrew with square Assyrian
characters instead of the ancient or Paleo-Hebrew script of the Vorlage. It was also
written without vowels. The vowel pointings were added about 900 AD. This two-fold
process (a change in Hebrew characters and vowel addition) was, as Sir Frederick
Kenyon concluded (op. cit. p. 49), "...one considerable source of corruption." Sir
Frederick then went on to point out that around 200 AD, Origen produced his Hexapla or
six-fold version of the Old Testament. It had the MT in Hebrew, the MT in Greek, three
other Greek versions of the MT (that of Aquila, Theodotion, and Symmachus) and the
Septuagint (LXX).

Note that, except for the LXX, all 5 other versions in Origen's Hexapla were simply
variations on the MT. Furthermore, Sir Frederick noted that "...Origen's efforts were not
directed towards the recovery of the original form of the LXX, but at bringing it into
harmony with the Masoretic Hebrew Text then current, and to do this he introduced
alterations into it with the utmost freedom." Fortunately, in the year 617 AD Bishop
Paulus of Tella in Mesopotamia made a Syriac translation that detailed Origen's
alterations, so that the form of the original LXX was preserved for us and is today still in
existence.

WHAT WAS IN THE VORLAGE TEXT?

The Vorlage Text is quoted in the scrolls from Qumran and Masada written prior to
Jamnia. After that Council, the Jews used the new MT exclusively and destroyed all other
versions. But Christ, the Apostles, and Josephus all quote from the Vorlage and its LXX
translation, as did the Church Fathers.

From the time of Ezra and Nehemiah (about 440 BC) until the council of Jamnia (around)
100 AD) there existed a 'Vorlage' text of the scriptures. This Vorlage text in Paleo-
Hebrew gave rise to the samaritan pentateuch in paleo-hebrew (about 400 BC), the
Septuagint Greek (about 250 BC), and the Masoretic Hebrew with square 'modern'
characters (about 100 AD) with vowel points added about 900 AD. The Vorlage text is
quoted in scrolls from Qumran and Masada written prior to Jamnia. After that the Jews
used the Masoretic exclusively. Christ, the apostles, and Josephus quote from the Vorlage
as did the church fathers, from their writings, it is apparent that the Septuagint text is
largely correct.

Shalom William & Susan,

I've invited Shmuel to comment on the Vorlage, but I wanted to point you back to my
comment about history changing perspective. The Bet HaShem Paleo-Hebrew Torah
discards the Masoretic vowells and hyphenizations but otherwise retains MT word forms.
Though a virtual return to the Vorlage text was within the technical capabilities of the
BHM compiler, he decided that those changes ought rather to come by concensus. The
Midrash is open to ideas. The BHM Paleo-Hebrew Torah url is
http://www.crowndiamond.org. Bora Finton, Administrator

We see no corruption in the work of the rabbis in the first century. Despite the
reality--the fact that they could not see fully into the hidden structure of the
world above them--they were nevertheless commanded to build a fence around
the Torah, and to get inside of that fence themselves. They were commanded to
be guardians of the Torah so that the Law would not get lost in its own
universal meanings, as it accompanied both Israel and the Gentiles to the ends
of the age and the fulness of time.
For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye
should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness IN PART is happened to
Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in...(Romans 11:25-28).

The question: From where, and when, did the Proto-Hebrew-Phoenician script
derive? Going directly to the hypothesis, of which we are more than confident,
we see that these ancient letters emerged out of Atlantean culture, and were
carried to the East by the Phoenicians who not only sailed freely from continent
to continent in those ancient times, but who also perfected these letters for their
own use in the realm of commerce and trade. The ancient Atlantean-Hebrew
adepts (the Levitical Druids), however, were also using these characters and
perfecting them for a different use. They were using them to compose those
hidden texts we know as the Torah.

These texts were being composed, using those distinctly Hebrew literary
methods (the methods of Kabbalah), not in the East but in the center of Europe.
Grown out of all the oral traditions of the world that preceded it the Torah took
written form after the mind of Israel ascended back up into Europe, after the
time of Moses and that epic, and wholly mytho-historical event called the
Exodus. The mysteries of Atlantis were returning Westward.

Read the 22 letters from East to West. Read the 26 letters from West to East. The
Center of the Mystery is hidden right there between them.

The ancient Paleo-Hebrew script has a definite connection to the shape and
configuration of those Runes that have been in use throughout Europe for
untold centuries. Whether the Runes grew out of the Phoenician script, or the
Phoenician script was a perfection and alteration of the more ancient Runes,
others will decide. The point is that they both emerged out of the same ancient
Atlantean tradition:

ANCIENT RUNES
WHAT ARE RUNES

In the most mundane sense, runes are an alphabet much as our own alphabet
and others such as the Greek and Cyrillic alphabets. Each rune represents a
sound and was/is used to write words with. But that is in the most MUNDANE of
senses.

Runes were used long before the concept of writing was around. Each rune is an
archetype of a force. People had concepts for such things as Fire, Honour, Birth,
et.al. and each of these concepts were given names to make them easier for us
to comprehend. In this way, runes are very similar to the Hebrew alphabet. Each
'letter' not only has a sound and a name, but is a complete word with all
associated concepts. This similarity with Hebrew extends even farther. Each
hebrew word is made of several Hebrew letters, therefore each Hebrew word is
made of several Hebrew words. (Such as the word Paradise, PRDS. Psht, Rmz, Drsh,
Sod). The initial letters of several words in a sentence, or of the first letters of
each sentence or paragraph may be gathered to form a new word that is used to
help explain and expand upon what is already written. The same can be done
with runes.

Runes lend themselves readily to numerology. The Runic alphabet is properly

shown as three rows of eight letters. Therefore each letter can be identified by
row:column number. Additionally, each rune has it's sequential number identified
by it's placement in the alphabet. Much like us numbering A as 1, B as 2, ... , and
Z as 26.

Each rune can be placed in position on a tree pattern much like the traditional
Qabbalah. They may represent the different worlds or paths of the tree and can
be expanded and expounded upon as much as the Qabbalah itself is. In fact,
Runic Qabbalah is quite intriguing and does contain a life of study (as do all other
facets of Runework). Runes can be used for fortunetelling. They can be drawn
and placed and read much like tarot cards. The can be cast or strewn and the
relationship of groupings, distance and angles and patterns formed will tell the
caster what he wishes to know.

Runes are also entities in and of themselves. Much like the angels, princes,
demons, sylphs, undines and watchtowers of the ceremonial magician. Each
rune can be invoked or evoked and the power harnessed to work ones will to
enlighten the intellect. They are a fantastic meditation tool and will always
increase ones knowledge. Much as the primal elements of Earth, Water, Air, Fire
and Spirit, each rune also has it's part in the manifestation of all things
manifested. Chaos, grass, people, sunlight, honour, dragons, hopes, and sex are
all replete with runes are could not ever exist without the runic force that creates,
shapes, releases, destroys and changes them. I have equated runes to many
other branches of esoteric, occult, phsycological and intellectual pursuits. This is
in the hopes that if you are already familiar or interested in one of these, you will
realize that runes are already familiar to you or that you are already interested in
them and don't yet realize it.

May you approach the Well of Wyrd and may your sip there only increase your
thirst.

Lokrien @ The Sacred Grove

The following is the work of Ingrid Halvorsen at http://sunnyway.com/runes/:

ORIGIN OF THE RUNES

A reader directed me to a wonderful website called "Omniglot, a guide to writing
systems", which illustrates examples of various alphabets of the world. By examining
some of these we can begin to see the influences which may have led to development of
the Germanic/Norse rune alphabets. It is commonly thought that the Etruscan and Latin
alphabets were sources, but as you will see below, there may have been others, also. All
of the data that follows are from the information and graphics from the Omniglot website.

First, let's look at the major runic alphabets (called "futharks" based upon the first six
symbols). There are many other variants, but the Elder, Anglo-Saxon, and Younger
Futharks are the most well-known.

Runes were used to write many languages including, Gothic, German, Frisian, English,
Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic, Lithuanian, Russian, Hebrew and other Semitic
languages (due to trade relations with the Khazars, a Semitic tribe of traders of the Silk
Road).

The runes might be read from left to right or from right to left, even on the same artifact.
Translation of runic inscriptions is therefore extremely difficult, and complicated by the
fact that rune masters sometimes wrote cryptic puzzles or in secret script.

THE ELDER FUTHARK

"The Elder Futhark is thought to be the oldest version of the runic alphabet, and was used
in the parts of Europe which were home to Germanic peoples, including Scandinavia.
Other versions probably developed from it. The names of the letters are shown in
Common Germanic, the reconstructed ancestor of all Germanic languages."

ANGLO-SAXON FUTHARK

"A number of extra letters were added to the runic alphabet to write Anglo-Saxon/Old
English. Runes were probably bought to Britain in the 5th century by the Angles, Saxons,
Jutes and Frisians (collectively known as the Anglo-Saxons), and were used until about
the 11th century. Runic inscriptions are mostly found on jewelry, weapons, stones and
other objects. Very few examples of runic writing on manuscripts have survived. " [The
chart that follows is incomplete. There are additional A-S runes, which you can see here.]
YOUNGER (OR SCANDANAVIAN) FUTHARK

"This version of the runic alphabet was used sporadically in Scandinavia, in particular in
Denmark and Sweden, until about the 17th century ." [There are variants of the Younger
Futhark also, which you can see here.]

The commonality of symbols of all of the following alphabets makes sense when one
considers the migration of ancient peoples from the east to the west. The people and
languages of northern Europe are considered "Indo-European" because of this migration.
It's not unreasonable that customs, languages, alphabets, mythology, etc. share common
origins. Staggering, isn't it!

ETRUSCAN ALPHABETS

"The Etruscan alphabet is thought to have been developed from the Greek alphabet by
Greek colonists in Italy. The earliest known inscription dates from the middle of the 6th
century BC.

More than 10,000 Etruscan inscriptions have been found on tombstones, vases, statues,
mirrors and jewelry. Fragments of a Etruscan book made of linen have also been found.
Most Etruscan inscriptions are written in horizontal lines from left to right, but some are
boustrophedon (running alternately left to right then right to left).

Used to write: Etruscan, a language spoken by the Etruscans, who lived in Etruria
(Tuscany and Umbria) between about the 8th century BC and the 1st century AD. Little
is known about the Etruscans or their language."

Archaic Etruscan alphabet (7th-5th centuries BC)

Neo-Etruscan alphabet (4th-3rd centuries BC)

LATIN ALPHABETS

"The Old Italic alphabets developed from the west Greek alphabet, which came to Italy
via the Greek colonies on Sicily and along the west coast of Italy. The Etruscans adapted
the Greek alphabet to write Etruscan sometime during the 6th century BC, or possibly
earlier. Most of the other alphabets used in Italy are thought to have derived from the
Etruscan alphabet."

ANCIENT LATIN

"The earliest known inscriptions in the Latin alphabet date from the 6th century BC. It
was adapted from the Etruscan alphabet during the 7th century BC. The letters Y and Z
were taken from the Greek alphabet to write Greek loan words. Other letters were added
from time to time as the Latin alphabet was adapted for other languages."

FALISCAN
MARSALIANA

MESSAPIC

"The Messapic alphabet is thought to have derived directly from the Greek alphabet,
rather than developing from the Etruscan alphabet. The only known inscriptions in the
Messapic alphabet date from the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. The Messapic language was
not related to other languages of Italy."

MIDDLE ADRIATIC / SOUTH PICENE

ROMAN ALPHABET for LATIN

"The Romans used just 23 letters to write Latin. There were no lower case letters, and K,
X, Y and Z used only for writing words of Greek origin. The letters J, U and W were
added to the alphabet at a later stage to write languages other than Latin. J is a variant of
I, U is a variant of V, and W was introduced as a 'double-v' to make a distinction between
the sounds we know as 'v' and 'w' which was unnecessary in Latin."
OTHER ALPHABETS

But what other alphabets may have influenced runes? Remember that over the millennia
there was a great migration of people, spreading from the birthplace of mankind, in the
"middle east" to what are now Europe and northern Africa. Ancient people did travel--a
lot--and long before the Vikings became known as explorers and traders.

HUNGARIAN RUNES

"Hungarian runes (Székely Rovásírás) are descended from the Kök Turki script used in
Central Asia. They were used by the Székler Magyars in Hungary before István, the first
Christian king of Hungary, ordered all pre-Christian writings to be destroyed. In remote
parts of Transylvania however, the runes were still used up until the 1850s. Hungarian
runes were usually written on sticks in boustrophedon style (alternating direction right to
left then left to right). The runes include separate letters for all the phonemes of
Hungarian and are in this respect better suited to written Hungarian than the Latin
alphabet. "

TURKISH RUNES

The upper rune rows are the Elder Futhark variants. The lower rune row shows the
Turkish Runes and their phonetic equivalents.

SOUTH ARABIAN ALPHABET

"The South Arabian alphabet is known from inscriptions found in southern Arabia dating
from between 600 BC and 600 AD. Its origins are not known. The South Arabian
alphabet, like Arabic and Hebrew, includes only consonants. It was written from right to
left in horizontal lines. The top row of letters are written in monumental style, while the
bottom row of letters are in cursive style. "

"The Sabaean or Sabaic alphabet is one of the south Arabian alphabets. The oldest known
inscriptions in this alphabet date from about 500 BC. Its origins are not known, though
one theory is that it developed from the Byblos alphabet. The Sabaean alphabet, like
Arabic and Hebrew, includes only consonants. Unlike Arabic and Hebrew, Sabaean has
no system for vowel indication. In most inscriptions it is written from right to left, in
some it is written in boustrophedon style (alternating right to left and left to right). It was
used to write Sabaean, an extinct Semitic language spoken in Saba, the biblical Sheba, in
southwestern Arabia. The Sabaeans managed to unite southern Arabia into a single state
by the 3rd century AD, but were conquered by the Abyssinians in 525 AD. "

Magical Alphabets: Secrets & Significance Of Ancient Scripts--Runes, Greek,

Ogham, Hebrew &...

by Pennick, Nigel

Using the premise that languages and the alphabets that comprise them are
metaphorical microcosms of our world, Nigel Pennick demonstrates how various
alphahets function as a metaphysical description of reality. Magical alphabets
actually enable seekers to experience a transformative process. This inner
transformation is one of the main objectives of all esoteric traditions, and it can
be accomplished by using any of the alphabet systems described in this book.

Pennick's exciting exploration of Western alphabetical systems includes

information about the origins of Hebrew and Greek alphabets, Celtic Oghams,
and medieval and Renaissance magical and alchemical alphabets. His
examination uncovers evidence of the widespread use of runes throughout
northern and central Europe, as well as the use of letter systems for operative
and ceremonial magic. From grid ciphers to numerology to modern uses, this
book provides an in-depth study of the magic present in a tool we all use every
day -- the alphabet.

Nigel Pennick is an authority on ancient and modern mysteries, an expert on

northern European geomancy, a runemaster, and a practicing geomant. He
lectures worldwide and is the author of Secret Games of the Gods.

ANCIENT MATTERS

By Catherine Kerr

At www.geocities.com/kerrdelune

The runes have been friends and travelling companions for some years now, and this site
would not be complete without a brief section on them. These few introductory
paragraphs are only the beginning of what I hope will be a detailed study someday.

The runes of the Elder Futhark are an ancient Norse or Teutonic system of writing, and
they are also oracular devices which have been in use in Europe and Iceland since about
400 CE. During the period from 400 CE to 1600 CE they also served as a system of
communications, a way of writing and relaying information. There is a wealth of runic
inscriptions surviving from ancient times, including many inscriptions in North America,
and this lends support to historical theories that it was the Vikings who really discovered
North America, and that they traveled widely on this continent centuries before the
arrival of Columbus on our shores.

The word "rune" means variously, "tree", "secret whisper", "mystery" or "hidden", and it
can be applied to a whole group of Norse or Teutonic alphabets which were probably
developed for divination and magic - we know that the runes have been used for arcane
purposes since ancient times. Each rune has a unique pattern, an intrinsic meaning and
characteristics above and beyond its ordinary significance just as one character in an
alphabet. Singly or in groups, the runic patterns are a way of unlocking and
understanding the invisible or hidden realities of one's existence. Each runic name is a
unique term embodying philosophical concepts which were of profound importance to
the ancient people who first used the runes. The runes represent elemental or fundamental
forces of nature and of the spirit; each rune with its own tale and its own association with
a god of the Norse or Teutonic pantheon.
The mythological origin of the runes is significant, and Teutonic mythology and folklore
speak of the sacrifice of Odin, highest of the Aesir, to acquire them. All Father Odin
understood instinctively that true wisdom and second sight may only be attained through
sacrifice. For nine nine days and nine nights he hung on the world tree (Yggdrasil),
impaled on his own spear. On the ninth day, a raven sent by the three Norns plucked out
one of his eyes, and he was transformed, seeing and taking up the runes when they were
revealed to him lying at the bottom of the World Tree. In so doing, he was gifted with
true wisdom and power. The cost of acquiring the knowledge had been enormous
suffering and physical death, but through the force of his will and the strength of his
committment, Odin was reborn, returning to life with the knowledge of the Other World
which the runes conveyed. Afterward, he transmitted his knowledge of the runes to the
goddess Freyja in return for learning the magical secrets of Seithr from her. It was Hagal
or Heimdall, the "watcher" god, eternal guardian of the Rainbow Bridge, who later gifted
humanity with the secrets of the runes.

The Elder Futhark is the oldest of the existing runic systems, and it consists of twenty-
four characters. The letters of the first six runes of the runic alphabet, (F)eu, (U)ruz,
(TH)urisaz, (A)nsu, R)aido, and (K)enaz give the system its name, Futhark. A blank
twenty-fifth rune called Wyrd is often used today along with the runes of the Elder
Futhark, but this is a fairly new development. Wyrd is a name which is associated with
the three Norse sisters known collectively as the Norns, and individually as Urdhr (the
past), Verhandi (the present) and Skul (the future) The three sisters are responsible for
tending the world tree Yggdrasil, and they are also the weavers at the loom of destiny.
Together they represent the source of all knowledge and of all powers of divination. On
their loom, the Norns see everything which transpires in the Nine Worlds, past, present
and future, and with their considerable vision and their formidable power, they could
certainly meddle in the affairs of gods and humanity, but they allow the gods and
humanity to follow their own paths and work out their own destinies.

As the knowledge and use of the runes spread across Europe, carried by the invading
Teutonic tribes, other runic systems began to develop from them. When the Angle, Jute
and Saxon tribes invaded Britain in the fifth and sixth centuries, they brought their rune
system with them, and significant changes occurred to the runes after they arrived in
Britain. Several runes were changed to fit in with the British language, specifically the
runes for A/O, C/K, H, J, S, and Ng, and new runes were added to represent different
sounds in the British tongue. The new alphabet, which was comprised of thirty-three
characters rather than the original twenty-four characters, was known thereafter as the
Anglo-Saxon Futhark.

The Origin of the Runes

There has been much speculation about the origin of the runes, but the runic alphabet is
ancient indeed, and scholars have yet to reach an agreement about where it all began. It
has been speculated that the runes originated in the Greek alphabet of circa 600 BCE. It
has also been suggested that the runes were actually derived from an early Latin alphabet.
There is a theory is that the runes originated in the ancient Etruscan culture of Italy, and
this theory was substantiated somewhat by archaeological discoveries at Negau in the
early nineteenth century - the remarkable bronze helmets which weree unearthed at
Negau bore Germanic inscriptions which had been rendered in Etruscan script, and the
inscriptions on the helmets are invocations to the war god Harigast. There is another
theory which holds that the runes evolved from the Hallristningar rock pictographs
carved during the later part of the Stone Age or early Bronze Age in Europe. Examples of
these pictographs have been discovered in Sweden, Germany, Italy, Austria and other
parts of mainland Europe. Whatever their origin, the runes and runic folkore were an
important part of the ancestral inheritance of the northern Teutonic tribes who originated
in the Scandinavian countries and migrated southward. Like the Hebrew language, the
runes were written from right to left, and this would seem to indicate that the runic
alphabet is at least as ancient as the Hebrew language.

The expansion of the runes was one result of the decline of Imperial Rome's influence in
Europe and the ascendancy of the Teutonic tribes. By about 410 CE, the Visigoths had
conquered Rome and parts of Spain, and they had established an empire of their own -
their influence in Spain wwould endure uuntil the Moorish conquests of the eighth
century. By the end of the sixth century Britain had been invaded by not one, but three
seperate tribes, the Jutes, the Angles and the Saxons, and several kingdoms existed in
Britain, notably in Mercia, Northumbria and Wessex. As they moved westward, the
invading tribes took their runes with them, and the use of the runes took hold wherever
the tribes settled.

Early Christianity abhorred divination in general and the runes specifically. The
expansion of Christianity into mainland Europe seriously threatened the survival of the
runes in any form and for any purpose whatsoever, but they managed to survive, even in
the twelfth century when the Vatican decreed them to be dangerous and soul destroying
devices and forbade their use on pain of death. The runes also survived a second papal
decree in 1639, and in fact, they continued in use as an alphabet right up until the
nineteenth century. Some Runic characters have been integrated into modern Nordic
languages, but from the nineteenth century on, the runes (in their entirety anyway) have
been in use solely as oracular devices. The last known Rune Masters or runic shamans of
formal affiliation were probably those in Iceland during the seventeenth century.

The real beginnings of the runes lie within the ancient heroic epics of the Aesir and the
dark and icy climes of northern Europe. Today, the seemingly random fall of the stones
onto the rune cloth represents the distilled essence of an ancient, magical and powerful
tradition.

PETER PETTERSON

The runes in non-scandinavian litterature · In about 100 A.D. the roman historian
Tacitus wrote in his book Germania about the teutonic peoples. He tells us that
the teutons used to cut BRANCHES OFF FRUIT BEARING TREES, cut them
into pieces and carve signs on them. These pieces were spread out on a piece of
cloth AND FROM THE PATTERN THEY FORMED ONE COULD READ THE
GODS' WILL. There is no way to know, though, if the signs that they carved were
runes. According to Caesar the celts too seem to have used a similar divination
method.

Hymiskviða in the old icelandic Edda says that the gods themselves "shook
twigs" and "looked into blood" to see who would be a suitable host for a party, but
no signs are mentioned on the twigs. Elsewhere too drawing of lots are
mentioned when decisions must be made, but that can very well be done without
signs. 500 years after Tacitus the poet and bishop Fortunatus of Poitiers (later S:t
Fortunatus) wrote to a friend of his that if he wouldn't write to him with roman
letters, he could in stead use persian, hebrew, greek or teutonic letters, which he
said were painted on ash tree tablets.

In the 9th century the frankish abbott Hrabanus/Rabanus Maurus of Fulda in

Germany (later bishop of Mainz) says that the heathens in the north wrote
poems, spells and prophecies with their letters.
The runes in scandinavian literature · A little later the scandinavians themselves
tell us about the runes. In the edda, which was written in the 13th century but is
believed to have been composed in the four previous centuries, the word rún
'rune' is mentioned in several places, for example in Rúnatal in Hávamál where
we are told that Ódinn sacrificed himself to himself by hanging himself pierced by
a spear. He hanged in the tree Yggdrasill for nine days without eating and
drinking, and that way he could "take up" runes, with which he could cure
sorrows and suffering, heal wounds and cure diseases, paralyse enemies and
make their swords blunt and stop their arrows in their flight, damp hatred, clam
waves, make witches get lost, make warriors invulnerable, make the dead talk,
afford success in battle, knowledge and strength, awaken and keep women's
love, and other things. Similar qualities are ascribed to the runes that the valkyrie
Sigrdrífa (Brynhildr) taught Sigurðr Fáfnisbani in the eddic poem Sigrdrífumál.
Here the word rune can hardly mean 'letter', but must have kept its older
meaning 'secret'.
In a story in which Sigurðr is one of the main characters - Völsungasaga -
Sigurðr's widdow Guðrún carves runes on a ring to warn her brothers Gunnarr
and Högni of an ambush. The messenger Vingi changed the runes, and the
brothers were ambushed and captured. Here rune means 'letter'.

In Gesta Danorum the danish 12th century historian Saxo Grammaticus writes
that the ancient danes wrote down the deeds of their forefathers on rocks using
the letters of their own language ("linguae suae litteris"). Saxo also wrote down
the story about Amled (whom Shakespeare called Hamlet) and says that a
message from Amled's uncle to the king of England was carved on wood, which
he says was a very common writingmaterial in ancient times ("litteras ligno
insculptas – nam id celebre quondam genus chartarum erat").

Physical remains · Most inscriptions that have been preserved, and those that
are most known, are the runic stones. They are hardly mentioned at all in the
contemporary literature, though, eventhough there are thousands of them, so
one has to assume that the old scandinavians wrote quite a lot of poems and
letters on wood. For a long time there was no physical evidence for this everyday
rune carving, but in the 50s hundreds of pieces of wood and bone with runes on
them were found at Bryggen in Bergen in Norway (see the MEDIEVAL RUNES
page), and since then pieces of wood and bone are examinated more thoroughly
at archaeological excavations, and lots of inscriptions on bone and wood of an
everyday nature have been found in other places. Birch-bark was probably a
common metarial for letters; in the Russian city of Novgorod, that was founded
by swedish viking, about 700 letters have been found, written on birch-bark, the
oldest from the mid 11th century, the youngest from early 15th century. All are in
russian, though, and none are written with runes. The shape of the runes also
tells us that they were created to be carved on wood. Their staffs are all straight
and carved either vertically or diagonally. Horisontal lines would be difficult to see
because of the grain of the wood, and round shapes are more difficult to carve on
wood than angular ones. Round shapes do occur, though, on other materials.

The origin of the runes · The oldest runes were used in the entire germanic
language area. The oldest found inscription is a spear head with the name (?)
"raunijaR" carved into it. It's believed to be from the late 2nd century, and was
found in Øvre Stabu in southern Norway. Eventhough most other inscriptions
from the following centuries are also from Scandinavia, THIS DOESN'T MEAN
THAT THE RUNES WERE CREATED HERE; THE ORIGIN OF THE RUNES IS
SHROUDED IN FOG, AND THERE ARE LOTS OF THEORIES ABOUT IT

Several of the runes can be read with no certain previous knowledge, for
example the r-, i- and b-runes, since they look almost exactly like the
corresponding roman letters. The latin alphabet is one of the alphabets
suggested to be the ancestor of the runic alphabet, together with etrurian and
greek alphabets, and others related to them (the hebrew alphabet has also been
suggested, and some have even claimed that the other alphabets HAVE
SPRUNG FROM THE RUNIC ONE).

The order of the runes is not at all like the order of the latin, etrurian or greek
alphabet. They all begin with the letters a and b, and are therefore called alfabets
(a is called alpha in greek, b is called beta), whereas the runic alphabet begins
with f, u, þ, a, r and k, and are therefore called the "futhark". Eventhough the 16
runes of the younger futhark where used a long time after the viking age the
exakt order of the 24 runes of the older futhark was forgotten, but it was
rediscovered in 1903 when the Kylver-stone (G88) was found on Gotland. It
made out one of the walls in a 5th century grave. Since then other futhark-
inscriptions have been found, with (almost) the same rune order.

ORIGIN OF THE RUNES

Scholars have yet to agree on a generic source of the Runic alphabet. Some advocate that
the Greek alphabet, c.600 BCE is a prototype, while others have proposed that the Latin
alphabet is the source, although neither claim has been proven. Another theory suggests
that the Runes may have originated in the ancient Etruscan cultures of northern Italy. To
support this theory, scholars point to the discovery of 26 bronze helmets, that were found
in 1812 at Negau in the Austrian Empire. these helmets, dating from the 3rd century BCE
have a Germanic inscription engraved in the Etruscan script on them that includes the
words "Harigast I Teiva". Translated, these words are an invocation of the war-god
Harigast.

Other scholars propose that the Runes developed from the Hallristningar rock carvings.
The symbols were carved in the latter part of the Stone Age or early Bronze Age and
have been discovered in parts of northern Italy, Austria, and southern Germany. these
Runes, their pictorial symbols, and associated song names and lore, were the ancestral
inheritance of the North Germanic peoples migrating south from Scandinavia.

One historical fact is certain, that the earliest inscriptions so far found were written from
right to left, indicating an alphabet at least as old as Hebrew language. The shape of the
Runic letters, based on vertical and diagonal strokes, and avoiding horizontals and
curves, suggests that this was an alphabet designed for carving in wood. ATHENA'S
ENCHANTED GROVE.

THE PHOENICIAN CONNECTION

The shapes and sounds associated with the letters we used today stretch back
5000 years into the past. The direct link is to the Northern Semitic writing system
that was spread throughout the Phoenician trading empire.

More than one Northern Semitic Writing system was invented around 1200 B.C.
in the land between the Akkadian and Egyptian empires, the two great empires of
the late bronze age . By 1000 B.C. the maritime Canaanites or Phoenicians were
the lords of the Mediterranean sea routes and beyond. They reached Ireland, the
Atlantic coast of Africa, and perhaps Brazil.

The Phoenicians shipped lumber to Egypt and borrowed many aspects of

Egyptian culture including burial practices and the knowledge of hieroglyphics.
They wanted something simpler than the cumbersome hieroglyphics and when
they found it, they shared it with the world.

The 22 character consonant alphabet could be taught in a week to those in every

Phoenician port of call. Within a few years similar alphabets reworked to match
the phonemes of the native tongue appeared in many of the lands where the
Phoenicians traded. The Phoenician alphabet was an important stimulus to the
development of a writing system suited to the Greek language. [see from
phoenician to ancient greek to modern greek]

The Story of Mankind

by Hendrik Van Loon

THE PHOENICIANS (The Atlanteans Who Gave Us Our Alphabet)

THE Phoenicians, who were the neighbours of the Jews, were a Semitic tribe WHICH
AT A VERY EARLY AGE HAD SETTLED ALONG THE SHORES OF THE
MEDITERRANEAN. They had built themselves two well-fortified towns, Tyre and
Sidon, and within a short time they had gained a monopoly of the trade of the western
seas. Their ships went regularly to Greece and Italy and Spain and they even ventured
beyond the straits of Gibraltar to visit the Scilly islands where they could buy tin.
Wherever they went, they built themselves small trading stations, which they called
colonies. Many of these were the origin of modern cities, such as Cadiz and Marseilles.

They bought and sold whatever promised to bring them a good profit. They were not
troubled by a conscience. If we are to believe all their neighbours they did not know what
the words honesty or integrity meant. They regarded a well-filled treasure chest the
highest ideal of all good citizens. Indeed they were very unpleasant people and did not
have a single friend. Nevertheless they have rendered all coming generations one service
of the greatest possible value. They gave us our alphabet...

(Van Loon has traced the Phoenician alphabet from the East. We have turned it the other
way around. The Phoenicians brought it into the Meditteranean area with them.
Nevertheless)...

In due course of time, this alphabet travelled across the AEgean Sea and entered Greece.
The Greeks added a few letters of their own and carried the improved system to Italy.
The Romans modified the figures somewhat and in turn taught them to the wild
barbarians of western Europe. Those wild barbarians were our own ancestors, and that is
the reason why this book is written in characters that are of Phoenician origin and not in
the hieroglyphics of the Egyptians or in the nail-script of the Sumerians.

The name Jesus (or Hesus) in Greek.

"Thus philosophy, a science of the highest utility, flourished in antiquity among
the barbarians, shedding its light over the nations, and afterward it came to
Greece." Stromata I.XV.71.3. History and Religion of the Druids, p.106.

Please continue:

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

The Greek Myths, and the Children of Dan

The Straight Path, the Mysteries of Europe

Notes From Europe

The Druids

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

May 2, 2004
Babel, a New Capital for a Wider Continent
By ALAN RIDING

PARIS — One lesson offered by the Book of Genesis is that when "the whole earth was
of one language and of one speech," things got done. And when the Lord disapproved of
the grandiosity of the resulting Tower of Babel, his way of scattering those engaged in
the project was to "confound their language, that they may not understand one another's
speech."

Now, with 10 new members adding 9 languages to the European Union's existing 11,
Babel is back in the headlines. Would the 25-nation bloc be more effective working in
"one speech," or at least only in its three principal languages - English, French and
German? Will the need to turn millions of documents and thousands of voices into 20
languages become a Babelian impediment to getting things done?

In Brussels, these questions are not welcome. The problem of managing a cacophony of
tongues is thought far less daunting than having to silence any individual language. After
all, if Dutch, Greek and Danish are used, why not Estonian, Hungarian and Maltese? The
191-member United Nations may tick along just fine with six languages, but in Europe
the right of officials and legislators to work in their own languages is now enshrined as a
democratic imperative.
As the union's executive commission puts it: "The citizens of Europe should not have to
be represented in Brussels by their best linguists - they can send their best experts."

Anticipating the union's enlargement this weekend, officials have scrambled to find
translators and interpreters able to work in the new languages. The number of language
combinations for interpretation - Hungarian to Latvian, for example - will jump to 380
from 110, although in practice "relay languages" like English and French will serve many
people as a bridge between less-spoken languages.

As for the extra expense, European officials respond that the union's linguistic services
cost less than 1 percent of the total budget, or just $2.40 (2 euros) per citizen per year -
the equivalent of a cup of coffee. "It is a small price for insuring that everyone has a right
to communicate with, and hear from, those institutions in their own language," says Neil
Kinnock, the commission's vice president.

So linguistic democracy has won out. Or has it? In reality, a different - less legalistic,
more intense - battle is also taking place over what languages European officials and
politicians actually use to talk to one another and to reach a wider public. And here the
outcome is different. "In this context, the enlarged Europe will not be Babel," Le Monde's
Arnaud Leparmentier wrote recently. "It has found the gift of tongues: it is English."

It was not always like this. As the traditional tool of diplomacy, French long dominated
European affairs. But after Sweden, Finland and Austria joined the European Union in
1995, the balance began to tip toward English. Now, with a fresh enlargement, English is
increasingly preferred over French.

The adoption of English as everyone's second language is of course a global

phenomenon. But a look at language teaching in Europe also explains why French and
German officials often communicate in English. While more than 90 percent of high
school students in Europe are learning English, French is studied by only 29 percent in
Germany, 27 percent in Italy and 24 percent in Spain. German is studied by only 31
percent in France, 8 percent in Italy and 1 percent in Spain (Central Europe is the
exception).

Thus, having a voice in Europe - tiny like Latvia or powerful like Germany - does not
automatically mean that a country's language will be more widely studied or spoken. A
language's use in Brussels may improve public perceptions of the European Union, but
this acceptance is more likely to influence how a country sees itself than how it is viewed
by others.

A larger question looms over Europe's minority languages, which are spoken by some 40
million people, about 8 percent of the region's population. While, say, Fresian in the
Netherlands and Sami in Finland reinforce cultural identities, many such languages are
struggling to survive. Often rooted in rural areas and spoken by older people, they have
been weakened by migration to cities and the exposure of younger generations to national
media.
Governments intent on defending national languages often deem regional tongues costly
nuisances. They probably deserve better. Even more than the European Union's 20
official languages, they offer sparkling evidence of Europe's cultural diversity.

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Old English Orthography

From Runes to the Latin Alphabet

• At first, Old English was written in runes (futhorc)

• The Runic alphabets were a set of related alphabets using letters (known as
runes), used to write Germanic languages before and shortly after the
Christianization of Scandinavia and the British Isles
• OE shifted to the Latin alphabet after the Anglo-Saxons' conversion to Christianity

• However, certain additions were made to the Latin alphabet: the letter yogh was
adopted from Irish; the letter eth was an alteration of Latin "d"; and the runic
letters thorn and wynn are borrowings from futhorc

• Certain special symbols were also used: a symbol for the conjunction 'and', a
character similar to the number seven (called a Tironian note)

• A symbol for the relative pronoun 'þæt', a thorn with a crossbar through the
ascender (' ')

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