Book Review: Knowledge from the Sacred Tree

I was recently able to purchase a kindle book for free called Knowledge from the Sacred Tree: Rune Images and Shapes of Energy by Tina Houk. I read this book and felt it deserved a review, so here we are. =)

The book focuses on the Runes and their meanings, and uses the Elder Futhark for explaining the method though there is an introductory discussion that addresses the history of the other Rune systems. The book itself mainly addresses each Rune separately, and discusses its form and meaning using these shapes as the basis.

I was expecting to be dissapointed by this as I often am by Rune meaning texts which simply reword the same theories and ideas we have already heard myriad times. I was pleasantly surprised by this book when I found a totally new way of looking at the Runes, that for the most part made alot of sense.

This text differs in that it arranges the Runes not by traditional aetts but by groups of Runes whose general forms are interrelated. It relies on the concept that the single vertical stave is representative of the person, and succeeds very well.

For example, the Rune Nauthiz, or NEED. The vertical stave is the person, and the vertical cross stave represents the need,  the obstacle which disables the person from moving forward.

We can also see this same concept in the Rune FEHU, a rune of wealth and abundance. The vertical stave is the person, with the two "arms" reaching out to receive the gifts of the natural world. In the same sense Ansuz can be viewed as taking out personal knowledge and gifts and transmitting that into the world by will and effort, symbolized by the arms pointing downward to the mundane world.

This system made much sense to me, even in ways that were not discussed by the book itself. In thinking of the Rune Wunjo, or joy, and applying the authors ideas, I realized that the the staves provided a pictoral representation of the mind and the heart in perfect balance. How better a way to represent the concept of JOY?

The book also includes some discussions of meditation, focusing, and divination that were quite similar to many others I have read before, which to be honest I skimmed over. The author also discusses the work of Ralph Blum as an inspiration in the introduction, which for me was troublesome, but after reading the book I felt that this influence was minimal if at all present in the text. There were two interpretations that I felt were questionable, such as Perthro as a representative of the ear, and Inguz as symbolic of a cauldron? However strange these ideas were the explanations of the meanings still made sense in terms of the authors understanding of their function.

On the whole the book was well thought out, well articulated, and presented a very organic and symbolic interpretation of the Runes which appealed greatly to me. It made sense to me in regards to my own meditations on the Runes, and as a system. If I could change anything, I would suggest a bit more research into the Runic translations, but other than this I enjoyed the book. I felt like this was a method of viewing the Runes that I could incorporate very well into my own practice, and could serve well both as an easy method for introductory learners of the Runes, as well as being a healthy dose of depth to Runic meanings for more experienced practitioners.

I definitely recommend this book for anyone looking for new methods of understanding the Runes, or those who may have had trouble getting a handle on their reading by historical texts alone. The meanings are also formatted in such a way that I feel would be extremely valuable for those who practice Runic divination.

So in short, Knowledge from the Sacred Tree gets the WaneWyrds stamp of approval! Well worth the price of three or four bucks!

View or Purchase this book HERE!



In Frith

Cena