| Rune stödhur was developed by Friedrich Marby, during the twenties and thirties of the 20th century. It has no historic roots or validity whatsoever.
This technique was further developed in the thirties to fifties by Kummer, Gorsleben and Spießberger. The runic postures can be easily compared to practising Chi Gong. As in Chi Gong you become a vessel for the energy of the rune when you perform stödhur. The main difference is that in chi gong you work with universal life-force, "chi", while you get specified energy with the runes. And like the Asanas, the postures have additional purposes, as mentioned by Edred Thorsson:
Rune stödhur can be done anytime and anywhere, best location however is outside in nature and during sunrise or sunset or at the runes' corresponding hour. Also nude is better than with clothes. If nudity is completely out, wear something comfortable and loose. Feel free to perform a banishing ritual before doing the stödhur. This can range from a simple breathing exercise to the lesser pentagram ritual or the hammer ritual. The main objective here is to centre yourself, to be completely in the here and now and to be completely conscious of what you are doing. When you're done with whatever preparations you have chosen, assume the selected rune stadha and start vibrating the name of the rune. Visualise the rune and feel its energy streaming through your body. Once you are done with the stadha, concentrate the energy in your hara, the point that is approximately 2 cm below your navel. Stödhur can be done in ritual prior to charging the selected runes or as alternative to Chi Gong. |
