Subtitled "The Shamanic Perception Of Quantum Realities", Runic States by Kevin Steffen looks at the classic Elder Futhark from a rather unique standpoint. By "reverse engineering" from the cultural artifacts of the runes and their residual divinatory meanings, Steffen presents a system of shamanic symbols which meshes well with the cosmologies of modern physics. In the preface Steffen explains: "the runes are more like a computer language than a language spoken by people... the runes are the symbols or syntax or the language, but the structure that forms the rules of how the symbols are to be used is provided your cosmology and your subconscious". Runic States is not just a fascinating new look at the Elder Futhark, it is also a full system of meditative and divinatory practice using the runes as archetypal symbols, including graphic mandalas for each rune and their various correspondences. Many books on runes veer too far to one of two extremes: dry linguistic history or wild imaginings. Runic States finds a middle ground, while being based firmly on scholarly research in the field, it takes the reader through carefully structured "thought experiments" to see what sort of realities might lie behind the runes. Kevin Steffen weaves elements of psychology, philosophy, and anthropology through the book, and draws on thirty years of personal metaphysical study in the development of his runic systems.
