In Tacitus's Germania he references the Continental Germanic tribes reading omens from wooden lots cut from the wood of a fruit or nut bearing tree.
So, I would suggest anything between apple and walnut. How you cut them is up to you. I know many prefer to do it with either a handsaw or table saw.
Once the 24 lots are cut, you can do gladr for each rune as you cut them into the lot. Cutting can be done with either a wood burner, awl, knife, etc.
When you sing the rune's galdr as you cut, you are imbuing the lot with the mystery of that rune. If you don't know what galdr is, it is the verbal invoking/evoking of the rune. Humming, singing, and chanting the runes is galdr. You can find a lot of material on it in Edred Thorsson's books on the runes.
Once you've cut and sang galdr into the lots, you need to stain them. Traditionally this is done with blood. If you choose blood, I suggest you draw the blood with a diabetes blood testing lancet. Draw as much as you need and fill in the lines of the runes with your blood.
Another way to stain is to mix the blood with red ochre to create a paint.
Re: Make my runes my own? By: Eissy / Knowledgeable
Post # 14 Jan 23, 2015
I like the idea of using saliva mixed with red ink or natural paint in place of blood. Also, if you're going to use a Diabetes lancet, which can be found at general stores such as Walgreens, please use alcohol swabs to clean the skin you are about to use. My sister is a Type 1 (Juvanile) Diabetic, and she has to do this every day. She usually pricks the side padding of the ends of the fingers and once she wipes her finger again with the alcohol swab, it no longer bleeds. Sometimes, when she doesn't have enough blood, she'll "milk" her finger, which is rubbing from the base to the end of the finger to have more blood.
Pricking your finger with a Diabetic lancet will only get you enough blood for one small rune at a time and it coagulates pretty fast, so keep this in mind if you do use them. Always be safe if you're drawing blood for your practice.
If you are not as inclined towards tradition, you can also use the subtle energy of your blood so none of your physical blood has to leave your body. What you would do is imbue the energy of the runes with the energy of your blood during trance. It is definitely a way to bond you and the runes, as any type of blood work is going to be highly personal as you're offering a bit of "essence of you" to the "essence of the runes".
In addition, spending time with your runes while you explore each of their mysteries over time can help bond them to you.
