Strictly speaking in the scholarly sense, runes are a group of symbols that make up the written alphabet and diverse spoken languages by the Germanic people of Europe during approximately the first century (before common era) B.C.E.
The English word "rune" is from the Norse word runa which means secret or mystery. It's also important to mention that the Rowan tree was spiritually revered and runa is the root word used to identify the Rowan tree.
As Christianity began to spread it was changed to the Latin alphabet we know today. Yet, runes never completely vanished even when they were banned by the Christian church. Why? Runic symbols were used for magical intentions before they were ever used for writing. In fact some runes have been found on rock carvings dating back 17,000 years. Many runic engravings were added to rocks, weaponry, jewelry and on graves to ensure a departed loved one's safe journey to the afterlife.
Anyone searching for an explanation or guidance from the spiritual world would carve a set of runes into strips of wood cut from the branch of a tree. Then they would scatter and spread them onto a white cloth while gazing upwards and selecting at random with guidance from the spirits. Runes hold the secrets or mysteries of the Universe and can be interpreted by those who understand their meaning. However, runes will never expose all knowledge in its entirety despite how vigorously we learn and analyze them.
A frequently asked question is the difference between runes and Tarot. The biggest difference is that runes are very simple and can have a much broader answer or meaning than a Tarot card where the reader can rely on images or pictures. With Runes it's all about your intuition and what message you feel is being conveyed. Although Runes pre-date Tarot by at least a thousand years, there are actually some similarities. One example is the runic symbol of Eihwaz ((debated) either ay-wahz or eee-wahz), the Death card in Tarot, and the number 13. The Death card is the 13th in the Major Arcana and the 13th runic symbol is Eihwaz. Similarly, they also both symbolize transformation, endings, new beginnings and that "death" is just the end of an era or cycle, but never the end of the story.
