The Rune-Gild was founded in 1980 by Dr. Stephen Flowers (aka Edred Thorsson) in Texas, USA. It was and still is the first and only initiatory school of esoteric runology based on the actual, historical Elder Futhark, not the ariosophical Armanen system that was dominant in the occult world until then. Unlike other occult or esoteric organizations, however, the Gild’s focus is not only on techniques of magic and self-transformation. The Gild strives to provide its Learners, Fellows, and Masters with a rigorous scholarly perspective for situating these techniques within the broader context of Germanic and Indo-European history and tradition, which is the underlying foundation of our culture.
Edred combined his academic training with his visionary insights into the runic mysteries. He studied Germanic studies and exoteric runology at the University of Texas at Austin under his academic mentors Edgar Polomé and Klaus Düwel in Göttingen, Germany. Simultaneously he received his magical training in the Temple of Set, where his magical mentor Michael Aquino helped him to understand the word Rûna in an initiatory context. After the first phase of development and experimentation in the 1980s the Gild began to expand and a formal initiatory framework manifested in the shapes of The Nine Doors of Midgard and the Gildisbók.
In the 1990s the Gild also manifested in the United Kingdom and grew into the stronghold of the Eormensyl Hall under the aegis of Ian Read and Ingrid Fischer. Read was also responsible for the dispersion of the Elder Futhark in the occult milieus in England and Europe by introducing it into the Chaos Magick Current, which was flourishing in this decade on the old continent. Edred’s first book Futhark was key in this endeavour and it has been called a game changer by many. From the beginning of the new millennium up until 2011 the Gild has matured and produced many Rune-Masters and was known for its high magical and academic standards. At the World Moot in Texas in 2011 the Gild was ritually destroyed and reborn on 11/11/11 and Edred stepped down as its leader.
“The sixth phase, which began in 2011 and continues to the present (2018), has seen the Gild destroyed — only to be rebuilt and reforged into its strongest for yet. The Gild has come out of age and new responsibilities remain ahead.” (Edred 2019: History of the Rune-Gild: p. 193) The 2020s, perhaps then, represent a new phase of growth in which the Gild manifests in Mainland Europe and returns to the place, where the first Rune-Masters of Old created the ancient Rune-Gild.
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M. Semmler, Berlin, DE