Isa is a predominantly orange card, and luckily it is the card that falls in the past position. We can see that the presence of orange deteriorates as the spread progresses. The orange from the background of Isa transforms into the orange of the seed in Ingwaz. This might suggest that the difficulties of the past will not be wiped clean, but instead will mani.fest themselves in the growth. Ingwaz is generally a neu.tral card. It contains a mixture of golds and oranges in the heart of the seed, with a neutral blue background. Ingwaz is affected by the cards around it, so in this case it is taking the struggles from Isa and bringing them into the present. Growth rarely comes without growing pains. In Jera, we see this orange transform into the rake, but the amount of gold has significantly increased. The orange here suggests that the harvest will not come without challenge, but the reward will be worth it.

As you can see from this example, the color alone is enough to form thoughtful connections when doing readings with Green Glyphs. 

Next, we will go over some more spread options that involve four and five Runes. The same methods that we used here with the three-Rune reading can be applied to these spreads. Before we move on, I would recommend doing a few readings on your own. Before you consult the guide for answers, listen to your intuition. Read the colors as I did here and pull apart meanings from the imagery. You may surprise yourself with how much you already have stored deep inside of your being. We are all magically and spiritually connected more than we will ever realize.

There are a few methods for reading Runes in sets of four. You can do a normal past. present, future reading with a fourth position to represent the outcome. Another method, that I find works well with Runes, is to read the seasons of the upcoming year. The seasons have such an important role in Runes, making this layout especially fitting. You would begin as you would with any other reading and in this version you would denote the four positions to:

The Runes that fall in each position give an over arching view of the year ahead. Let’s try a sample reading with four Runes. After shuffling the deck, I drew the following four cards:

Sowilo is the sun Rune and represents warmth, joy, and, quite literally, the sun. Uruz is the strength Rune and deals with challenges and obstacles, but also having the strength to overcome. Ansuz is the breath Rune and is about messages both spoken and written; communication is also covered by this rune. Hagalaz is the hail Rune and speaks about natural disasters and disruptions.  

There are a few ways to interpret a reading like this. We can look at it in a mundane way or in a more life-changing way. 

One version would be that the spring would be a beautiful time spent outside in the sun; the summer would become a bit more challenging, with a few obstacles I will need to face; the autumn would bring a time of deepening of connections with myself and with others, especially in the form of communication; and the winter will bring more turbulence, and perhaps quite literally, hail.

We can also look at the color of the cards to read deeper into the meaning of the reading. We begin with an incredibly positive card, perhaps the most positive in the entire Rune system. Sowilo has no orange at all and is covered in gold. This would suggest the year would begin well. Following Sowilo, we have Uruz, which has quite a bit of orange suggesting the spring will be challenging, but Uruz also tells us that we can persevere if we proceed with strength and willpower. The autumn is represented by Ansuz, which has both gold and orange present in the card. Ansuz is generally a neutral card as it pertains to communication, which can be both positive and negative, depending on the context. It seems like the autumn will be a mix of good and bad with a focus on communication. Finally, we have Hagalaz, one of the most, if not the most, challenging cards. There is a bit of gold in the center of the hail comets, but other than that, we are met with an onslaught of orange. Hagalaz suggests that the year may end with quite a bit of turbulence, but often when this card shows up, it is because this change is long overdue.

If you are looking for a longer rune reading you can add in a fourth and fifth Rune position to the past present future reading. These positions represent advice (fourth) and outcome (fifth). The Advice Rune presents you with another way of looking at the situation. Perhaps it is not as dire as you perceive, or maybe it is even more so. The fifth rune, Outcome, represents the future if you take the advice of the fourth rune. 

These spreads are merely suggestions for how to begin reading with Runes. Advanced readers may choose to develop their own ways to read Runes that can incorporate even more Runes in a reading. It’s important to note that the more Runes you do choose to add in the more diluted the reading can become. Three of the Runes speak loudly, but once you introduce ten or twelve, you are using nearly half the system and so naturally the importance of each Rune showing up is lessened.

Once again, let’s take a look at the example spread below. After shuffling I pulled:  Ehwaz - Mannaz - Kenaz - Gebo - Wunjo.

Ehwaz is the horse Rune and speaks to loyalty and rapid changes. Mannaz is the Rune of humankind and is about human connection and the greater good. Kenaz is the flame Rune and represents the spark of light in the darkness. Gebo is the gift Rune and can represent a literal gift exchange or a talent. Lastly, Wunjo is the Rune of joy and represents positivity and happiness. 

So, in the past position, we have rapid changes and a sense of spiritual movement. Our current position is Mannaz, which can represent our need to feel connected to those around us. Kenaz occupies the future position, which indicates that there is a spark that will need to be maintained in the future in order to light the way. It may be challenging (noting the presence of orange) but at the heart of this spark is goodness (yellows and golds). The fourth position, the advice, is Gebo. Here, it is likely that Gebo stands for giving and accepting. It is directly speaking to Mannaz, the card in the present posi.tion. Perhaps there is an openness that needs to be nurtured with those that are close to us. In the final position we have Wunjo, a sign of great joy. It is always reassuring to have a positive card in the final position that represents the out.come. This would suggest that if the advice is taken to heart, the outcome will be one of great positivity. 

Looking at the color of this spread can prove a bit more chal.lenging than some of the previous examples, but let’s see what we can infer. Ehwaz has a mix of color, suggesting that these past spiritual changes were met with a mix of good and bad. Mannaz has no color so it stands as a true neutral card. Kenaz, as mentioned earlier, also has a mix of gold and orange. But then we are met with the final two cards which have a surplus of gold and yellow. So even though Mannaz has no color, we can infer that these small difficulties of the past will be replaced by happiness in the future. 

There are many different spreads you can attempt with Runes that are not covered in this short guide. We encourage you to seek additional resources to further expand your understanding of this ancient practice.