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Should You Use Significators With the Runes??

Significators are an idea derived from the Tarot. There is no historical evidence for their use with the runes. In Tarot a card, called a "significator" is drawn from the pack to represent the person for whom the reading is being conducted. This card is selected on the basis of the person's gender, age, color, personality etc. The actual criteria applied and method used varies from reader to reader according to their personal preferences. So for example, a blond-haired, light-skinned young man might be represented with the Knight of Cups. The significator is normally selected manually and removed from the pack before the main reading begins.

Not all Tarot readers use a significator though the majority do, and it is a method which works well with the Tarot but is less easy to apply to the runes. Firstly the skewing effect of removing 1 out of 24 runes is considerably greater than of removing 1 out of 78 Tarot cards and can potentially distort the reading. Secondly the runes are less obviously "people-focussed" than the Tarot is. The Tarot cards (particularly the Major Arcana) depict people with obvious facial expressions and patterns of behavior. There is no direct equivalent for the runes. One could use Ansuz (Os) for an old man, Berkana (Beorc) for a mother figure etc but these do not create a clear mental picture. There is therefore a danger of one's significators being chosen from a narrow range of runes leading to a potential for permanent distortion of readings. For these reasons, coupled with the lack of historical precedent, most rune readers do not use significators.

Sometimes a reader may wish to use a rune spread which mirrors a Tarot card layout and for which a significator is then required. Some rune readers suggest that the Blank Rune can be used as a significator since it can match any querent and its absence does not skew the reading.