[Student Voices] Othala on My Shelf
Published: 21 Jul. 2025, 14:10
Joon Bang, North London Collegiate School Jeju
by Joon Bang, North London Collegiate School Jeju
One morning, I woke up in a bad mood and skipped breakfast. I felt uneasy at school, because my two best friends were still recovering from post-fight trauma. As I walked past the art room, I saw a clay disc full of holes, a frightening sculpture that made me feel like I was going to fall into it and never return. Later, at piano class, I could never get the perfect note. Doing!
To save myself from this bad day, I tried my last resort. I took a stone and wrote an ancient letter corresponding to my troubles. In other words, I made something called a “rune.”
It might sound like what a madman would do. However, the rune calmed my anger. It appeared in my thoughts when I was frustrated. I saw the shape I had written on the stone, the othala symbol “ᛟ”, with glowing black and blue lines intersecting, and then changing direction to make a square. Whenever I was in a bad mood, it entered my mind and pushed out all the negative feelings.
Once I got into the habit of making runes, I began to feel better than ever. I don’t usually sleep well, but when I hold my rune it makes me sleep like a rock. Whenever I feel a bad mood approaching, I reach for my rune. It’s cold and smooth in my hands. I have faith that it will work, and it does.
Runes have been around for a long time. Before anyone used them for healing minds, Scandinavian people around AD 150 used them as an alphabet. In the early 1600s, Johannes Bureus, the first head of Sweden’s national library, wrote about the mystical power of runes. Around this time, many people were using runes for “divination,” or trying to find out what will happen in the future. The algiz rune “ᛉ” was commonly placed in front of houses to bring happiness. Runes have also been used to increase one’s luck, and for self-protection. In WWII, runes were used by some soldiers to raise morale and help them hold their ground.
To make a rune-stone, you should start by choosing the right material. First, think about what you want to achieve. Then, choose a stone, crystal, or other material that matches your desire. My favorite rune is made from carnelian, a blood-red crystal. When I touched it for the first time, it had just the right texture; it felt perfect in my hands.
After you find the right material, you need to paint it with a symbol from the runic alphabet. Then, to activate the rune, you need to meditate where you feel comfortable or happy. For me, it was my desk where I do most of my work. After you choose a spot, put the runestone in your palm and look at it. Study the material and the symbol. Really focus on it. Then, when you feel like the rune is no longer a foreign object but rather a piece of your soul, the process is complete.
Why do runes work? One theory is the placebo effect. This is often seen in drug and medicine testing. The general idea is that if you believe something will happen to you, it will actually happen because your brain is subconsciously working on its own.
The other theory is . . . magic. In Norse mythology, the god Odin sacrificed himself at the well of knowledge—he gouged his eye out, then tied himself to a tree and hung upside-down for nine days. As he absorbed secret knowledge, he gained the ability to understand and activate runes. Maybe some of that magic is still with us today?
Whatever the truth may be, runes have helped bring me stability and peace. Now, it’s your turn. May the runes be with you.
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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