Professor DiAnna Diaz
September 26, 2011 1:37 PM
Advanced Divination: Ancient Runes (6th & 7th years) by Professor DiAnna Diaz
The curriculum seemed to vary a little from year to year as the relevant people in charge decided what was and what wasn’t important for students of Divination to be tested on in their examinations. For the past several years, however, ancient runes had featured as essential knowledge. This irked DiAnna a little, because although she couldn’t deny the occasional usefulness of casting runes, the whole topic was not something that could be taught in a few lessons. Simply learning the meaning of each rune could take time enough, let alone being in a position to be able to interpret the many variations of castings. Luckily, a rudimentary knowledge would apparently be sufficient to see her advanced students through their RATS."Find a seat a get your textbooks out," DiAnna called to her sixth and seventh year students. When the rustling of parchment and shuffling of chairs had subsided, Sadi offered a warm smile to her small group of students. "Today, and for the rest of the year, in fact, we’ll be looking at Runes. For the seventh years, it’s good that this will still be fresh in your mind when you come to take your exams," now less than a month away. "For the sixth years, you’ll have plenty of practice at this before your turn for exams next year."
"You’ll find I’ve given you an extra textbook between two for today’s class, and you’ll need to use it until the end of the year. I do want them all returned before summer," DiAnna warned. As librarian, she was protective of her books, and these class textbooks proved no different. "You’ll also need your own set of runes, which you can collect from my desk." As Runes has previously been taught as an elective subject at Sonora, DiAnna hadn’t had any difficulty in securing some spare sets for her class to use. "The opening chapter of your extra textbook will explain what the runes each mean, so you can look that up when it’s your turn. For now, I just want you to watch what I’m doing as I demonstrate how to do a basic rune reading." At this point DiAnna stood behind her own desk at the front of the room, and selected one of the bags of runes. Her own set was black onyx and very valuable, so she’d left it safely with her other personal belongings. The set she chose to use was old wood – possibly beech – and very lightweight in comparison. "So, if you work in partners for this class, one of you will hold all the runes in your hands," DiAnna cupped her hands together and empties the runes into them with such ease it was evident she'd done this many times before. "The rune holder must then think of a question to ask of the runes. It needs to be fairly specific, yet at the same time remain open. So, for instance, I might ask, 'How will my seventh years do in their divinations exam this summer?' With your question clearly in your mind, cast your runes onto the desk before you." With soft clattering, the wooden runes landed on the desk.
"We'll start with the cluster cast. Once your runes have settled, focus on the central cluster. If there is no obvious cluster, take the most central five runes. Discard the others, and interpret your casting." This part was not always so easy as one would hope. "Once you have looked up all the literal meanings, the final stage is to interpret this into a logical reading. Never easy, but, as you should know by now, interpretation is a necessary skill." She had been drilling this into their heads for the past two years. "So you can begin whenever you’re ready. Just come and pick a set out, and take it in turns to cast. I’ll be around if anyone needs me."
(OOC: Stick to site rules and be creative, as usual. There is an ancient runes cheat sheet to help you along.)
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Professor DiAnna Diaz
Advanced Divination: Ancient Runes (6th & 7th years)
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