Yes or No Runes

Yes or no rune meanings

What each stone answers: upright, and merkstave where the rune can be reversed.

Rune Upright Merkstave (reversed)
UprightYes

Something is arriving – and what you do with it matters more than the getting.

Merkstave (reversed)No

The grip is too tight for anything new to arrive. No, while that holds.

UprightYes

There is force enough here. Aim it, and the answer is yes.

Merkstave (reversed)No

The strength is misdirected or spent. Not until it is gathered and aimed.

UprightIt depends

A decision stands in the road. The answer follows from which way you take it.

Merkstave (reversed)No

Haste or stubbornness is deciding this. No, while either one is in charge.

UprightYes

Yes – and it will reach you through someone else. Listen when it does.

Merkstave (reversed)No

Something has been misheard or misled. No, until the words are straightened out.

UprightYes

The road is open and the direction is yours. Yes, provided you set the pace.

Merkstave (reversed)No

Wrong road, or wrong moment. Not while the direction is still unexamined.

UprightYes

There is light enough to work by. Yes – use the skill you already have.

Merkstave (reversed)No

The clarity has gone out. No, until you can see what you are doing again.

UprightYes

Something is offered, and taking it binds you to the giver. Yes, on those terms.

Merkstave (reversed) –
UprightYes

Yes. The harder stretch is ending and this is the ease that follows it.

Merkstave (reversed)No

Something is out of step. No, while the discord is still unnamed.

UprightNo

A force outside your control is at work. Shelter, and wait for it to pass.

Merkstave (reversed) –
UprightNo

The conditions are too tight. No for now – and the constraint is teaching something.

Merkstave (reversed)No

Need is making the decisions. Nothing chosen under this pressure will hold.

UprightIt depends

Everything is held still. There is no answer yet, only the waiting before one.

Merkstave (reversed) –
UprightYes

Yes, in its own time. What was planted comes up, but on the season’s schedule.

Merkstave (reversed) –
UprightIt depends

Something must end for this to move. It turns on whether you let it finish.

Merkstave (reversed) –
UprightIt depends

Too much is still hidden to answer plainly. Chance is holding part of this.

Merkstave (reversed)No

What is concealed here works against you. No, while it stays out of sight.

UprightYes

You are better protected than it feels. Yes – and set the boundary anyway.

Merkstave (reversed)No

The guard is down. No, until what is exposed has been covered again.

UprightYes

Yes, clearly. The way forward is lit and the energy to take it is here.

Merkstave (reversed) –
UprightYes

The honest course is the one that works. Yes, and it will cost something.

Merkstave (reversed)No

The principle has slipped, or the nerve has. No, while that is still true.

UprightYes

Something has taken root. Yes – small, unproven, and worth protecting.

Merkstave (reversed)No

The conditions will not let it grow. No, until they are changed.

UprightYes

Yes, with the right people beside you. Alone, this one does not move.

Merkstave (reversed)No

The partnership has lost its rhythm. No, while you are pulling different ways.

UprightIt depends

Other people decide much of this. It turns on them, and on your own clarity.

Merkstave (reversed)No

Isolation or a blind spot is in the way. No, until it is seen from outside.

UprightIt depends

The facts are not the whole story. What you sense counts as much as what you know.

Merkstave (reversed)No

The water is too rough to read. No decision made in this state will hold.

UprightIt depends

It is ready but not released. The answer waits on the right moment, not on you.

Merkstave (reversed) –
UprightYes

Yes. The turn has already happened; what follows is the light coming up.

Merkstave (reversed) –
UprightYes

Build on what you already hold. Yes – the ground under you is sound.

Merkstave (reversed)No

What you inherited is in the way. No, while it is still carrying the decision.

Not of the Futhark Wyrd
UprightIt depends

This is not written yet. No answer is being withheld – there simply is not one.

Merkstave (reversed) –
Questions
How does a Yes or No rune reading work?

You hold one question that can be answered yes or no, turn a single stone, and read its answer. Each of the 25 runes carries a verdict: yes, no, or it depends. It’s decided from what the rune means. Sixteen runes can land merkstave (reversed) and carry a second verdict for it; eight are the same either way up, and the blank has no face at all.

Which runes mean yes?

Upright, 15 runes answer yes: Fehu, Uruz, Ansuz, Raidho, Kenaz, Gebo, Wunjo, Jera, Algiz, Sowilo, Tiwaz, Berkano, Ehwaz, Dagaz, Othala.

Which runes mean no?

Upright, 2 runes answer no: Hagalaz, Nauthiz.

Which runes say “it depends”?

Upright, 8 runes hold the answer open: Thurisaz, Isa, Eihwaz, Perthro, Mannaz, Laguz, Ingwaz, Wyrd. For these, the rune’s line tells you what the answer turns on.

What is merkstave?

A rune that lands upside down is read as merkstave, or reversed: its energy is blocked or turned inward. Only the sixteen non-symmetrical runes can land that way. The eight that look the same either way up, and the blank, are always read upright.