Well, Ralph Blum has sparked a lot of controversy amongst Rune practitioners with his historically unfounded introduction of the blank Rune.
yes Ralph and his changes were very contraversial..But most writings on runes are historically unfounded.. Most is all guess work.. and deductions Just like the heiroglyph.. It is an Unspoken Language. a language of many many many dialects..
I think Ralph blum did this, because he made the runes his own.. and then he shared his experiences and the changes he has made..Some went with it.. Some didnt..
If a Deck of Tarot is traditional or not.. it matters not..
Nor do Runes..
We make them our Own.. It is our Divination tool that we personally atune to and make our own .. becasue once you study the runes and learn their basic RUnic message (this does vary) then we ad our own twist and take to them..
it is just how it is..
for me though the blank Rune fits for me.. it is a rune of Karma, it is a Rune that says nope you are not allowed to know and you have to go with the flow.. Because there is a life lesson here. just pay attention..
It is the rune of the Unknown. the karmic rune.. And i like that.
i prefer to look up the book of ballymote .
I have studied runes since yonks.. Both Ogam and Elder Futhark and other Rune systems. Most of it is just guess work and putting pieces of a puzzle together.. no matter who wrote about them.. Depends on how you tick and how you like to absorb things, You will eventually find a writer in whom writes the way you like.. and you will never look back... I am in the midst of making a bird ogam based on remnants of an original Bird Rune system i have found .
I have many many Rune sets.. Most of them are hand made including my first wooden set i engraved and shaped myself.. the only bought set is of Rose Quartz .. and i never use them .. My next set will be made (by me) of Holly Branches.. My Druidic Birth tree , This set will be made with the Bird Ogam In Mind as i carve and smooth..as i have a thing for birds too..so why not combine them all.