# Laguz

Traditional meaning: water

Meanings when upright:

- use of magical energy
- sexual tension
- shape-shifting
- manifestation of desire
- creation of magical illusions/glamours
- bending the will of others
- you can survive the tests ahead

Meanings when inverted:

- fear of the unknown

Laguz can be useful for:

- manipulating magical energy
- shifting one's awareness to other layers of reality
- bending people to your will
- feeding/creating a magical illusion

Anglo-Saxon rune poem:

> Lagu byþ leodum langsum geþuht,
> gif hi sculun neþan on nacan tealtum
> and hi sæyþa swyþe bregaþ
> and se brimhengest bridles ne gym[eð].

> The ocean seems interminable to men,
> if they venture on the rolling bark
> and the waves of the sea terrify them
> and the courser of the deep heed not its bridle.

Norwegian rune poem:

> Lo,gr er, fællr ór fjalle
> foss; en gull ero nosser.

> A waterfall is a River which falls from a mountain-side;
> but ornaments are of gold.

A modern poem:

> "I've always found it strange
> that, in hypotheticals
> of you losing control and going feral,
> you always imagine your draconic form.
> Not the one, the chaotic, proven to,
> when lost control, cause massive harm.
> What's up with that, Lethe?
> I mean,
> I'm not saying I want either to happen,
> but you're so focused on one
> that you discount the other's chances."

> I... I don't know, in all honesty.
> I have no concrete answers to give,
> no easy explanation that will relieve.

> I guess because...
> in the former form I'm slender and elegant,
> and maybe I associate it with intelligence,
> and so I'm more likely to retain
> some semblance of myself amidst the insane?

> Because part of the fantasy
> is you managing to rescue me?

> I know you said
> you wanted to spend
> your whole life at my side,
> but I don't want you here if to you
> this is just another sacrifice,
> if you're throwing away your happiness
> just to keep the worlds in safety and bliss-

> "That's... not what I meant at all.
> I just want us to be prepared
> in case you ever come under the thrall
> of another evil-seeking god.
> You eat gods, you know. Are you aware?
> With your tail you reave whole worlds to shreds
> and suck souls dry until there's nothing left.
> If you must be in the hands of someone,
> let those hands be mine,
> who has loved you since what feels like
> the beginning of time
> itself.
> You trust me, don't you?
> To not put you through hell?"

> Of course. I trust you with all that I am
> even after my very last death knell.
> I think, if I should ever go feral,
> it should be in the form that forgets the least
> so you can bring me back to sanity
> with the utmost of ease.
> After all, I think I'd like to remain
> an (arch)angel for the rest of my days
> since only then do I have the hands,
> the face, the voice to say:

> "I love you."