The Rune Series: LAGUZ (Water)
The Runes of this series belong to the Elder Futhark, one of the oldest alphabets in recorded history. Each Rune has endless interpretations and deep meanings; while their origin and/or intent is lost to history, most interpretations come from the ‘Rune Poems’, possibly written around the 8th century. This series will explore the Runes through a personal journey and intuitive interpretation alongside knowledge collected from written works, such as ‘The Book of Runes’ (R.Blum, 1982).
Greetings Dear Reader,
Welcome back to the Rune Series where we explore the ancient Runes through a psychological, practical, spiritual and philosophical lens.
You can check out the rest of this series below:
The Waters of the Moon
Also known as Laukaz, Lagu or Logr, LAGUZ is the Rune of Water. Whereas MANNAZ is masculinity and the power of logic and mind, LAGUZ is femininity, intuition and a connection to the profound, mysterious waters of the Unconscious. The two Runes work perfectly together and provide balance to one another. You can even see this in their shapes, as two Laguz merge to form Mannaz closely and EHWAZ (companionship) seems to emerge with a little distance between them.
You can play with Rune shapes a lot since they all share the same structure and, now that you’re familiar with their meanings, you can extract some really powerful stories out of their combinations.
LAGUZ is often associated with the moon because of its connection to the great flows of the oceans on our world, as well as the biological rhythms of the female body.
Mythologically, we could say that Mannaz is Midgard and Laguz is Mani, but from this perspective Laguz would appear as being only an external object/force. I think it would be more accurate to say that it is both external and internal simultaneously, as the moon directs the ocean’s waves, but water is also found beneath the earth.
Water appears both underneath and above, while the earth is in the middle. If we use the psychological language that we’ve adopted so far, then consciousness (Mannaz) is in the middle (literal translation of ‘Midgard’), surrounded on all sides by the Unconscious.
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Femininity
Rune Series 21/24
Third Aett: Laguz/Laukaz
Meaning: ‘Water’, ‘Ocean’
Associated English letter: L
While I’m probably not (biologically, at least) qualified to speak about Femininity or to dare a definition of it, I shall attempt this impossible task nonetheless. I think all artists inherit something of the great feminine archetypes by definition.
What is femininity? If I was to attempt a shortlist I’d include: grace, beauty, intuition, dreams, birth/creativity, warmth, rhythm and motherhood. I’d advise against breaking these down further by asking ‘what do you mean by grace or beauty?’ — the question is pointless and all answers are vanities of the mind because Nature will show you exactly what they are and you will recognise them.
The balance between Mannaz and Laguz is a reminder that the power of the intellect has to be balanced with the power of the unknowable. Masculinity is not above or below Femininity, but emerges out of it to order reality (don’t confuse these with genders). Practically, it’s important to recognise where and when logical explanations are necessary and where the mystery must be accepted as such.
Mythology and Religion attempt to do this by having male gods and female goddesses. All major traditions have them, including Christianity where the feminine seems to manifest itself in Mary who is essentially a goddess (though Christians seem to dislike the terminology).
If balanced properly, Femininity flows like water and inhabits the elements, transforming them into shapes that consciousness seems to consider ‘beautiful’, which means that they invite an attraction or merging with them.
Dreaming Goddesses
Because of its innate connection to the moon/night/unconscious, the Sacred Feminine is also frequently related to the experience of ‘Dreaming’ — a very strange activity the mind engages in while the body is asleep. I won’t go into attempts to theorise what dreaming is or means; if you study it long enough you’ll start noticing just how strange the whole thing is, none the least because it proves beyond doubt that you don’t need a physical body to experience the senses.
Remember that dreams are also fundamental aspects in the myths; BERKANO told us the story of how Freyja dreamt of her son’s death and inadvertently set in motion events that not only led to his death, but to the end of the world.
Is there a difference between the world of dreams and the so-called ‘spirit world’? Well, that depends on who you ask and how you pose the question. I personally think it’s a pointless question because it attempts to categorise something that is, by definition, beyond category. For the Norse, dreams could be foretelling the future or messages from the gods.
It seems that a feminine quality or spirit is usually employed when one connects with the world of the Unconscious, either through dreaming or conscious imagination. For modern practitioners that wish to attempt such connections, it’s usually recommended to try and connect with female goddesses, such as Freyja, Hera, Isis or Mary. All these entities embody a connection to the invisible but also a nourishing mother-like protective spirit, which is fundamental when one traverses realms that are, for lack of better adjectives, alien and terrifying to the Ego.
Conclusion
Masculinity and Femininity, if balanced harmoniously, generate the most natural and meaningful aspect of human life: its continuation into the future, also known as reproduction. This takes various forms at various levels.
If left unchecked however, Masculinity and Femininity tend to devolve to their extremes. Masculinity becomes tyrannical, unmoving and eventually becomes a corpse polluting the future; Femininity instead disperses into increasingly chaotic, destructive forms without cohesion or singular vision. In one word: Ragnarök.
Examples of these polarities in our world today are not hard to spot at all. It is your task, as an inhabitant of Midgard, to balance out these forces in yourself first. Seek to add the waters of LAGUZ to those elements of your personality that are unmoving and stiff. Integrate the discipline of MANNAZ to those areas of your life that are out of control (you’ll recognise them because they’ll make you tired, depressed or bring you pain).
Thus may you achieve self-mastery and continue your lineage into the future.
Blessings,
