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."