Disruption
Hagalaz
Disruptive natural forces Change, freedom, invention and liberation are all attributes of this Rune. Drawing it indicates a pressing need within the psyche to break free from constricting identification with material reality and to experience the world of the archetypal.
The Rune of elemental disruption, of events that seem to be totally beyond your control, Hagalaz has only an upright position, and yet it always operates through reversal. When you draw this Rune, expect disruption, for it is the great Awakener, although the form the awakening takes may vary. Perhaps you will experience a gradual feeling of coming to your senses, as though you were emerging from a long sleep. Then again, the onset of power may be such as to rip away he fabric of what you previously knew as your reality, your security, your understanding of yourself, your work, relationships or beliefs.
Be aware, however, that what operates here is not ultimately an outside force, not a situation of you-at-the-mercy-of-externals. Your own nature is creating what is happening, and you are not without power. The strength you have funded until now in your life is your support and guide at a time when everything you’ve taken for granted is being challenged.
Receiving this Rune alerts you: you may sustain a loss or damage – a relationship fails, plans go awry, a source of supply dries up. But do not be dismayed; you are forewarned and, therefor encouraged to understand and accept what occurs as necessary for your growth.
The more severe the disruption in your life, the more significant and timely the requirements for your growth. Another of the Cycle Runes, the term ‘radical discontinuity’ best describes the action of Hagalaz at it’s most forceful. The universe and your own soul are demanding that you do, indeed, grow.
From 'The New Book of Runes' by Ralph Blum
