Halgalz (also Hagalaz) is one of the challenging runes in the Elder Futhark. Halgalz represents disruption. Halgalz talks of the capriciousness of the universe. It is Halgalz’s influence that causes people to say “I had the rug pulled out from under me!” Halgalz represents the jolt that brings one to inner truth.
Halgalz speaks to us of our connection with the material world around us and the value we give it on our life. Halgalz is the rune that reminds us we are spiritual beings pursing a higher path while we submit to a human existence. Halgalz may be entering into your casting to tell you that a reevaluation of your relationship with the material goods in your life. Are you allowing yourself to become limited by that which you own, thus allowing it to own you?
Halgalz need not be painful, sometimes unexpected actions or activities are a good thing. The unexpected can hold miracles within itself as well. The unexpected can be a positive aspect. The unexpected need not be an earthquake or a tragedy. Disruption can be created in positive ways too. Sometimes we have become “rutted” in our lifestyle and need a good push to get out of the rut.
The positive powers of disruption can be seen through the relationship between the farmers of the Nile River Valley and the River itself. If the Nile doesn’t flood bringing new nutrients and soil to the fields, the land looses it’s ability to sustain life. The Egyptians of the Upper and Lower Nile River Valley during the age when Pharaoh wore the combined crowns of the Upper and Lower Kingdom depended on the annual flood of the Nile which was so critical to human survival. The flood was disruptive every year, even more so in the years when it did not spill over its banks, bringing the lifeblood of water and nutrients (in the rich Nile mud) to the fields.
Due to its relationship with the elemental forces of the climate, Halgalz is said to be the “weather rune.” Today we watch the local news channel to see our favorite meteorologist tell us of the weather that is coming ahead. We have satellites that circle the globe monitoring weather. Hurricane Katrina (a natural disaster of truly catastrophic proportions) watched for days, tracked, photographed, flown through, monitored and measured by every way humanly possible still destroyed an area the size of Great Britain. Mankind is at the mercy of the weather.
While our ancestors were much more weather wise and could read the storm’s approach in the color of the sky, the way animals bedded down, the way their fellow creatures prepared for the coming disruption. Halgalz speaks of unstoppable disruption whether it is in the microcosmos of the inner self, or the much wider scope of a global scale. Halgalz is a rune for meditation of those who work not only in the field of forecasting the weather, but also those who work or study any of the primal forces of nature, most especially water. Remember that no matter what state of the matter, precipitation is water … hail, snow, sleet, or rain, it is water flowing
from the sky.
Halgalz – Disruption
Hagalz is found among Hagal’s Aett.
Key Word(s): Hagalz’s keywords of Hail, disruption, sleet, constraint, elemental forces of power, and the damages Mother Nature can inflict upon the constructs of man.
Element: Water, in all its states. Whether glacial ice glowing blue on a cloudy day, or the vapor of steam emitting from a hot spring, water is the element associated with Hagalz. Studying the changeable qualities of water as it moves through its various states of solid, liquid or gas, gives greater insight into how the change of disruption can bring a positive result in our lives.
Hagalz is aligned with the long term planet Uranus. It’s existence not even proven until relative modern times (within the last few centuries), Uranus proved that after thousands of years of studying the night sky there was still much to learn. You can bet this caused some disruption in society!
Tarot Link: Hagalz is linked to the card named The World. The World indicates completion in a metaphorical sense. In a literal sense it stands for the physical planet we live upon.
Color: Blue in all its aspects, light and airy, almost green through the changes of the spectrum until it is nearly black due to its depth of color.
Polarity: Disruption happens to us. That is the nature of the beast. It’s unpredictable nature forces us to accept what disruption it places in our path. Hence we are receptive, feminine energy is Hagalz’s gift.
Healing Property: Healers would use this rune considerably during the work following a battle because Hagalz’s energy was best used on disruptions of the skin such as wounds, grazes and cuts.
Modern Letter Counterpart: Hagalz is most closely associated with our modern consonant H.
Special Runic Associations: Halgalz is the tenth rune in the Cycle of Initiation. It is through the recognition of the disruptive powers that exist, and acceptance of the elemental forces that are stronger than we can imagine, we begin to develop a mature understanding of our place in the universe.
