Welcome back to the Hogwart's School Annex!
Today we start a series on divination with the Celtic Ogham, also known as the Tree Alphabet. The Ogham is sometimes confused with Runes, but these are two distinct sets of symbols with differing origins. What they have in common is that both are real alphabets that were used for writing in the ancient languages - in Ogham's case, old Irish and Pictish - and both are now used primarily as divination symbols.
Each letter of the Ogham represents a sacred Druidic tree or plant; the Druids themselves were said to secretly communicate with each other with Ogham hand signs. Divinatory meanings for each symbol are credited to Robert Graves and his book The White Goddess.
So, that's a brief history crammed into a very small nutshell! Before I lose your attention, let's get right into the symbols.
I choose to start with the symbol of "Beith", A) because it's considered the first letter of the Ogham, and B) the heroine in my upcoming novella "Wildish Things" is named Beith. :) Being American, Beith herself pronounces her name "beth", but in Irish it shoulds more like "bayh" or "beh-yeh." This is how the hero, Kellan, pronounces it in the throes of passion.
Ahem.
BEITH
Tree: Silver Birch (betula pendula), the most common birch tree in Europe. One of the first trees to populate a clear-cut area, hence it's association with new beginnings. (Could be any kind of native birch, really.)
Color: White
Planet: Venus
Crystal: White or clear quartz
Bird: Pheasant
Deities: Ogma, the creator of the Ogham. Arianrhod and other forms of the White Goddess.
Meanings: New beginnings, origins, purification, spiritual protection, sources, precedence, warning, writing, eloquence, creativity.
Next time we'll move on to the next letter in the Ogham, "Luis" or rowan. Hopefully SJ will be well enough to rejoin us in a couple weeks!
Leave a comment and I'll hold a drawing for a free three-Ogham reading.
Slan,
Carolan
Abhainn's Kiss, available now from SamhainPublishing.com
Wildish Things, coming Nov. 1 from SamhainPublishing.com
Coming soon: Beaudry's Ghost
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9 comments:
I love hearing these little tid bits about different cultures.
Very entertaining. How many symbols (letters?) are in the alphabet?
Good question, Ember!
Traditionally there are 20 letters. Newer versions add anywhere from 5 to 7 more "letters" or symbols - I think to bring it more in line with the English alphabet and allow enthusiasts to "write" in Ogham. (Or is it called the Roman alphabet? I forget. LOL)
It is possible to write in Ogham, in a way. But it is important to remember that Ogham was used to write in a different language than English, and the original users had a different mindset. So there is not a matching 1-to-1 relationship between the two lettering systems.
Most surviving examples of Ogham are on stone markers (like the picture above); these were used to mark territorial boundaries between clans.
So there were symbols used to denote whole words, as well as phonemes, right?
How is Ogham used in divination? I don't understand. Were they rune stones?
Sela, here is a link to a really long, involved, but every interesting article about the history and translation of the ogham. I think it'll answer your question - eventually! LOL Click here. It puts for the fascinating theory that the ogham is more closely related to the Basque language than to a P- or Q-Celtic language.
Stephen Blamires' excellent book, "Celtic Tree Mysteries: Secrets of the Ogham", details how bards in training were taught very strict rules about using the ogham in their poetic and magical writings. The ogham letters are said to be more related to the Roman numbers 1-20 than to actual letters, and we all know how important numerology is as a divination tool. So it is easy to see how the ancients saw the ogham as a magical tool as well as a means of public communication. (Public because inscriptions were placed on stones for all to read.)
Each ogham letter is named after a tree or plant in the old Irish language, and it is well known that the Druids knew the magical and medicinal properties of these plants. So again, it is easy to see how the Ogham gradually developed in to a means of divination.
Sorry, I do tend to go ON and ON about things that interest me. Are your eyes glazed over yet? LOL
I also wondered if the ogham were similar to the Japanese kanji, each of which represents an idea, a thought, a feeling, etc. as much as a letter. But there are thousands of kanji, and only 20 ogham letters, so that theory doesn't hold water for me. :)
Fascinating. I'll save the article for a later read, but I'm interested now in the linguistic aspect. The Basque language is utterly unique within its surroundings and its origins are a bit of a mystery.
Ummm, language geek much? *gg* Thanks for the link!
[blush] Wail til I get a couple of pints in me. LOL
Very interesting. I have a Celtic knot tattoo. It is from a (probably) Pictish stone from Meighen, Perthshire.
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