First of all what is Ogham ?

Well the Ogham is known to be the Celtic Tree alphabet, but you can also use the sigils and the trees  for magical purposes and you can create you own Ogham staves for divination.

The Ogham has twenty letters, also called the Feda,  that are associated with a tree or plant. Later on, five more letters were added to the system, which is known as the Forfeda.

The letters are divided into four groups, the aicme (tribe, family) of five letters each. 

When you start to research about the Ogham you will come across a few difficulties, for example it is not always really clear which trees or plants are meant. 

However I won't go into the history of Ogham, there are great books and also some online resources where you can do your own research, if you choose to do so.

My priorities for the blog posts here, and also for my videos, will be the lore and legends about each tree, the magical use of the Ogham and also how to use it as a divination system. 

Over the next months, I want to discover with you each tree, I want to write, and talk, about the Celtic lore, the magical uses of the trees, how you can work with its essence and of course also about the divination system. 

 

Above you can find an introduction video, where I also explain how you can make your own staves and how you can make contact with the trees.

 

 

 

 

The next video I show you below, is a guided meditation to connect with your tree spirit ally

 

 

                                                You can find my whole Video playlist for the Ogham here :

 

Here is a very brief introduction of the Feda, but of course there will be much more information provided when I talk about each tree.  Click on the tree to get more information. 

I will add the Forfeda at a later point. 

 

 

Aicme of Beith 

 

Birch - Beith : 24th December - 20th January 

Letter B

Class : Peasant 

Purification, New Beginnings, Bringer of Hope, Channeler of Emotion,Protection.    

 

Rowan - Luis: 21st January- 17th February 

Letter L 

Class: Peasant

Healing, Success and Power, Protection against control by others, and Psychic Intuition.

 

Alder- Fearn: 18th March- 14th April

Letter F

Class: Chieftain 

Protection, giver of courage, easer of fear and doubt, Help in making choices

 

Willow-Saille: 15th April - 12th May 

Letter S

Class : Peasant

Healing, Helper in grief and death, inspiration, fertility, protection, love

 

Ash - Nuin: 18th February - 17th March

Letter N

Class: Chieftain 

Protection, Health, Courage, Matters of the sea 

 

 

Aicme of Huath

 

 

Hawthorn - Huathe:  13th May - 9th June 

Letter H 

Class: Peasant

Fertility, Protection, Caution, Relaxation, Happiness, Chastity 

 

Oak- Duir:  10th June - 7th July 

Letter D

Class : Chieftain

Protection, Health, Inner Strength, Luck, Money, Healing, Potency 

 

Holly - Tinne: 8th July - 4th August

Letter T

Class: Peasant 

Protection, Luck, Psychic enhancement

 

Hazel- Coll : 5th August- 1st September

Letter C 

Class : Chieftain

Granting Wisdom and Inspiration, Wishes, Luck, Protection, Fertility, Divination of hidden things

 

Apple - Quert: Samhain, Ruler of the light side of the year ( 2nd May - 31st October)

Letter Q

Class: 

Healing, Protection, rejuvenation, Love, Immortality 

 

 

Aicme of Muin 

 

 

Blackberry, Bramble or Vine- Muin: 2nd September - 29th September 

Letter M

Class: Chieftain

Healing, Protection, Abundance, Wealth 

 

Ivy - Gort: 30th September - 27th October 

Letter G

Class: Chieftain

Friendship, Healing Protection, Steadfastness

 

Broom, Reed, Fern - Ngetal: 28th October- 24th November 

Letter Ng

Class: Shrub

Protection, Fertility, Responsibility 

 

Blackthorn - Straif: Samhain, Ruler of the dark half of the year ( 31st October - 1st May)

Letter St

Class : Chieftain

Banishing negativity, Protection, Purification, overcoming adversity, raising awareness and energy

 

Elder- Ruis: 25th November - 22nd December 

Letter R

Class : Shrub

Protection, Healing, Wisdom, Prosperity, Blessings, Sleep

 

 

Aicme of Ailm

 

 

Scots Pine, Silver Fir - Ailm : Yule 21st December- 22nd December 

Letter A

Class: Shrub

Healing, Protection, pointing the way, fertility, purification

 

Gorse - Onn: around 21st March, Spring Equinox 

Letter O 

Class: Chieftain

Life force, creativity, vitality, protection, boundaries

 

Heather- Ur: Summer Solstice

Letter U 

Class: Peasant

Sexuality, wipes away the past, fertility, natural rhythm 

 

Aspen, Poplar- Eadha: Autumn Equinox

Letter E

Class: Shrub 

Shielding from fears, protection from theft, communication with the divine, endurance, wealth and prosperity

 

Yew- Ioho : Yule 21st December

Letter I 

Class: Chieftain 

Protection from negative spirits, Longevity, Wisdom, reincarnation, work with ancestors

 

The Forfeda

 

 

Erynn Rowan Laurie describes the Forfeda as following:

 "Some ogam students find that using the forfeda enriches their experience with the ogam. Many of them would never dream of doing an ogam reading without them. Others find them problematic at best. These additional letters are not found in any of the stone inscriptions, and were only rarely used in the manuscripts. While they were added one at a time at a much later date than the original ogam letters were developed, they were certainly a part of the medieval ogam tradition and are a legitimate part of the system. "

 

I think she puts that beautifully and I will leave you with this quote for now before we will explore the Forfeda on a deeper level.

 

Ehbhadh -Aspen/Poplar or Koad - Grove

Letter : Ea

Resolution of conflict, the great web, peace

 

Òr - Spindle 

Letter : Oi

Commitment, discipline, inner peace

 

Uilleand - Honeysuckle

Letter: Ui

Pleasure, desire

 

Iphin - Gooseberry

Letter : Ia

Divine influences, sweetness of life  

 

Eamhancholl - Twin of Hazel  or Phagos - Beech (also often seen as Mor the Sea)

Letter : Ae

Wisdom and understanding, ancient knowledge

or

Journey, travel, hidden depths

                                Ogham Reading

Here you can find some layouts or spreads to read the Ogham, and also my own Ogham Reading