Learn the Ogham

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