Ogham - Wisdom of the Trees

A rich exploration of Ogham with a great personal feel. The author has been fascinated by Ogham from an early age and determined to discover whether the system's intimate links with nature and the seasons was a vital part of Britain's rich indigenous spiritual heritage. He came across an old countryman who was well versed in the native mysteries, but had never heard of Ogham. When it was explained as a tree alphabet that formed a seasonal cycle, he exclaimed "I''ve not heard of your ogham, but I do know the order of the trees and the birds". He did too, and his 'order' of the trees matched Roberts Graves' reconstruction set out in The White Goddess; except that muin, the vine became the blackberry, ngetal the reed, became wheat straw, and ailm the silver fir, became the scots pine. He had no knowledge of any Celtic language, or clue that the trees had the slightest link with any alphabet, but he did know the folklore and symbolism of each one, and how to divine the future with wands cut from them. It?s his knowledge of the trees, birds and divination that is passed through the pages of this book.

Review

With my limited knowledge of Ogham I was eager to try this little book and see if it took me further down its mysterious and splendid path.

For each tree or plant Dathen takes you on a mini meditation, and he beautifully describes the journey. His knowledge of folk/herblore is second to none and I love some of the funny quirky names attached to plants over the centuries.

I like his use of a bird for each tree, it gives extra depth and meaning to the wands. He uses wands rather than little staves such as I have, so I'm not sure how portable they would be!

It's not a ‘beginners guide' so if you are not familiar with all the markings for each letter of the Ogham, it could be a little tricky having to frequent the diagram near the back of the book.

Over all I enjoyed this book and will continue to use it as useful reference.