Irish Tree Language - The Ogham 🌲

Witchy Wisdom
26

→ Moving our conversation here, @dan3, so as not to clog the post about Idad with general ogham information :blush:

Yeah, that’s definitely the case. I think that comes from trying to homogenize the ogham to fit a wider scope, if that makes sense. It also stems from the fact that there is not one single source with the definitions and associations.

One thing that really requires understanding with anything Celtic is that information varied so widely, even within the same country. Folk belief and mythology about one thing can vary from county to county in Ireland, and so trying to make the ogham fit neatly into each category with its own separate tree gets difficult.

There are even several different variations of the ogham tree associations within The Ogham Tract. One by someone named Morann Mac Main and one by someone named Mac ind Oic. Below all of those meanings are more variations of ogham, including colors, churches, man/woman, and water.

If we were going based solely on The Ogham Tract by Morann Mac Main, the associations would look like this:

  • Beith: Birch

  • Luis: Quicken Tree (aka Rowan)

  • Fern: Alder

  • Sail: Willow

  • Nin: Ash

  • h-Úath: Thorn (literally, it just says “thorn”, but this is inferred to mean the hawthorn due to the region)

  • Dair: Oak

  • Tinne: also possibly oak based on the phrase included (Trian, t, another thing the meaning of that today.)

  • Coll: Hazel

  • Ceirt: Apple Tree (this fĂ­d is sometimes spelled with a ‘q’)

  • Muin: Vine

  • Gort: Ivy

  • nGĂŠtal: Broom

  • Straif: Sloe (another name for Blackthorn)

  • Ruis: Elderberry

  • Ailm: Fir

  • Onn: Furze

  • Úr: Heath (aka heather)

  • Edad: Aspen

  • Idad: Service Tree (with yew in place, because a type of yew was another name for a service tree)

  • Ebad: Aspen

  • Ór: Spindle Tree

  • Uillend: Woodbine (another name for honeysuckle, per the text)

  • PĂ­n: Gooseberry

  • Emancholl: unclear (per the text, it says ‘Luad soethaig’ is ‘a lot of stuff’ in modern Irish, and the text says: “Luad soethaig, expression of a weary one, i.e., ach, ah! uch, alas! that is emancoll, ae, with him, for emancoll is taken for ach, though it may be taken for something else.”

Now, if we look at the other writer, we get this list.

  • Beith: Birch

  • Luis: Elm (given as another name for Quicken Tree)

  • Fern: Alder

  • Sail: Willow

  • Nin: Ash

  • h-Úath: unclear (per the text, “Banadh gnuisi, blanching of face, fear, huath, h, for blanched is a man’s face when he is encompassed with fear or terror. Hence for the Ogham letter owing to identity of name between the same two, uath stands for each of them.”)

  • Dair: Oak

  • Tinne: also possibly oak based on the phrase included (Trian, t, another thing the meaning of that today.)

  • Coll: Hazel

  • Ceirt: Apple Tree (this fĂ­d is sometimes spelled with a ‘q’)

  • Muin: unclear (per the text, “Arusc n-airlig, condition of slaughter,muin a man’s back, m. Hence for its synonymous letter.”)

  • Gort: Ivy

  • nGĂŠtal: no entry

  • Straif: Sloe (another name for Blackthorn)

  • Ruis: Elderberry

  • Ailm: unclear (per the text, “Tosach fregra, beginning of an answer, that is ailm, a; for the first expression of every human being after his birth is a.”)

  • Onn: Stone? (per the text, “Fethim saire, smoothest of work, or fedem, onn, stone, o.”)

  • Úr: Heath (aka heather)

  • Edad: Aspen

  • Idad: Yew (this text also mentions the Service Tree)

  • Ebad: Woodbine (given also as aspen)

  • Ór: Heath (aka heather)

  • Uillend: Woodbine (given also as honeysuckle)

  • PĂ­n: Gooseberry

  • Emancholl: no entry

The trees I have associated with the fíd here come from Weaving Word Wisdom by Erynn Rowan Laurie. I know her associations differ slightly from Morgan’s, and I think they even vary slightly from Lora O’Brien’s, the person who runs The Irish Pagan School and subsequent Ogham Academy. However, this book did come recommended by Lora O’Brien, so it is a valuable resource.

Erynn also notes in her book that she’s not a scholar and she doesn’t have any formal higher education.

I am not a scholar. I don’t have a degree or any formal higher education to speak of, yet I respect learning and the work of scholars. I hold myself to certain standards of accuracy in my research as well as valuing the importance of imbas or poetic inspiration. Within the movement currently known as Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism or CR, both scholarship and inspiration are valued. We who follow this path puruse both aisling – vision – and archeology. We seek evidence for the authentic old ways of the early Celtic peoples and attempt to develop what we find into useful and valid ways of living, thinking, and celebrating a vibrant and vital spirituality based in the present that looks to the future as well.

If you’re interested in learning ogham, I highly recommend this book. It has footnotes, a detailed bibliography, and is heavy with citations. Erynn Rowan Laurie also helps run (or at least helped with the creation and writing) of Paganachd, a website dedicated to Celtic Reconstructionism. It has an FAQ, resources, and so much more.

→ https://paganachd.com/

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