beth luis nion

Ogam group reminder

2008-07-25T00:49:48Z

Saturday (yes, two days from now) is the date of the next Ogam group meeting in Hayward when we will (hopefully) finally start looking at the actual feda (starting with be(i)th & lu(i)s). Contact me if you still need direction. Please tell anyone you know that's intetrested and please let me know, as we'd like an idea of who's showing up.

After last month's lack of attendance, we will likely be closing the group down if no one shows up again this time, so please come if you want the group to go on.

Translations

2008-07-20T10:12:35Z

Hey folks,
Just curious for all you Gaeilge enthusiasts, how do you go translating Gaeilge into Ogham? Is it at all equivelent or not particularly? Right now my understanding of Ogham as used as an alphabet is pretty shallow.

Just a reminder...

2008-07-17T23:26:49Z

The SF Bay Area Ogham study group will be meeting the fourth Saturday of each month - that's nine days from now - in Hayward starting about 2 p.m. Contact me if you need more info. Feel free to pass the info along, including the contact info, but please let us know how many people are coming. We're meeting in a smallish apartment.

Ogham study session on Saturday

2008-06-27T07:40:00Z

Here 0n the SF Bay area, we're on schedule to have our ogham study group meet tomorrow in Hayward. We'll be covering Beth and, if we have time, Luis. Contact me if you need details.

Coelbren and Ogham

2008-01-31T12:23:30Z

Does anyone know if the Colebren merely attributed to Iolo Morganwg or is there some source independant of Iolo, such as Kimric legend or Welsh bardic poetry, which mentions the Coelbren? I understand that Rhys thought the Ogham to have been invented by Kimric missionaries in connection with Teutonic neighbors prior to the introduction of Latin by the Romans. This theory would place the Ogham's invention to the Kimric revival in Wales, which Iolo associated with the invention of Coelbren. Did Rhys consider the Coelbren at all in connection with his theory or was it too fabulous a conjecture?

my first attempt

2008-01-08T02:28:22Z

I felt a calling over the Yule season that it was time for me to create a Celtic Ogham set, I thought I would share my first attempt - it was a quick and simple set that I can learn on :)

Ogma 'honey-mouthed' reference?

2008-01-07T20:42:48Z

I am researching the Ogham and am unable to find the primary source reference for Ogma's ephitet 'mibel' or honey-mouthed, can anyone provide this for me? I would need a primary manuscript source like the Book of Ballymote, not something like a Celtic dictionary. It would be greatly appreciated :-)

Pre-ordering Ogam: Weaving Word Wisdom

2007-07-24T04:39:51Z

Because so many have asked, and because the August 1st release date (Lughnassadh!) is right around the corner, I just wanted to let folks know again that they can pre-order the book at this website via PayPal. Cost for the book is $22.49 plus shipping, and if you send a note about your name along with your order, I'll personalize it with my autograph to you. All pre-ordered copies will be signed!

Ogam: Weaving Word Wisdom is about 300 pages of information about ogam, divination, ritual, and Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism as practiced by the author (that's me).

There will be a release party in Seattle, date to be announced, and I will most likely be appearing at Pagan Pride down in Beaverton, Oregon on September 8th as a featured speaker. I'm working out details with the organizers at the moment.

Thanks to everyone for their interest and support!

resources?

2007-07-08T21:47:46Z

hey folks! i just joined the community and i have a question about researching ogham.

for a long time i've been wanting an ogham tattoo. ever since i learned about ogham's existence 6 or 7 years ago. i want it to say my name, and then 'daughter of" and my parents names.

but i don't want it to be totally half assed, or extremely innacurate, so i wanted to get some good reference materials. any suggestions of books? looking up 'ogham' or 'ogam' doesn't give me a lot at the library but i figure there are probably some books whose main topics are more general. websites are cool too but i have trouble trusting the internet. which is dumb because books lie, i know.

thanks!

Pre-order my ogam book!

2007-06-11T19:50:40Z

Yep, you heard that right! lupabitch has set up a site where you can pre-order Ogam: Weaving Word Wisdom from the publisher. I'll be heading down to Portland at some point when the book is released to sign a bunch of them, so you can get an AUTOGRAPHED copy!

Whee!

All you ogam enthusiasts, tell your friends! Pass the word! And check out Lupa's plug for the book!

It's coming in September.

Ogham and an Arabic Grimoire

2007-03-21T02:11:26Z

In his classic work 'Ogam Inscribed Monuments of the Gaedhil in the British Islands' R. Rolt Brash mentions the grimoire 'Alphabets and Hieroglyphic Characters' by Ahmad Bin Abubekr Bin Washih (9th cent) which lists some 80 ancient mystical alphabetic scales. Brash notes that two of the alphabets in it closely resemble forms of Ogham from the Book of Ballymote. Dr. Charles Graves has dismissed the grimoire as a forgery, and Brash questions this- 'This sweeping condemnation is unaccompanied by the slightest proof' 367. What is also intriguing is that these same alphabetic scales in this grimoire also resemble a form of Runes called 'tree runes' or 'twig runes'. Dr. Graves made note of this, and the fact that the tree runes and some of the Ogham scales from the Book of Ballymote resemble one another is the main reason behind the theory that Ogham and Runes are related. But no more is said of this Arabic grimoire that I can find, at least not in Ogham studies. It is purportedly translated from ancient manuscripts to have come from a Nabathean Prince. Apparently it received serious attention from scholars for awhile in the 1800s. I can't seem to find any information as to why or how it was proven to be a forgery. Does anyone happen to know anything more about it? There is an online version of it, the pages with the Ogham-looking alphabets are http://www.blackcrescent.org/w2_HGa_38.html and http://www.blackcrescent.org/w2_HGa_46.html.

Lame Introduction

2007-02-20T21:25:22Z

Hi everyone, I feel rather stupid, I can't believe I haven't found this community before now since I have been working on a DPhil on Ogham for a couple of years now. I don't have time to write much but suffice to say I'm pleased to see such a lively interest in it on the lj community. Are any of you perchance based in Edinburgh?

Can anyone help?

2006-10-10T15:54:55Z

Hello, I'm working on a story where the heroine is of Celtic descent and there will be some reference to Celtic mythology.

I'm specifically looking for references to Celtic methods of divination (probably other than Ogham but this community seems a good starting point). Ideally, I'd like these to be tied closely to femininity and/or flowers/floral imagery.

I realise it's a bit of a long-shot but if this rings a bell with anyone, I'd be grateful for pointers to any websites or books which might tell me more on these subjects?

Thanks for reading!

PDF of my Ogam booklet

2006-09-15T22:22:10Z

For those who weren't able to pick up a copy at PantheaCon last year, I'm making the PDF of the booklet available to anybody who wants one for $5. I'll accept payment through PayPal at my inisglas (at) seanet (dot) com address and email you the file as soon as the payment clears. You can print it out for yourself, and all I ask is that you not make copies for others.

This contains some of the material that will be in my larger Ogam book, and presents material that can be used for studying ogam and techniques of basic divination with examples. I got lots of positive comments about the booklet at the con, and wish I'd been able to make more of them. Now you can have your very own copy!

Celtic Ogham!!!

2006-09-05T00:26:10Z

OMGz!!!

You must, MUST, look at this post on recons Beautiful OGAM FIDS-FEWS as ICONS!!!!!!!!!!

WOO HOO!!!

celtic_ogham @ 2006-08-16T16:57:00

2006-08-16T15:04:49Z

Hi everybody, I don't know if it's a must. But I'd like to introduce myself. ^^

I'm Silvia a 23 year old girl from South-West Germany. I'm interested in Celtic Reconstructionism, so this is the reason I came here.

I'm very interested in ogam as a form of divination and I hope to to find friends here to discuss their meanings.
I've ordered a book about ogam (Ogam: The Celtic Oracle of the Trees: Understanding, Casting, and Interpreting the Ancient Druidic Alphabet by Paul Rhys Mountfort) and want to make some rune stones for myself. I hope they' ll get a personal touch then.

I don't know if the book is good for beginners. If you have other suggestions for better books also regarding stuff I could use for the rune stones, please tell me.

Looking forward to get to know you.

(Hope you excuse my bad english, too.)

Blessed Lugnassad

2006-08-01T13:41:51Z

Wishing everyone a blessed Lugnassad/Lammas! May the first harvest bring what you need in life now...
/|\
Mark
:)

celtic_ogham @ 2006-06-27T10:33:00

2006-06-27T14:37:26Z

Some members of cr_r have finished preparing a F.A.Q. page for Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism. Check it out! It's very, very good!

http://www.paganachd.com/faq/

Sorry for the cross-posting

New Ogham font

2006-03-04T18:45:46Z

I find myself embarrassed because I forgot to a make a post here about the Ogham font I created. After growing dissatisfied with the Curtis Grant/EverType ogham font set I finally cracked it open using Fontographer and found that it was badly done on several levels. So I redrew every character, reoriented the vertical characters so they run bottom to top instead of top to bottom and reordered the forfeda into the order given in the Auraicept.

If you want a copy (it's free in perpetuity), I have it available for download here.

Forgive me if you have seen this elsewhere, but I wanted to make sure people knew it was available.

Peace.

A bit on Barry Fell

2006-02-08T08:02:11Z

I know that most of you reading my stuff know that Barry Fell was utterly full of it when he was talking about the alleged existence of American ogam inscriptions. I was doing a websearch on "ogam" this evening for the sake of entertainment when I came upon this review of an article he wrote and his book "America B.C." It covers in excruciating detail exactly how and why Fell is full of crap.

If anybody asks you about American ogams, you can point them to this article for a very cogent and complete debunking of Fell's work and methods.

Ogam workshop tomorrow

2006-02-03T19:34:48Z

Ogam Workshop

Saturday February 4, 2006
10:00 am - 6:00 pm
This event does not repeat.
Event Location: Vision Quest, Everett
Notes:
Ogam divination and magic, taught by Erynn Rowan Laurie at Vision Quest at 3602 Colby in Everett. Class will be from 10am to 6pm and cost is $100. Please call Vision Quest to reserve a place for this class at 425-252-1591.

celtic_ogham @ 2005-12-13T13:21:00

2005-12-13T18:19:59Z

I have been painting a picture of the Salmon of Knowledge. It is such a silly Celtic myth/story that I thought I would share it.

Celtic Salmon of Knowledge

Originally this fish was a man named Fintan. During the primordial flood he turned into a salmon. Later he ate the Hazelnuts of Knowledge, which grew on a tree over the Well of Knowledge. A guy named Finnegus really wanted to catch the little bugger and possess all of the salmon’s knowledge. After seven years Finnegus caught the salmon and told his student, Finn MacCool, then known as Demhne, to cook it over some hot flames but not to eat any of it. While the boy was tending the fire, his thumb accidentally touched the roasting fish and not thinking, he put his thumb in his mouth. When Demhne told Finnegus, the poet figured out that the knowledge he sought would be given to his student so he told Demhne to eat the rest of the fish. Why not right?
After that whenever Finn needed information, he just sucked his thumb and all was revealed.

Poetry and the Origin of the Oghams?

2005-10-14T03:59:04Z

First off:
This was taken from Dr. W.Strokes translations of the tweflth century Book of Leinster This seems to be an exchange between two bards, or perhaps two sages gifted in the art of poetry. This bit I have taken from a long passage where Feircheirndne seems to be challenging the right a younger (perhaps even a newcomer, or of a lower rank maybe?) man known as Neidhe has to sit in the chair of the poet. This stood out to me...

"... And you, O knowledgeable lad, whose son are you?"

Neidhe answered,
"Not hard: I am the son of poetry,
Poetry son of scrutiny,
Scrutiny son of meditation,
Meditation son of lore,
Lore son of enquiry,
Enquiry son of investigation,
Investigation son of great knowledge,
Great Knowledge son of great sense,
Great Sense son of understanding
Understanding son of wisdom,
Wisdom son of the triple gods of poetry."

Then it got me thinking and this is the product from some of that thinking:

The Irish God Oghma is associated with wisdom, eloquence and strength. It is from this God that Ogham gets it's name. Ogmios is the Gaulish name for what seems to be the same God. Some believe it was Oghma who gave us the Oghams where other scholars believe that the Oghams only later became associated with this particular deity. My previous studies had led me to believe that Ogham was originally an alphabet with many connotations for each letter (Bards were said to have had to learn over 150 Ogham connotations, many of which are now lost to us). However, there seems to be some recent scholarly debate as to weather Ogham was originally a very poetic and symbolic language (an alphabet second) used by learned people (such as the druids) to ask and answer questions, or speak in a manner where the average listener would not understand what was being said. This might relate to why there are so many meanings to the Oghams- not just the trees the alphabet is primarily associated with- as well as it's importance in the teachings of the bardic class of druidry. I have also read that Ogham may have been used as a secret sign language. The notches of each letter go from the right of stem, left of the stem, athwart of stem, through stem and about stem (italics taken from an passage from either the Book of Ballymote, or The Scholar's Primer). By using parts of the body (shin, nose, foot, palm) as the stem, and the five fingers as the notches, it was believed one could use this as a form to communicate. If this were true, I could only see it as being used in very specific situations where one (for whatever reasons) would not be able to use spoken or written word.

I share this with you because I am curious as to what others have to say about this? Has anyone learned of other ways the Oghams may have been used? Do they have anything to add or debate over some of my findings here. I look forward to your replies...

x-posted to my own journal as well as druidry

Instructions of King Cormac Question

2005-10-11T05:55:21Z

Dear all,

Can anyone direct me to the Instructions of King Cormac (Tecosca Cormaic) in the original Irish--online or otherwise?

Kuno Meyer's article in the RIA's Lecture Series vol XV, Hodges, Figes & Co., Dublin 1909, is elusive. I have access to the RIA's publications, but can't find Meyer's text in the 1909 volumes.

Any information is appreciated. Thank you.

(x-posted in the predictable places.)

Crazy People

2005-07-21T14:11:17Z

i found this while searching for information on Indo-European studies and proto-Celtic. i, myself, do not subscribe to the theory set forward there, but i thought it would be of interest to members of this community - if for no other reason than because some well-meaning person is likely to bring it up.

to summarize the most ludicrous claims: apparently, the Auraicept na nÉces was actually written in Basque, not Gaelic. and all Ogam inscriptions are in Basque. all one needs to do is add letters randomly to the inscriptions, you see, and Basque words form (of course, there is no concern for Basque grammar in Ogam inscriptions or in the words of the Auraicept).

enjoy!