Tiferet & Yesod: Feda Of Reunification

ה' בטבת תשס"ח
Grael 6

Pictured here are my Ogham staves handcrafted in the United Kingdom from the naturally fallen branch of an Alder tree. Pyrographed into each stave is an Ogham letter (fid, singular; feda, plural).

Alder wood is represented by the fid called fern, related to Welsh gwern (alder tree). The letter value of fern corresponds to "F", "V" and "vav".

Protection. The keyword corresponding to fern is protection. Word oghams related to fern pertain to shielding, guarding and sheltering.

Healing, Harmony & Peace. The Druids believed Alder-fern to link the male and female principles, to create balance, harmony (Tiferet) and peace (Yesod of Zer Anpin, corresponding to tzadi) between these two "opposite" forces. This particular meaning of fern-Alder also relates to the Hebrew letter vav and to the healing re-unification of Tiferet-Yesod through one letter, fern.

Truth & Illumination. Fern-Alder is also a letter of divination, opening doorways into the mystical Faery realm, mental prowess, illumination with truth and higher spirituality. Similarly, the letter vav contains the meanings of illumination (through aur yashar) and truth (through Yesod of Zer Anpin).

Thus, the Ogham letter fern is a synthesis of the Hebrew letters vav and tzadi. There is no "tz" sound among the 20 feda of the Ogham.

Wisdom In The Ogham Letters

כ"ט בכסלו תשס"ח
Grael 1

New addition to my bookshelf - Ogam: Weaving Word Wisdom by Erynn Rowan Laurie

"Ogam: Weaving Word Wisdom is a breakthrough in ogam divination and magical studies. Rather than working from the commonly known tree alphabet paradigm, Erynn Rowan Laurie takes us back to the roots of each letter's name, exploring its meanings in the context of Gaelic language and culture. Like the Norse runes, each letter is associated with an object or a concept -- "sulfur", "a bar of metal", "terror". These letters are deeply enmeshed in a web of meaning both cultural and spiritual, lending power and weight to their symbolism. With two decades of experience with the ogam and over thirty years of working with divination, Erynn offers insights into the many profound meanings hidden in the ogam letters and their lore. She explains each letter in context and shows how to expand the system in new and innovative ways while acknowledging and maintaining respect for ogam's traditional language and culture. In this book, you will find ways to use the ogam for divination, ideas on incorporating ogam into ritual, discussions of how ogam relates to Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism, and instructions for creating your own set of ogam feda or letters for your personal use."

Beith, Lady Of The Woods

ט"ו בשבט תשס"ז
Tu B'Shevat - New Year For Trees

The first letter of the ogham is beith, represented by the lady of the woods (עצם), the birch tree (the tree corresponding to my personality type).


Beith astrologically corresponds to the archetypes of Yaakov, Beli Mawr, Torah leatid lavo, the hebrew letter dalet and dirah, and the elements of fire/air (like my chotimah).

Beith's proto-Indo-European root means "resin, gum", like that used to make incense blends [1]. Celtic myth teaches us that "in birch was the Ogham first written." [2]

Phonetically, beith corresponds to the "b" sound like the Hebrew letter beit ב. Hebrew beit, like beith of the Ogham in which all was first written, is the first letter in the first word (Bereshit בראשית) of Torah and that with which all was created.

Footnotes:

[1] for example, my kabbalistic name incense

[2] Calder, George (1917 (reprint 1995)). Auraicept na n-Éces: The Scholars' Primer. Edinburgh (reprint Dublin): John Grant (reprint Four Courts Press), pp.273-4.

Unity In Dirah Betachtonim