Ogham celtic tree alphabet

Ogh what? I hear you say.

However, this was probably done after the initial creation of the Ogham script. After about the 6 th century CE, the Roman alphabet was used to write Old Irish, therefore the Ogham alphabet declined in popularity. Several of these manuscripts describe how the Ogham alphabet was invented soon after the Tower of Babel along with the Gaelic language by the Scythian king Fenius. Ogham inscriptions have been found throughout Ireland and western Britain. It is thought that Ogham letters would have also been inscribed on sticks, stakes and trees. Bilingual inscriptions have been found which aid in translation, such as Ogham and Latin, or Ogham and Old Norse written in the Runic alphabet.

Ogham celtic tree alphabet

Ogham was predominantly used to write the early Irish language and from the 6th century was used in the Gaelic Kingdom of Dalriada covering what is now Argyll, West Lochaber and the Inner Hebrides as well as the northern tip of Ireland. Whilst the Ogham Alphabet has 20 letters and 20 trees associated with it, the Gaelic Alphabet has 18 letters and 18 trees. These tall straight trees are associated with perspective and height. The kind of elm that grows most widely in Scotland is Wych Elm. As wood from the Elm is very flexible it consequently does not make a good material to construct buildings from. However, like Alder it does withstand water very well, so it has been popular in making boat hulls, bridges and wheels. Like Scots Pine, hollowed out Elm has previously been used as water piping before the advent of metal water pipes. Elm is also the material that coffins were traditionally made from. Welsh longbows too, were often made from Elm, whereas English longbows were more commonly made from Yew. As Birch is one of the first trees to come into leaf it would be an obvious choice as a representation of the emergence of spring.

BCE Arabic 4th c. To this day, it is often cleared using a controlled burn to allow new gorse to come through.

JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. For the best experience on our site, be sure to turn on Javascript in your browser. Ogham is a timeless and ancient alphabet. The term Ogham is derived from the word Ogma, which refers to the Celtic God of Elocution or eloquence. The Ogham alphabet consists of groups of one to five lines arranged vertically over a stem line, with each group representing a distinct letter. The history of the beautiful, enchanting, and mythological Ogham alphabet is obscured by the mists of time.

These sigils were used to represent certain trees and shrubs, and eventually developed into letters. The ogham sigils are estimated to have been used between the 4th and 10th centuries CE to write on giant stone monuments. The symbols were written vertically along a line and read from the bottom to the top. There are around such stones that have survived to this day, found throughout Ireland as well as in the western regions of Britain. Most of these ogham stones showcase personal names. The ogham sigils are called feda , which means trees —and sometimes nin or forking branches. The alphabet originally consists of 20 letters, divided into four groups, or aicme , each containing five letters. The fifth set of five symbols, called forfeda , were only a later addition. The ogham alphabet is inspired by trees, which forms the mytical basis of these symbols. Hence the ogham alphabet is also called a tree alphabet.

Ogham celtic tree alphabet

The Tree Alphabet acts as the primer for learning about the Ogham characters, their meanings, and their tree associations. Trees were of great importance to the Celts of ancient Ireland, and not only provided shelter and sustenance but were sources of magic and power. The word 'Druid' itself comes from the Celtic name for the oak - 'duir'. Druids gave the trees symbolic importance, and by understanding the trees, and the solar and lunar cycles, the Ogham characters not only allowed communication between each other, but the associated symbols and meanings were ways to tap into the subconscious, the other world, the land of the fae, to divine your way in this world. The original 20 letters are formed with simple shapes of straight and diagonal lines. They could be easily formed with fingers, used as a secret language, and carved into wood or stone, for navigation, passing of knowledge, and marking territories.

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BCE Tifinagh. These tall straight trees are associated with perspective and height. The base alphabet is, therefore, as it were, designed for Proto-Q-Celtic. In this way Holly was seen as the rival of Oak for the favour of the Lady of the Woods, Birch, who switched her allegiance from Oak to Holly and then back again. The range of Downy Birch is more northerly and westerly than Silver Birch, and it can grow at higher elevations. Skip to content. Parts of Venice in Italy are built on top of Alder piles which were driven in to the Venetian lagoon. These inscriptions mainly date from the 3rd to the 5th century AD. Then he uses the tools for what some interpret as a form of divination. Graphically independent Thaana c.

The ancient script of Ogham, sometimes known now as the 'Celtic Tree Alphabet,' originally contained 20 letters grouped into four groups of five.

In the Spring, the sap from the Downy Birch can be used to make refreshing drinks, wines, and ales. The more ancient examples are standing stones , where the script was carved into the edge droim or faobhar of the stone, which formed the stemline against which individual characters are cut. Each letter is simply a cluster of one to five straight lines, scratched along the usually vertical edge of a stone. Types of writing systems. Fun activities for the whole family For a bit of fun you could use an online transliterator to see what your name would look like in ogham. There are now about ogham stones in existence, with the majority roughly located in Ireland. Numerous myths are related to the enigma surrounding the alphabet. BCE Tifinagh. Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. Comhar Feasta An tUltach Tuairisc. Early Medieval Irish alphabet. The following quote compares reading Ogham to climbing a tree:. These inscriptions mainly date from the 3rd to the 5th century AD. In Celtic Mythology Alder is often associated with water, secrecy, nature, bad luck, spirituality, and balance. Heather, like Ivy is said not to grow in the Faerie Realm accounting for why they like it so much.