Short Essay on the Ogham Aplhabet

[MuseSick]

Short Essay on the Ogham Alphabet
by DarkMuseSick


~~this is only a general overview of the history, origon, and features of the Ogham and not a detailed outline. For any further info, research further on your own~~

It is said that the Ogham alphabet was created by the Irish god Ogmas, whom presided over fine speech and elocution. This alphabet is believed to be the oldest alphabet in all of Ireland's rich history.
Although many argue that the Ogham [pronounced OH-am or OHM] was not used in ritual, this was proven false by a fifteenth century book, titled the Book of Ballymote.
The alphabet is believed to have evolved from a system of tallies, used for counting and, in its early from, was also used as a form of sign language because of its simplistic from that can be easily copied by the human hand.
Although the sacred trees depicted in the Ogham are not all trees found in the Celtic Isles, the Ogham is a phenomenon of the Celtic Isles. The fact that not all of those sacred trees depicted in the alphabet are indigineous of those Isles only indicated that the alphabet may have been inspired by other European tree scripts or the all-around sacredness of trees, recognized throughout ancient Europe. Around five-hundred inscriptions were found, on both wood and stone, throughout Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England, and the script was most commonly used in Celtic Ireland and Britain.
Being a 'language of the trees' the Ogham was most commonly inscribed on sticks, stakes, and trees, and was written vertically, unless in manuscript form. Each letter is named after a tree or other plant and has a number of other associations. The letters are written linked together by a solid line, which represents the trunk of a tree and the letters represent branches or twigs.

sources: http://www.omniglot.com and a couple other sites that Im not able to find anymore.

coming next from DarkMuseSick: detailed essay on the Tuatha de Danann

[Bix]

Interesting! Thanks for the info!

[Seren_]

Although the sacred trees depicted in the Ogham are not all trees found in the Celtic Isles, the Ogham is a phenomenon of the Celtic Isles. The fact that not all of those sacred trees depicted in the alphabet are indigineous of those Isles only indicated that the alphabet may have been inspired by other European tree scripts or the all-around sacredness of trees, recognized throughout ancient Europe. Around five-hundred inscriptions were found, on both wood and stone, throughout Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England, and the script was most commonly used in Celtic Ireland and Britain.
Being a 'language of the trees' the Ogham was most commonly inscribed on sticks, stakes, and trees, and was written vertically, unless in manuscript form. Each letter is named after a tree or other plant and has a number of other associations. The letters are written linked together by a solid line, which represents the trunk of a tree and the letters represent branches or twigs.

sources: http://www.omniglot.com and a couple other sites that Im not able to find anymore.

coming next from DarkMuseSick: detailed essay on the Tuatha de Danann

The fact that not all trees of the alphabet were indigenous to Ireland (since it's only Irish sources that specifically equate the alphabet to the trees), could (and more likely, to my mind) indicate that the tree associations, which originate from the Auraicept na nEces (Scholar’s Primer) are a later addition to the body of lore associated with the ogham script. The ogham inscriptions are thought to date from around the fourth/fifth centuries AD, whereas the manuscripts about them date from c14th century. Certainly within this time span, a few more trees had been introduced to the island; and by this time we have evidence of nearly 100 different versions of the alphabet as well.

IMHO, calling the ogham 'the language of the trees' can be misleading, since these are not the only associations given to them. Colours, birds, farming tools etc are also associated with the letters, each one beginning with the letter of the alphabet they correspond to, perhaps suggesting it was meant to help students memorise the alphabet (A is for apple....). It seems to me that it's more through the likes of Graves that the tree associations have become so emphasised in today's work on the subject, although it can't be denied that trees were very important in both Irish lore and law.

Certainly Irish mythology indicates a magical or divinatory use for the ogham, which may be true, or simply a gloss on something the Christian scribes would have considered pagan in their own times. Having said that, some of the versions of the ogham found in the Book of Ballymote are thought to have "magical or mantic" purposes, since they would have served no logical/practical purpose otherwise.

http://www.equinox-project.com/ogamscales.htm

[ap Dafydd]

The tree business does owe a lot to Graves. Some of the meanings of the Ogam letters are tree names but most of them are completely unrelated.

gwyn eich byd

Ffred

[MuseSick]

its true that there are many associations related to the ogham that are not having anything to do with trees, and that is mentioned, I just dd not explore those other associations in this essay, cuz it was just a general essay, not very detailed.
We call it a TREE alphabet because of what the letters are named after and the way it is written is symbolic of the tree. But that is not all its about. Somebody may want to write something descrbing all of the associations, but I did not do that here. Sorry.