For
those who do not have Ogham staves but want a reading using the Ogham, I devised
the stick method. The querent can either use sticks that they find lying on the
ground or form the letters as the sticks lie or use a fallen tree branch as it
lies. I field tested this method on my walks around my urban neighborhood.
The
querent asks a question, looks for the third fallen tree branch (since the
Irish prefer doing things in threes). Using the main (thickest) limb as an
axis, the querent notes how the branch lies on the ground – whether the twigs
are on the left, right, sticking up, or poking into the ground. This will
determine whether the letters will be read left or right for the first and
second aicmes respectively. Smaller branches sticking up or down from the main
one will be read as either the third or fourth aicmes. A curved branch will represent
the third aicme comprised of diagonal letters, while a straight branch will represent
the fourth aicme comprised of horizontal letters. The fifth aicme would be
constructed from any overlapping sticks under or on top of the branch found
lying on the ground.
I
asked the question, “How do I learn the Tree Ogham?” Reading a cherry branch that
I found, I saw three distinct letters. (The querent uses three letters for the
reading.) I interpreted the long lower limb on the left as “Beith (Birch)” (the first aicme, first
few). I interpreted the next limb (on the right) with its two twigs going
downwards as “Dair (Oak)” (the second
aicme, second few). Finally, I interpreted the main branch with four branches
curving upwards as “Straif (Blackthorn)”
(third aicme, fifth few). In order, these letters read “Beith: new beginnings,” “Dair:
wisdom and strength,” and “Straif: trouble
and negativity.” I interpreted the reading to be “new beginnings of wisdom and
strength comes from trouble and negativity.” When I had asked the question, I
had trouble visually understanding each letter, and confused the individual
letters in each aicme.
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