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I have learned over the last week and a half, that when you ask an ancient and magically empowered set of “runes” to help you understand it more fully… well, you better hold on to your seat and try to keep up. Even with an ogham as laid back as Uinllean, you’re going to get the cosmic two by four upside your head if you are not listening.

The lesson for me in this one was to let go of stress. I tried by best to take more time for myself and only focused on the task in front of me, but I guess somewhere along the way I missed the point. Uinllean did it’s best to nudge me in the right direction, but when I got stubborn, it decided to push a little harder. As in, full on melt down of any and all projects I was working on! Nothing blew up or permanently  fell to pieces; just everything I chose to do wouldn’t work. It was like my life was on strike. I could see that everything would work out and I could pick up where I left off, but not until I paid proper attention to my ogham of the week.

Part of the goal was to let go of my current stress, but the part I was apparently disregarding was to stop more stress from coming in. It’s when I started working on this step that I saw a much fuller spectrum of subconscious information that was being sent to me in my everyday life. It’s like when you go for a walk and an image or conversation (or your totem walks across your path) strikes you as “an interesting coincidence” and you realize that there’s a deeper meaning to it all, but figuring out what it all means takes time. Well, stress can be a huge factor in connecting all those dots. When you have less stress (or at least can handle incoming stress a bit better), you have better clarity and awareness. Not to mention you just feel a lot healthier!

Basics:

• Name – Uinllean
• Letters – Ui, P
• Tree – Honeysuckle (Lonicera pericylmenum)
• Month – N/A
• Color – White, Yellow, and sometimes Pink
• Class – Peasant
• Chakra – 4th (Heart) & 1st (Root)
• Meaning – Wisdom hides in secret places, pursue your desires, allow yourself to experience pleasure, by joy do we learn, the hidden secrets you pursue are not as impenetrable as you think, put aside distractions, remain true to your beliefs and principles, follow your dream in safety and joy, live for the present, let go of the past.

Honeysuckle (or Woodbine as it’s sometimes called) is most commonly known for its fragrance. In fact, its scent is said to help those who have trouble letting go of the past; getting to the center of whatever emotional hold that the past has on you and brings it to the surface, so you can release it.

It’s also known as a tenacious vine-like shrub and gives a good living example of holding on to your dreams and steadily reaching for your goals; to never give up, but always moving forward. Of course, that’s also a very nice way of saying that some of the honeysuckle species are on the Invasive Species List and you should look into exactly what you’re getting into, before you plant one in your yard.

How To Make Honeysuckle Tea

Cooling and toxin clearing tea for sore throat and skin ailments.

Difficulty: Easy
Time Required: 30 min.

Here’s How:
1.   Boil water.
2.   Remove water from heat and add herbs.
3.   Cover and steep 15 min.
4.   Strain.
5.   Drink 1 cup 3-5 times per day.

Tips:
1.     For skin blemishes, supplement with dandelion and/or burdock root.
2.     Make a stronger tea for topical applications.

What You Need:
·       1/2 c. honeysuckle flower
·       1/2 c. chrysanthemum flow
·       1 quart water

From About.com Healthy Herbs

Looking for other Oghams already covered in this study? Follow this link here.

For Ostara, I went out to the park and spent some time with the oaks there. They seemed to be saying, “Grow. Make it happen! Make the plans in your life reality.” Now part of that was probably due to the equinox happening all around us, but part of it felt like a universal message of the tree itself.

In fact, the more I thought about the lessons of the Oak, I came to think about how the Oak just wants us to think about what motivates us. By examining our goals and aspirations, we have the power to create our own fate or at least make the appropriate decisions while reacting to circumstances around us.

White Oak

Basics:

• Name – Duir
• Letters – D
• Tree – Oak (Quercus genus)
• Month – May
• Color – Black 0r Dark Brown
• Class – Chieftain
• Chakra – Again, no reference, but I’m thinking 3rd (Solar) or 7th (Crown)
• Meaning – Fate, finding your own path, prediction, strength, The Mysteries, truth, endurance, live in harmony with the circumstances that fate may have put in front of you, hands on approach will nurture the skills you wish to have, step through the door, one learns by doing, you have accumulated acorns of wisdom, the time for dropping and sharing your wisdom is here, you as a teacher or student must be tough and resilient despite life’s unpredictability; as an oak is to the bolt of lightning – strong and wise, security, protection.

The Druids revered the Oak as the “First among trees” and it’s known as the “King of the Forest”. The Oak was so highly regarded that, most cultures have written about its positive attributes and associations. The Druids were not unique in this, but are widely known for their love of this tree. Some even believe that the word Druid might have been derived from the word Duir.

Besides their appreciation of the tree, they also thought it could be used as a doorway into the Otherworld or teach them The Mysteries. It’s commonly believed that the Druids sought out groves of Oaks to hold their ceremonies in. Whether or not any of the information about the Druid’s ancient practices are true or have just been embellished over the centuries, it’s a testament to the power of the Oak tree, that its been so widely connected to the Druids, strength, and magic.

White Oak Acorns

Oak Tree Art by Ruben Guajardo

Oak from Strongsville, Ohio

This week wasn’t as action-pack as last. Ur’s energy is a lot more subtle, introducing introspection and lessons in almost a whisper. It seems to try to remind us that it’s okay to slow down and take the time you need; you don’t need to rush everywhere. Take the time to heal.

It’s during these moments of pause that I was able to focus on what my real goals were. And that was when Ur’s lesson on luck really hit me: You have to follow your dreams to create your own luck. Luck doesn’t just show up out of no where. You have to make it happen through your passions and actions. Then, it takes on a life of its own! Things just start happening, but you can’t sit back. You have to keep going and make the most of your “lucky streak” while you’ve got it.

Basics:

• Name – Ur
• Letters –  U, W
• Tree – Scottish Heather (Calluna vulgaris)
• Month – N/A
• Color – Purple
• Class – Peasant
• Chakra – Couldn’t find any reference for this particular “tree”, but my gut tells me it’s probably the 5th – Heart
• Meaning – Time to de-stress, the issue at hand can wait. Your body is reminding you to rest. Listen to your physical self. Whole-body healing – body, mind, and spirit, creating a healthy soul. Other associations include: Passion, generosity, compassion, reflection, bravery, cleansing, purification, beginnings, self-discovery.

Heather is also connected with the faery world and I found several references about it’s other-worldly associations:

• Making an offering of heather on Beltane eve will attract good fae into your garden or home.
• Heather is known to be used in weather magic with ferns.
• Bring it into your home to bring peace, end conflicts, and invite positive spirits.
• Heather is said to open portals between the faery realm and our own.
• It can also be used for protection against evil.

Heather is also known as an all-heal, makes wonderful honey (bees are known as messengers of the spirit world), and it grows in abundance, helping the surrounding vegetation. I even read that it’s connected to the origins to the word “heathen”, because of the nature ceremonies that were carried out on the heath.

Local varieties of heather are bountiful and can be found at any nursery in your area. If you’re interested in keeping heather in your home garden, I found this site that has pictures and descriptions of any heather you could possibly ever want to grow. It’s sure to help you find exactly what you’re looking for.

Scottish Heather

I also came across a simple recipe for Heather Ale: (from Home Distillery)

1 gallon (4.5 litres) heather tops
2 lb (1 kg) malt extract
1 and 1/2 lb (700 g) sugar
3 gals (13.5 l) water
1 oz (30 g) yeast

Cut the heather tops with scissors when in full bloom, but not overblown, and boil them in 1 gal (4.5 l) of the water for nearly an hour. Strain on to the malt extract and sugar through a jelly bag and stir till dissolved. Add remaining water and , when lukewarm, add the dried yeast.

Aries, The Ram

Well, here it is, the New Moon in Aries and spring is in the air! After hibernating all winter (or at least trying), The Ram charges in head first yelling, “Go, go, GO!” Time to start moving, head out and enjoy that wonderful equinox vibe (but don’t get too impatient and keep your temper)!

As we go into this next month, you might find yourself with a ton more energy. With Mars finally out of retrograde (but it’s still in the shadowzone, so don’t think it’s over yet [it's not back to its starting place from the beginning of the retrograde; it's still kinda zen or passive-aggressive, depending on how you're channeling it]) and the New Moon being blasted with some soon to come Uranian mojo, we’re in for quite a ride!

Then there’s Venus, who just went into Aries, making everything explosive and red-hot, if you don’t let Venus’s squaring Pluto get in your way. Oh, and if you’re in a negative or unhappy relationship – now’s the time to bounce. Arguments with loved ones could get sticky for the next while, but hang in there. The Venus-Pluto dynamic is just helping you see all those pent-up issues you’ve been ignoring. Comforting, right?

If that’s not enough, Saturn is moving back into position to oppose Uranus again, which means order booing all that inspiration and creative ‘Ah-ha!’ moments that you’ve been having. Again, make sure you have everything in a row, before running off to discover new worlds.

The tarot card for this month is extremely fitting: The Emperor! How auspicious that the energy of this month be in sync with the moon cycle. I can’t wait to see what it will bring! Words that are associated with the Emperor: Rulership, authority, practicality, strength, willpower, control, bravery.

Correspondences:

• Element – Fire
• Cardinal sign
• Planet – Mars
• Body part – Head
• Color – Red
• Tarot – Emperor
• Metal & Gems – Iron, Diamonds
• Flowers – Red Poppies, Geraniums, Hollyhocks

This week was dedicated to Oir – the ogham of destiny and obligation.

After choosing which ogham to focus on at random, I took the time to read the divinatory meaning and spent several minutes meditating on what that meant for me and my life. Then for the next few days, I just did my thing and tried to keep the ogham in my mind, without making it something I was concentrating on heavily (kinda like a walking meditation). On Monday, I started taking notes and bookmarking information. Last, I thought about how the week had progressed and what (if anything) had been influenced by the process. Honestly, I think this method worked really well. Though, I’m not sure if every week will always go as smoothly.

Basics:

• Name – Oir
• Letters – Oi, sometimes Th
• Tree – Spindle (Euonymus europaeus)
• Month – N/A
• Color – White, sometimes gold
• Class – Peasant
• Chakra – Crown (7th)
• Meaning – Family and community relationships, family honor, obligations, hospitality. Can mean that you’ll be asked to mediate for your community or clan. Also means, finishing/honoring your obligations or you’ll be unable to move forward on your path. The unavoidable. Higher forces at work.

Over the last week, Oir found quite a number of ways of working its way into my life. On one hand, I thought that it was wonderful to know that the Ogham are listening and actively participating in this project, but on the other, when this ogham decides to be in your life… well, it really packs a punch! Family and community obligations have definitely been in the forefront in my life, over the last several days.

Strawberry Bush

On the academic side, I pulled out my books on celtic lore and horticulture and went to work looking up information on everything about its correspondences and the spindle tree itself. Being from the states, I also wanted to know what might be a decent alternative to the European native. The strawberry bush (Euonymus americanus) seems to be a close bet, since it’s related in genus.

Burning Bush

I enjoyed finding that the burning bush (Euonymus alatus) is also a relative. As far as similarities in energy, I get the impression that it would be more like the brash or eccentric cousin of the family. I don’t know if it would be my first choice in connecting with the spirit of this ogham, but with so many of the bright red bushes in the area, I’ll definitely be seeing them in a different light from now on : )

A site that I found had tons of detailed info on this particular ogham was druidry.org.

So what are your impressions? And when do you feel that the energy of Oir has snuck into your life?

Circe Offering The Cup To Ulysses by John W. Waterhouse

This month’s edition of Celestial Canvas is of another one of my favorite artists, J. W. Waterhouse. In ‘Circe Offering The Cup To Ulysses‘ [1891, Oil on Canvas], we see the sorceress Circe inviting Ulysses (or Odysseus) to join in a feast, in her palace. Fortunately, Ulysses knew that the food and wine was enchanted (since his crew had already enjoyed the festivities, poor guys) and didn’t turn into a swine like the one laying dead at Circe’s feet.

What I love about this painting is all the detail. The shape of the stones in the flooring; the reflection of the mirror; the feet and wings on the throne’s foot-rest – amazing bits of information that builds the story within the image. Then, of course there’s the texture and embroidery of Circe’s dress. John Waterhouse had an incredible talent and I’m still in awe of his paintings to this day.

This painting says to me: “Look before you leap. Temptation will be your downfall.” Even the expression on her face seems to be telling Ulysses, “Beware. I mean business.”

Ogham Wheel

Since I only decided to start this project three days ago (and would like to give each tree an entire week), I’ve devoted the last few days on getting reacquainted with the script itself.

I started with hitting the books. I have several Celtic-focused books, but my favorite on this particular subject is John Matthews’ and Will Worthington’s ‘The Green Man Tree Oracle‘. I had picked it up last year after seeing that it used cards, instead of sticks. (I know that sticks are more traditional, but I’m really fond of tarot decks, so I thought it might mean I’d use Ogham in my divinatory needs more often. Luckily, I was right.) The deck features some wonderful artwork of each tree correspondence from the alphabet. Inside each drawing is a Green Man face, hiding in the leaves or the bark. The book that come with the deck, goes over the history and uses of the script, as well as the meanings of each character (or card) in the deck. It also gives a historical look at the Green Man and how He connects to the aspects of the Ogham’s philosophy.

But the part I always find really interesting, is that the Druids might have used the Ogham alphabet as a type of sign language or in some kind of secret code. In the ‘Green Man Tree Oracle’ [pg 12] it says,

“There are a number of ancient lists relating to the alphabet. These conveyed the secret or hidden meanings of each letter, and must have been known to the alphabet’s users, extending the applications of the Ogam enormously. Therefore the letter muin could stand for a specific tree, the leader of a group of letters, a phrase, or the season of harvest. Other kinds of Ogam could be used to suggest an ever wider set of references: for example, lists of various ‘Ogams’ include Sow Ogam, River-Pool Ogam, Fortress Ogam, Bird Ogam, Colour Ogam, King Ogam, Water Ogam, Dog Ogam, Food Ogam, all of which could be used in a variety of combinations to convey meanings that remained understandable only by those people who had learned them.”

Ogham Script

This specific use for the Ogham is something that I plan on looking further into. The idea that such a simplistic writing system could be used for so many different uses is fascinating and largely goes unnoticed, as far as I can tell.

Of course, after finishing the book and doing a few readings with the cards, I wanted to move on to writing each character out with their name, tree, and roman letter respectively. (I find that I remember things better if I write them out by hand.) I grabbed a notebook and tried to find ways to associate each character to its name. Unfortunately, I think this will mostly be done through plain old memorization. The next few months of this project should help with that.

Then, I googled. Unlike several years ago, when I wandered around the ‘net for info, I found a ton of sites that had articles on the script and its history. Most of it’s the same familiar knowledge and facts, but it was fun the do the research all the same.

Here’s some of the sites that caught my eye:

• Omniglot – A nice site on writing systems.
• Ogham Wiki – Ok, yeah. I know… it’s a Wikipedia page, but it has tons of info in it that I’d love to research further.
• The Ogham Stone – Lots of great images and pages to look through.
• Clofhoirne Oghaim – Ogham fonts for Mac and PC.

With a nice foundation of information to get things rolling and plenty more to look up, I’m happy I’ve started this journey. I know I’ll be learning a lot and will be throughly enjoying the path ahead. In the next few months, what I’ll be hoping of myself: I’ll be picking a new letter (at random, because I’m like that) each week and trying my best to dive into the imagery and meanings that’s presented to me. What I’m hoping from you: Any questions or insights you have had previously about the Ogham or get during this project. I would love to make this an interactive experience and invite anyone who would like to join in to leave a comment.

Six of Swords from The Celtic Dragon Tarot

For this moon’s new cycle, we have the Six of Swords. A card of moving forward after going through a lot of tough or tricky situations. We all went through a lot in the last moon and things are going to balance themselves out temporarily. There might be some “Ah-ha!” moments during this phase, especially since Chiron and Neptune will be teaming up for a little bit. Perfect for stumbling upon wonderful surprises!

The Six of Swords also means there might be some travel in our futures. Though it might be in a more metaphorical sense, as we journey into new insight’s to old problems.

Last, but not least – Saturn is joining Mars in retrograde-land, which will affect everyone’s dedication, efficiency, and punctuality. Dot your i’s and cross your t’s!

Cernunnos by Susan Seddon-Boulet

Lately, there seems to be a lot of Green Man energy going around. Several people have made comment to me about Him, either specifically or in passing. Maybe it’s just everyone trying to stave off the winter blues, but somehow I feel like it’s a little more than that. Anyone else getting these “subtle” messages?

So, why did I chose to post this? Once a month I’m going to be doing a feature called Celestial Canvas, that shows some type of artwork of pagan influence. It might not always be modern, but this month I wanted to start off with one of my favorite artists: Susan Seddon-Boulet (1941-1997). I love the ethereal look of all her drawings. Always dreamy and beautiful.

So what does this image bring to you today? What is Cernunnos trying to say to you?