Ogham- the Celtic Oracular Alphabet
The Celtic Ogham alphabet dates from the fourth century. The alphabet is named for Ogmos, the Celtic god of knowledge and communication. Ogmos was associated with the Gaulish Ogmios and the Greek Hermes.
The alphabet consists of twenty letters, each named for a different tree believed sacred to the Druids. Each letter is made up of one to five straight or angled lines incised on a straight base line. Because the number of letters, and the number of lines that make up each letter, some scholars have theorized that the ogham may have originated as a system of hand signs. Examples of Ogham writing have been found all over the British Isles, and even as far away as Spain and Portugal. All surviving examples exist as stone carvings, usually on tombstones and road markers. Although it is commonly used by modern Druids and other NeoPagans as a divination system, there is no real relationship between modern and historical divination systems. When used as a divination method, the letters are usually notched into straight twigs and used much like runes. In this case, I’ve provided a print version (MS Word) you can print and cut into small cards if you wish to try a simpler way of divining with ogham:A B The following table gives the characters of the and their modern divinatory meanings: |
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hi wanting to know of a reliable website to download the ogham font for a mac. will pay just need a good one.
How do we/scholars KNOW that a particular Ogahm means something when most of what we know of the Druids/Celts has been lost? At least with the Runes, there is a historical line we can follow to their phoenetic and mystical meanings.
We really don’t. Outside of the Book of Ballymote very little exists. We have to hope it’s accurate.
I live in Kentucky and have found Ogham writing engraved onto rocks while hiking in the woods…why would it be here and how could we translate them?..
P.S. I have photos of most of them I have found.
Thanks..
Ever thought that someone else may know the Ogham alphabet and decided to carve it?
Also, I can most likely translate it for you. Shoot me an email. Main one is down, but I’m using a backup. [nootnoot25@aol.com]
we are the tribes of Israel and the ones who claim to be are the children of cain and you can confirm this by following and comparing the norse mythology the imposters have stolen our birthright or so they think
Is there a book with all the symbols on this site in it?
Not at the moment, sorry.
Why aren’t the symbols showing up? Can someone fix it please? I really want to see what they look like.
Sorry, all repaired!
Hi, can u show me the characters that would represent ‘free soul’ in Celtic symbols. Cheers.. Also the characters which represent the date 24-5-11. Thank you
You could try writing it in Gaelic or As Gaeilge, the language of the Celts in Ireland.
‘Free Soul’ in Gaelic/As Gaeilge translates as:
‘Soul Saor In Aisce’.
I’ve never heard of a Gaelic translation for Soul (nor even Spirit for that matter) before but I do have several Irish dictionaries in my Library which I’ll check and add here later if I find one.
Anim is the word for soul and name in irish. I think it was borrowed from latin also
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