Before alphabets were tamed into books and paper, there were trees — and among the druids of ancient Ireland, the trees spoke a secret language. The Ogham (OH-um) script, carved along the edge of stones or sticks like notches in bark, is the oldest known writing system of Ireland. Created sometime between the 4th and 6th centuries CE, its origins are as mysterious as the druids who wielded it. Some say it was a cryptic code invented to hide knowledge from the invading Romans; some believe it was a gift from the gods themselves — a system rooted in nature, poetry, and divine pattern.
Ogham consists of a set of 20 original characters known as the Feda, each linked to a sacred tree or plant, along with deeper associations like emotions, animals, crafts, elements, and mythic qualities. Later manuscripts expanded the system with 5 additional symbols called the Forfeda (or ‘additional letters’), bringing the total to 25.
Each ogham stave is composed of notches or lines branching from a central stem, traditionally carved into the edge of a standing stone or staff. They are divided into five groups of five, based on the direction and shape of the strokes:
- Right-side notches (B Group)
- Left-side notches (H Group)
- Diagonal strokes (A Group)
- Crossing the stem (M Group)
- Forfeda (additional unique shapes)
While Ogham was primarily a writing system, later medieval and occult sources began to attribute symbolic and mystical meanings to the letters. These meanings — derived from Brehon law, tree lore, medieval kennings (wordplay riddles), and folk traditions — form the basis of ogham divination today.
Just like runes or tarot cards, each Ogham character carries symbolic meaning. In modern divination practise, an ogham oracle can be cast, drawn, or laid in spreads, with interpretations based on the symbol’s upright or blocked (reversed) orientation. Our set is depicted as wood blocks, and the stem is oriented upward, denoted by an arrow on top.
What follows is a 5×5 grid of the Ogham staves, followed by their names, tree associations, upright meanings, and blocked meanings — a brief guide for those called to work with these sacred signs of the forest. The Ogham offers a path to insight grounded in nature, lineage, and mystery.
| Beith | Luis | Fearn | Saille | Nion |
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| Huathe | Duir | Tinne | Coll | Quert |
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| Muin | Gort | Ngetal | Straif | Ruis |
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| Ailm | Onn | Ur | Eadha | Iodhadh |
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| Eabhadh | Ór | Uilleann | Iphin | Émancholl |
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1. Beith
- Tree/Plant: Birch
- Kenning: ‘Brightest of Trees’
Upright:
The path clears before you, washed clean by the rains of old griefs. Beith marks the sacred threshold: a pure beginning, unburdened by yesterday’s debris. You are given leave to start again—with clarity, with lightness. This is the white bark of renewal, sacred to Druids as the tree of purification and rebirth. You are called to honour your beginning without apology, even if it feels fragile. Innocence is not weakness. Every ancient forest was once a single trembling sapling.
Blocked:
The gateway of renewal stands before you—but you refuse to walk through it. Beith reversed warns of clinging to sorrow, old failures, or toxic familiarity. No blessing can be placed into a hand already full of ashes. You may resist endings because they demand grief; you may resist beginnings because they demand courage. There is no shortcut. Shed the skin. Burn the past. Walk nude into the new.
- Spiritual Lesson: Purification requires surrender; beginnings require mourning.
- Reflective Question: What old story must I finally lay to rest to allow my rebirth?
- Affirmation: ‘I welcome the purity of the unknown.’
2. Luis
- Tree/Plant: Rowan
- Kenning: ‘Delight of the Eye’
Upright:
The Rowan stands at the crossroads, its scarlet berries a shield against dark enchantments. Luis grants the seer’s sight—flashes of truth glimmer through the fog. Dreams grow sharper; omens clearer. Not all that you see will be comfortable, but all will be true. Trust the tugs at your spine, the sudden chill when someone speaks untruth. Your soul is attuned to warnings others miss. Listen, and you will pass safely.
Blocked:
When Luis is blocked, the eyes deceive, and the spirit grows porous. Trust given lightly is trust betrayed. Omens grow cloudy; intuition is warped by fear or yearning. The shield has cracks; unseen influences may leech through if vigilance is not restored. Test every vision against the flame of reason. Listen more to what is unsaid than what is proclaimed. Protection demands discernment as much as faith.
- Spiritual Lesson: True insight demands patience, not desperation.
- Reflective Question: Where am I mistaking wishful thinking for true intuition?
- Affirmation: ‘My spirit sharpens to the truth.’
3. Fearn
- Tree/Plant: Alder
- Kenning: ‘Shield of the Warriors’
Upright:
Alder thrives between earth and water—the place of negotiation, the meeting of opposites. Fearn calls you to step into the battleground of life, not with brutish force, but with fluid adaptability. Stand where others fear to stand. Your strength will come from your ability to bridge worlds, broker peace, or hold your ground with dignity. Alder wood dyes water red—a sign that some sacrifices are honourable and necessary.
Blocked:
When Alder is blocked, the call to act becomes a coward’s retreat or a reckless charge. You may be standing in the wrong battle, wasting blood for pride. Or worse, refusing a battle that desperately needs your presence. Beware false peace. Some bridges must be burned before the right ones can be built. Know what you are fighting for—and what you are willing to surrender.
- Spiritual Lesson: Strength is found not in stubbornness, but in sacred resilience.
- Reflective Question: What cause truly deserves my courage right now?
- Affirmation: ‘I am the bridge and the battleground.’
4. Saille
- Tree/Plant: Willow
- Kenning: ‘Sweeping Elegance’
Upright:
The Willow bends but does not break. Saille teaches the mastery of emotion—the art of yielding without defeat. Here, grief is not an enemy but a river to be crossed, danced with, and honoured. Your feelings are powerful allies, not burdens. Dreamtime, prophecy, and creativity surge through the Willow’s domain. Trust your tears, your visions, your poetic instincts. They are the currents carrying you toward deeper wisdom.
Blocked:
Saille blocked is a dammed river—emotions swell, distort, and may burst destructively. You may cling to numbness, or become imprisoned by nostalgia and mourning. Let it move. What you suppress becomes the flood that drowns you. What you grieve becomes the seed of your rebirth. Surrender is not weakness; it is navigation.
- Spiritual Lesson: Mastery of emotion is achieved through movement, not denial.
- Reflective Question: Where am I refusing to let grief or inspiration flow?
- Affirmation: ‘I bend; I do not break.’
5. Nion
- Tree/Plant: Ash
- Kenning: ‘World-Tree of the Ancestors’
Upright:
Ash roots into the underworld and crowns into the heavens. Nion is the ladder between realms—initiation, connection, growth beyond the self. You are called to think larger: your actions ripple beyond your little life. A decision made today weaves into the bones of your descendants. Rise into responsibility. Carry the vision of the ancestors with you, but blaze new trails they could only dream of.
Blocked:
When Ash is blocked, there is disconnection from purpose—an aimless, rootless drift. You may have forgotten who you are, or worse, whose shoulders you stand upon. Traditions misused become chains; traditions honoured become wings. Find your bloodline, your soul-line, your myth. Rebuild your bridge to the past to walk boldly into the future.
- Spiritual Lesson: True growth demands humility before the unseen web of life.
- Reflective Question: What legacy am I weaving with my daily choices?
- Affirmation: ‘I walk the worlds rooted and crowned.’
6. Huathe
- Tree/Plant: Hawthorn
- Kenning: ‘Thorn of Protection’
Upright:
Hawthorn is the guardian hedge—neither hostile nor tame, but fiercely loyal to its sacred task. Huathe asks you to protect what is holy: your heart, your dreams, your boundaries. Sacred spaces need walls. Not everything and everyone deserves access to your inner garden. Wield your thorn wisely—defend, but do not imprison yourself.
Blocked:
Blocked Hawthorn becomes paranoia or weakness. Either you trust no one and cut yourself off from life, or you trust everyone and become prey. Look to where you are too defended or too exposed. Choose your thresholds with care. Build your hedges high enough to protect, low enough to breathe.
- Spiritual Lesson: True protection is conscious, not reactionary.
- Reflective Question: What am I defending, and is it truly sacred?
- Affirmation: ‘I protect without imprisoning.’
7. Duir
- Tree/Plant: Oak
- Kenning: ‘Door to Strength’
Upright:
The Oak stands unshaken through storms. Duir is the threshold of endurance, power, and sacred kingship. You are asked to hold fast—not just stubbornly, but with righteous clarity. Lead where you must. Take the seat of responsibility you’ve earned. The door is open to those who dare to claim their place in the order of things.
Blocked:
Blocked Oak crumbles into tyranny or weakness. You may either dominate when you should lead, or abdicate when you should stand firm. Know the difference between stubborn pride and rightful authority. Strength unused is strength lost. Step up—or step aside.
- Spiritual Lesson: Power without purpose is decay.
- Reflective Question: Where must I claim authority—or surrender pride?
- Affirmation: ‘I am the door that withstands all storms.’
8. Tinne
- Tree/Plant: Holly
- Kenning: ‘Warrior’s Crown’
Upright:
Tinne, the battle tree, grants you the armour of spirit. Now is the time for honourable combat—whether internal or external. Holly speaks to inner resilience, self-defence, and strategic action. You are not called to start wars, but to win them if they come. Focus your energy. Fight for what feeds your soul, not your vanity.
Blocked:
When Tinne is blocked, war becomes endless, joyless, and purposeless. You might fight battles that aren’t yours, or fail to defend what matters most. Recognise your real enemies. Many times they live within: fear, laziness, cowardice. Take up arms, but choose your wars with sacred ruthlessness.
- Spiritual Lesson: Victory is hollow without a worthy cause.
- Reflective Question: What is truly worth fighting for now?
- Affirmation: ‘I wear the crown of sacred battle.’
9. Coll
- Tree/Plant: Hazel
- Kenning: ‘Wellspring of Wisdom’
Upright:
Hazel stands by the sacred well where wisdom bubbles up from hidden places. Coll invites you to drink deeply—from study, from dreams, from ancestral knowledge. Insight will not shout; it whispers. Pay attention to the soft signs, the tiny openings. Small epiphanies now will shape the great revolutions of your life.
Blocked:
Blocked Hazel creates confusion, ignorance, or misuse of knowledge. Perhaps you seek easy answers where there are none, or hoard knowledge without application. Wisdom is not merely knowing; it is knowing when, and how, and why. Choose discernment over cleverness.
- Spiritual Lesson: Wisdom must be lived, not stored.
- Reflective Question: What hidden knowledge am I being invited to embrace?
- Affirmation: ‘I drink from the sacred well.’
10. Quert
- Tree/Plant: Apple
- Kenning: ‘Fruit of the Otherworld’
Upright:
Quert is the sweet fruit hanging just beyond reach, the Otherworld’s promise of abundance, beauty, and healing. You are called to enjoy life’s sweetness without shame or fear. Taste joy fully, live fully, love fully. Gifts are meant to be accepted. Pleasure, properly honoured, is a spiritual act.
Blocked:
When Apple is blocked, pleasure becomes greed, or fear of pleasure stifles the spirit. You may refuse what life offers, believing yourself unworthy—or gorge yourself into spiritual sickness. Seek balance. The fruit of the Otherworld is sacred because it is shared, not hoarded.
- Spiritual Lesson: True abundance is joyful, generous, and reverent.
- Reflective Question: Where am I denying myself the blessings of life?
- Affirmation: ‘I taste joy without fear.’
11. Muin
- Tree/Plant: Vine
- Kenning: ‘Binding of Intoxication’
Upright:
Muin winds and weaves, bringing sweetness and sacred intoxication. It reminds you that connection can be heady—friendships, love, spiritual ecstasy. Embrace emotional entanglement without losing yourself. Trust the dance of give and take. Sacred intoxication frees the soul; debasement chains it.
Blocked:
Blocked Vine is clinging, addiction, or entanglement in illusions. Are you chasing connection so hard you’ve lost yourself? Beware false intoxications: relationships, substances, ideas that promise bliss but deliver bondage. Choose sacred connection over entrapment.
- Spiritual Lesson: True connection uplifts; false ties consume.
- Reflective Question: Where am I entangled in illusion?
- Affirmation: ‘I choose sacred union, not bondage.’
12. Gort
- Tree/Plant: Ivy
- Kenning: ‘Tenacity of the Green Path’
Upright:
Ivy is persistence incarnate. It climbs, winds, and survives where others perish. Gort urges you to endure, adapt, and climb steadily toward your light. Tenacity, not brute strength, wins the marathon of life. Let your spirit be evergreen, no matter how dark the stone you cling to.
Blocked:
Blocked Ivy suffocates instead of survives. Are you holding onto dead things? Are you climbing structures that no longer serve you? Growth for its own sake is cancer. Attach wisely—or learn when to release.
- Spiritual Lesson: Persistence must serve true growth.
- Reflective Question: What am I climbing toward—and is it worth it?
- Affirmation: ‘I cling to the light that feeds me.’
13. Ngetal
- Tree/Plant: Reed
- Kenning: ‘Voice of the Waters’
Upright:
Reed sings in the marshes—a simple stalk, yet a carrier of songs and messages. Ngetal reminds you that true communication is born of humility and clarity. Speak, but also listen. Your voice can guide or heal, if you align it with spirit. Let your truth ripple across the waters.
Blocked:
Blocked Reed creates noise instead of music. Are your words sowing confusion? Are you shouting when you should be silent? Miscommunication can rot trust quickly. Return to simplicity. Speak from the quiet place inside, not the ego’s storm.
- Spiritual Lesson: The purest messages are the simplest.
- Reflective Question: What truth needs my voice right now?
- Affirmation: ‘I am the voice of clear waters.’
14. Straif
- Tree/Plant: Blackthorn
- Kenning: ‘Blade of Trials’
Upright:
Blackthorn is the bitter gatekeeper of transformation. Its thorns are cruel, but its berries sweeten with frost. Straif heralds hardship—not as punishment, but as alchemy. Pain clarifies. Conflict strengthens. Choose to transform, not to collapse. The frostbitten fruit is the richest.
Blocked:
Blocked Blackthorn is bitterness without evolution. Hardship can become identity if you refuse its medicine. Don’t wear your scars like trophies. Wear them like wisdom. Refuse to become thorny just because the world is.
- Spiritual Lesson: Pain refines, not defines.
- Reflective Question: What suffering is trying to carve me into something better?
- Affirmation: ‘I transform pain into power.’
15. Ruis
- Tree/Plant: Elder
- Kenning: ‘Death’s Gateway’
Upright:
Elder stands at the threshold of endings and beginnings. Ruis calls you to sacred surrender: mourn, release, and prepare to be reborn. Transformation is not gentle; it strips you down. Accept the death of what must fall away. Only then can the new roots find soil.
Blocked:
Blocked Elder is stagnation, refusing to grieve, refusing to grow. You may cling to rotted branches, mistaking them for life. Stop embalming your own dead. Surrender the corpse of old identities, dreams, and loyalties.
- Spiritual Lesson: True rebirth demands true mourning.
- Reflective Question: What am I still carrying that must be laid to rest?
- Affirmation: ‘I bless the ending and welcome the new.’
16. Ailm
- Tree/Plant: Silver Fir
- Kenning: ‘Pillar of Resilience’
Upright:
Silver Fir stands tall in winter’s darkest days. Ailm offers endurance, spiritual health, and steady strength. In times of bleakness, remember your evergreen soul. Stand tall, rooted deep, reaching for starlight even when the sun hides. Your stillness is your revolution.
Blocked:
Blocked Fir falls into rigidity or despair. Are you standing so firm that you refuse to bend when you must? Are you pretending strength while hollow inside? Adaptability strengthens resilience. Stay alive to yourself—not frozen.
- Spiritual Lesson: True resilience bends without breaking.
- Reflective Question: What inner root keeps me alive through winter?
- Affirmation: ‘I endure, evergreen and steadfast.’
17. Onn
- Tree/Plant: Gorse
- Kenning: ‘Flame of Fertility’
Upright:
Gorse blazes golden on barren land. It teaches that abundance can be summoned even from wastelands. Creativity, sexuality, and prosperity burn bright if tended. Onn invites you to stoke the fire: light your desires without shame. Plant the seeds of future harvests with daring and joy.
Blocked:
Blocked Gorse burns out of control or gutters to ash. Lust without love, ambition without honour—these are false flames. Don’t waste your fire chasing mirages. Let your passions be sacred, not consuming.
- Spiritual Lesson: Sacred fire creates; false fire consumes.
- Reflective Question: Where does my fire want to bloom?
- Affirmation: ‘I blaze the barren into bloom.’
18. Ur
- Tree/Plant: Heather
- Kenning: ‘Flower of Dreams’
Upright:
Heather carpets the wild hills, a dreamscape of resilience and mystery. Ur asks you to trust in subtle magic: quiet dreams, soft longings, secret hopes. Nourish them patiently. Some dreams need slow seasons to grow before they break into bloom.
Blocked:
Blocked Heather is escapism, false hope, or emotional dissociation. Dreams without grounding become fantasy. Tend your dreams like gardens, not castles in the air. Hope is sacred—not to be wasted on illusions.
- Spiritual Lesson: Dreams demand roots as much as wings.
- Reflective Question: What fragile dream do I need to protect and nourish?
- Affirmation: ‘I dream with rooted hope.’
19. Eadha
- Tree/Plant: Aspen
- Kenning: ‘Shield of Courage’
Upright:
Aspen trembles, but does not break. Its quivering leaves are a badge of bravery, not fear. Eadha reminds you that courage doesn’t mean fearlessness—it means motion through fear. Shake if you must. Just move anyway.
Blocked:
Blocked Aspen freezes in terror or arrogance. Do you hide from necessary risks? Or charge recklessly to drown out your fears? True courage honours fear without surrendering to it. Feel it. Face it. Then walk through it.
- Spiritual Lesson: Courage is trembling action.
- Reflective Question: What fear am I called to face and outgrow?
- Affirmation: ‘I tremble, but I move.’
20. Iodhadh
- Tree/Plant: Yew
- Kenning: ‘Tree of Death and Continuity’
Upright:
Iodhadh, the ancient Yew, stands at the boundary of death and eternal return. Its poisonous berries and immortal trunk whisper the riddle of endings that never end. You are not merely ending—you are cycling into something older, deeper. This is not a death; it is a deepening. Honour the transformation that does not ask for permission.
Blocked:
Blocked Yew is fear of endings so deep, it calcifies life itself. You cling to what’s gone rotten rather than face the sacred unknown. Let death do its work. Let silence speak. New roots must drink from ancient soil.
- Spiritual Lesson: Death is not the end—it is the sacred beginning beneath all beginnings.
- Reflective Question: What am I clinging to that refuses to die cleanly?
- Affirmation: ‘I descend to rise.’
21. Eabhadh
- Tree/Plant: Aspen
- Kenning: ‘Stone of Memory’
Upright:
Eabhadh is mystery incarnate—the glyph that marks death, silence, or what cannot be said. It is the absence that still speaks. You are in a liminal space now: between known and unknown, voice and silence, life and the afterlife of meaning. Mark this moment. It matters more than it can ever explain itself.
Blocked:
When Eabhadh is blocked, you’re drowning in ambiguity or paralysed by what can’t be understood. But not all truths are meant to be solved—some are meant to be witnessed.
- Spiritual Lesson: Some mysteries are meant to be honoured, not solved.
- Reflective Question: What silence am I afraid to name?
- Affirmation: ‘I honour the nameless and remember the unsaid.’
22. Ór
- Tree/Plant: Spindle Tree
- Kenning: ‘Weaver’s Gold’
Upright:
Ór is the thread that weaves fate. Spindle wood was used to craft tools that spin—and so too do you spin destiny now, strand by strand. This glyph teaches prosperity through precision, elegance through focused intention. What you spin now will clothe your future. Choose your pattern with care.
Blocked:
When Ór is blocked, you weave chaos or refuse the loom entirely. Inaction and distraction are just as dangerous as the wrong actions. Choose the thread. Begin the weave. The future waits to be dressed.
- Spiritual Lesson: Destiny is not found—it is crafted.
- Reflective Question: What thread must I pick up now, even if it scares me?
- Affirmation: ‘I spin my future with sacred hands.’
23. Uilleann
- Tree/Plant: Honeysuckle
- Kenning: ‘Hidden Sweetness’
Upright:
Uilleann wraps and winds—sweetness found not in plain sight, but in spirals. This is the glyph of unseen blessings and secret pathways. Trust the detour. Trust the fragrance that pulls at your soul. Follow what draws you, not what shouts at you. Life’s richest nectar is rarely on the main road.
Blocked:
Blocked Uilleann is distraction disguised as sweetness. Are you chasing illusions because they smell nice? Or are you ignoring the real treasures underfoot? The sweetness you seek is real—but you must seek with the right senses.
- Spiritual Lesson: Not all that tempts is treasure—but real treasure rarely announces itself.
- Reflective Question: What unseen blessing have I ignored?
- Affirmation: ‘I follow sweetness hidden in shadow.’
24. Iphin
- Tree/Plant: Gooseberry
- Kenning: ‘The Tang of Life’
Upright:
Iphin is the tart, the zing, the sudden clarity in the back of the throat. It is freshness through contrast. Change arrives like a sour wind—but it clears the air. You are invited into the bracing joy of truth, the bitter clarity that awakens. Let yourself be refreshed. Let the sting revive you.
Blocked:
When Iphin is blocked, bitterness overrides renewal. You may be fixating on what stings instead of what it awakens. Don’t let the sourness of the moment poison the sweetness of your path.
- Spiritual Lesson: Life stings—but it stings to wake you.
- Reflective Question: What bitterness must I bless so it can become my medicine?
- Affirmation: ‘I rise refreshed from the bite of truth.’
25. Émancholl
- Tree/Plant: Double Hazel / ‘Lover’s Vine’
- Kenning: ‘The Sacred Pair’
Upright:
Émancholl is duality in harmony: the sacred twin, the mirror, the double thread. This glyph speaks to powerful relationships—those that complete you, challenge you, transform you. Be it a person, a dream, or a path, what you are entwined with now is sacred. Tend it. Honour the tension. Let it make you whole.
Blocked:
Blocked Émancholl is entanglement without purpose. You may be caught in patterns that mirror old pain, not new growth. Not all bonds are sacred. Some vines must be cut to allow new growth.
- Spiritual Lesson: True connection is mutual transformation.
- Reflective Question: What relationship calls me to become more than myself?
- Affirmation: ‘I grow through sacred union.’
