• Помните, в ноябре мы писали о редкой колоде по Огаму? В сущности, тогда про нее не было известно ничего: сайт, на котором она была выложена, канул в Лету, ни названия, ни происхождения. Так что спешим поделиться: нам все-таки удалось разузнать про эту колоду побольше.
Зовется она Ancient Irish Tree Cards, автор - Джудит О'Грэди (Judith O'Grady). Колода и впрямь выпускалась очень ограниченным тиражом (если вообще не единственным экземпляром) для Lake of Oaks Protogrove, канадского подразделения международной неодруидической организации Ár nDraíocht Féin, ADF. Автор рисунков на картах - Шэннон Дарх (Shannon Darch).
Пока что выкладываем оригинальные описания карт на английском, позже будет и переведенный вариант.
Beith is the maiden tree, the first of the three Goddess trees. Many ancient cultures use the image of the Triple Goddess. Both the three Fates from Southern European symbology and the Norns from the Norse are personifications of this archtype. The ancient Irish Triple Goddess is both like and unlike these concepts. Like the other triads, the Irish triple Goddess is three women at three life stages, each with her own viewpoint and message. Unlike the Norse or the Romans, the Irish viewed the Triple Goddess as three stages of one single life, or as three different manifestations of the same deity, the Great Goddess Bride. The modern personification of the Goddess Bride is Gaia, the totality of the world. So, for the Irish, the triple goddesses all partook of the same store of universal knowledge and the form they wore was part of the message they were bringing to the listener.
The Maiden is the life stage when adult life is beginning, menarche is past and the girl is beginning to be comfortable with her adult body and to be interested in adult sexual contact. Seasonally, it is the full rush of Spring, the beginning of the bright half of the year at May first, or Mayday. Mayday is the point on the mythical cycle when the Maiden Goddess and the Young God, the Green Man of the woods, become lovers. They engender the child who will be born at the tipping of the year, nine months later, at Imbolc. Historically the Mayday festival was a time for lovers to declare themselves and to begin marriage contracts. Maypoles were made out of birch saplings, and brooms were made from birch twigs to sweep away the remnants of the old, dark time and start afresh. The old saying, "The new broom sweeps clean" comes from this practice.
читать дальшеBirches have this meaning in all of the cultures that they grow in. The rune that Beith is paired with is also birch, or Beorc, with the same meaning of beginning and the same beautiful symbol of Spring. The image of the shining green of new birch leaves, the contrast of the white trunks and spring flowers underneath is the picture of the future clear and bright. The bird connected to this tree is the robin, also the symbol of Spring and a fresh start.
This is the time to start a new project, to make agreements and contracts. The message this card sends is that it is time to begin. The time of preparation is past, difficulties have been overcome, and a new beginning can be made with confidence of success. If you have not been planning for a change, than this may be an indication that something is coming and to be prepared, not to let an opportunity pass. Beith reversed tells us that the way must be cleared first, that there is something to be finished and put away before a new beginning can be made. This is a happy, uncomplicated card with the message, "Go ahead! Begin! Take a risk and succeed!".
In North America, this tree is the Mountain Ash. The same tree in Europe is called the Rowan and has been used since pre-history as a protection against enchantment and evil. For thousands of years people have planted rowans in front of their front doors to turn away evil in all forms, as ill-wishing and evil spell-casting and physical harm. Several years ago, I went to a friend's housewarming party in her newly built sub-development. As often happens, she asked me to identify the tiny tree the landscapers had planted outside her door, and to tell her about its significance. She turned on the outside light and I went back outside to find that it was a Rowan. I have since noticed that Mountain Ashes are often the saplings in the front yards of new-built houses. Of course, they are attractive, quick growing, hardy trees and so a logical choice but this is, to me, an example of the spirit world and the mundane world intersecting.
Making and carrying a little universal cross (one with both arms equal) of Rowan twigs bound with red thread will protect you personally in the same way that a Rowan tree protects your home. The rune that is paired with Luis is the rune of protection, Elhaz, the warding sign. These are the tree and rune most often used in spellcasting and charm making. This use of Luis and Elhaz are an illustration of the first principle of Wicca, "An it harm none, do as ye will." The rune that is paired with Luis is the rune of protection, Elhaz, the warding sign. These are the tree and rune most often used in spellcasting and charm making. An ethical witch cannot cast a spell against someone, but only against the harm directed at her.
In a reading, the message of this card is positive and not negative. It does not tell us that there are things threatening us from outside because we all know already that the world can be a dangerous place. Instead it reminds us that we are already protected and to employ our protections without fear. The card reversed tells us much the same thing, that we should use common sense to overcome what threatens us.
Some of the Ogham are magical weapons, which can be employed against things threatening us. Some of the Ogham are magical warriors, who can be asked to help us. Some are messengers from the Spirit world, alerting us to sendings. Luis has some of all of these qualities, but it is not a personification of a weapon, warrior, or message. It is the personification of the sanctity of the home, and the sacred need for security in our own space.
If we direct all of our energies towards blocking any possible bad or unforeseen outcome then we are left with no energy for forward motion at all. Our Wyrd, or Fate, will sometimes bring us things that are troublesome or disruptive no matter how we try to protect ourselves. We should not refuse to see what we do not welcome but instead pick out the good learning experiences that are imbedded in all unfortunate happenings, send back to the originator the evil, and rise above the sorrow or trouble with confidence.
Alder is one of the oracular trees, and sends us the message that we should pay particular attention to what is happening all around us. Fearn is a tree that, when cut down, will send up new shoots from the old stump. In mystical terms, it is as if the tree is still there even when it is removed, and can return. It is a water-resistant wood, and was used in ancient times for foundations and bridge piers. Alders nowadays rarely become full-grown trees, but are mostly found as small, brushy groups of shrubs in swampy areas. Swamps are one of the in-between things that are in the mundane and the shadow world at once. Dawn, twilight, the tidal zone of the sea, and the marshy edges of bodies of water are all places where the boundary between one thing and the other is inexact.
All around us there exists the collective unconscious of the mind of humankind. We have an understanding of all forms of life inside us on a cellular level in our DNA. We feel the pre-language emotions of animals in our reptile brain. We can, with practice, bring ourselves into communication with the mystical world and see the real and the ideal superimposed one on top of another. Almost everything that we see around us or that happens to us is both itself and more than itself simultaneously. This Ogham reminds us to try to extrapolate a more universal meaning from an immediate happening; to make connections between events and meanings.
The Raven is the bird connected to this tree. Ravens are carriers of prophecy and wisdom in many cultures. Two Ravens, Thought and Memory, sit on Odin's shoulders. Ravens fly with the Morrigan to battlefields. Just as Alder is built into bridges in the real world so Ravens create bridges between the real and the Spirit World. The archetypes of the Great Goddess and the Spiritual Warriors are sending the Raven with messages from the Spirit World to us but those messages also manifest in the mundane world in ordinary people and events, giving things in the mundane world double meanings.
The message of Fearn is that we should look for the message we are already being sent in some more ordinary form. Reversed, it means that we are not paying attention and are missing the point. The Rune connected to Fearn is Mannaz, the rune of all humankind or the archtypical human being. The wisdom of all ages of man and nature will give us oracular guidance if we pay attention to it.
The Willow is a lunar and water tree. Saille is a tree connected to the mother and to the nurturing side of our natures rather than the warrior side. One way to say this would be to say that Saille is feminine rather than masculine, but this is only true if we keep in mind that all of us are both feminine and masculine. Being connected to the Mother is completely universal because we were once all helpless babies depending on our mothers. So can we all look to the Great Mother for help, care, and understanding.
It is vital to understand how important water is to us, both as a symbol and as an actuality. We are conceived in wetness and develop in our own sac of water until we are ready to be born. Biologically, we are mostly water on the inside and must constantly replenish ourselves to remain wet enough to live. Ecologically, the health of our water supplies is the indicator of our quality of life. World-wide, the cycle of water being drawn up and released governs the planet's weather, affecting every part of humankind and our well being.
The importance of water to us in the real world is mirrored by its symbolic importance in the spirit world. Water is the element of the West. It is the element of life and of mystery. It is the paradigm of the spirit world itself: we need it to live but we cannot live wholly in it without drowning. We must refresh ourselves in the spirit world but we cannot immerse ourselves in it.
Willows bend gracefully over the water and move gently with every breeze. When great storms come parts of the trunk or major branches may be broken off, but the main tree will adapt and survive. Often the broken portions will grow where they have fallen spanning the stream. This is the message of Saille; to go with the flow and to maintain spiritual balance. Balance and tranquillity are the watchwords. The card reversed tells us that we are lacking in balance and that we should bring the different parts of our lives into harmony. Lagu is the corresponding rune, the water rune of flow.
The message is not one of inaction, however. The bird symbol is the kingfisher, a water bird. Kingfishers will sit on a branch overhanging the water, still and balanced. They seem to be immobile but they are actually alert to every detail of their surroundings and when the opportunity is at hand they hurtle into the water and reappear with a fish. This card tells us to bend and adapt but to also be alert and ready to act when necessary.
Yggdrassill, the world tree that supports and binds together all the layers of the universe, is an Ash tree. The Ash is the major oracular tree in all the Northern cultures. Just as in Beith, the rune and the ogham use the same symbol and have very similar meanings. Nuin is the ogham, As is the rune of the Ash tree. The meaning is that messages have been or will be sent, and to be alert to them. Unlike the other oracular trees, the messages being sent by Nuin are always of great importance and can be life changing. We can expect when we choose this card that some event will occur that will affect more than ourselves.
Although in general it is a dangerous temptation to put ourselves in the hero spot or star role of an unfolding story, often the message of Nuin is that we do have a decisive part to play in larger events. We may be able to bring a needed skill, knowledge, or attribute to an important effort; or we may be called upon for an action or sacrifice. In the Northern mythos, Odin is the archetype for sacrifice. He gave one of his eyes in exchange for a drink of water from the well of knowledge at the base of the world tree, and hung on Yggdrassill for several days and nights to learn the meanings of the runes. Thought and Memory, the two ravens, fly over the Middle World and return to sit on Odin's shoulders to tell him what they have seen. Thus, knowledge of the Middle World and understanding of the Spirit World are his rewards for personal sacrifice.
The demands that follow this omen can be serious, but they will not be beyond our strength. We must look inside ourselves for what we already know but have not yet perceived. Ash trees produce distinctive seeds, or keys. These are the symbol that we have the keys to understanding available to us. We should be prepared to follow honest advice, and to think globally about the effects of our local actions. The card reversed tells us to avoid insularity and biased opinions.
Wands are made of ash wood, in order to open a channel from the Spirit World to the mundane world. Wands or staffs are one of the magical weapons, but one which has always resonated with magic. Even in the days when arrows, bows, and spears were unremarkable tools of war, wands and staffs had a glamour around them. They can, now as then, only be used with knowledge and understanding. Ash wands, leaves, or keys can be used in spellworking to show our readiness to receive messages but we cannot, of course, force the cosmos to direct itself along the path we choose. This ogham reminds us of our very small part in the all, and we should remember this in our dealings with others and with the greater world.
Huathe is another of the oracular trees, with a special message from the Irish Crone Goddess or from Urd, the eldest Norn. The Norse, always a practical people, saw the past as the special province of the eldest Norn because the oldest would have the greatest knowledge of the past. She speaks about how the actions and events of the past will affect us in the here and now. The future, the Norse felt, was unknowable and so is the province of the veiled Norn about whom nothing is known and who rarely speaks.
The ancient Irish, however, saw the Triple Goddess as three facets of the same persona all of whom know all. The Crone Goddess is the oldest of the three Goddesses and speaks prophetically about the future, often about death. The eldest, the Irish felt, can give us valuable advice about the future from their stores of wisdom and experience. In both cases the persona of the future can also be the personifier of Death. This is logical since death is at the end of all of our futures, however distant. Often the Crone Goddess comes to warriors before battles in Irish legends to help them avoid mistakes and to make the best out of their inevitable end.
Huathe shows us the power of the otherworld and how it interconnects with the mundane world. The three Goddess trees: Beith, Quert, and Huathe are linked and Huathe is paired as well with Straif, the trees which are Whitethorn and Blackthorn. Because it has such a pivotal connection with these trees we must carefully look at the other cards we have drawn and slowly extract the meaning. The advice of the oldest Goddesses, while freely given, is not always easy to understand and can be confusing.
Huathe is not always the voice of doom and foreboding but it is always a warning, both in the upright and the reversed position. The crow is the animal symbol of this ogham. Crows are suspicious and watchful birds, and act as the alarm system of the animal world. They will watch us and report on our whereabouts and actions to the world at large as we walk by them. In mythology, crows are viewed as knowing what is happening all around them and seeing more about the outcomes than the human actors but rarely helping out with advice. People in legends mostly get help from the crows by overhearing them talking about events to the other mythical beings.
Where they grow as a native tree, hawthorn hedges are covered thickly with white blossoms in the spring. This time is known as Hawthorn Winter. Thus the ogham Huathe is paired with Is, the standstill rune of ice. These images give us the tree's meaning: to stop and wait. Huathe signals a period of restraint. Sometimes this can be a sexual restraint, sometimes an adoption of a passive stance or a wait-and-see attitude. When we are deciding on a course of action, we can see Huathe as the mystic Granny with the crow on her shoulder as her familiar. The voice of the old Wisewoman is like the warning cry of the Crow, warning us about the possible bad outcomes of heedless action.
Duir is the doorway tree. It is the symbol of protection and solidity, strongly barring the way to things that should not enter as well as opening to allow the entrance of things that are welcome. This magical ability to do two things, to tell the difference between good and evil, makes Duir a valuable aid in doing magical work since it helps and strengthens our intentions. We can use oak as a protective charm for our houses and possessions, but also as a strong ally for ourselves.
The Oak King, the Young King or the Green Man, is the mythic representative of Duir. We can ask his aid in positive undertakings, especially those with some element of danger. He is one of the righteous warriors in the cosmos. The Arthurian figure of the king pulling the sword from the stone and the whole mythos of the perfect knight of chivalry are personifications of this Archtype. Protection is his provenance, and this is the message of the card when drawn reversed: that we are in a weakened position or that some threatening event is coming but that we have aid we can freely draw on to help us. This idea is also expressed in nature and in the spirit world by the Oak struck by lightning, but growing even though it is split.
The rune Dag and the ogham Duir are both Oak and both have the same symbolic meanings. They stand for the top of the year cycle, Litha or Midsummer, which is the festival of the longest day. This is the peak of growing things and the triumph of light over darkness. Light and Darkness are always engaged in a struggle as a necessary part of the wheel of life. Neither one can completely conquer the other, and nothing in life is ever purely one or the other. The symbol of Dag, the double-headed ax that cuts both ways, is a reminder of this.
This is not a gloomy or forboding symbol, however. The other representation of this same symbol is the butterfly. The bird symbol of Duir is the wren. The wren is the king of the birds, even though it is small and timid. Each wren is tiny, but the tribe of Wren is strong and lasting. Each butterfly is fragile, but the nation of Butterfly is everywhere. Each acorn is insignificant, but the Oak is a mighty tree growing for hundreds of years and lasting through storms and lightning strikes. Autumn oak leaves are brown and dull, but they stay on the tree until the new leaves of spring.
The message of the card is a comforting one," Everything will work out."
Tinne is the Holly King's tree. In one small sense he is the antithesis of Duir, the young king, but to view them as opposites is very misleading. The old religion is not about opposites but about opposing forces and being in balance with them. It is about understanding your Wyrd and working for the best within it, not trying to fight against it or to deny the forces of nature or the spiritual world.
The Holly King is another of the Spiritual Warriors. He is the champion of Justice. His time of the year is the time just before Thule, the longest night. His tree, Holly, is an evergreen tree with stiff, sharply pointed leaves. Holly leaves show us, in themselves, an example of the message of Tinne. They are soft in the summer when other leaves are abundant but stiffen and sharpen their spines when winter comes and browsing animals will want to eat them.
These would seem to be very grim symbols, but we must keep in mind that the modern image of the Holly King is Santa Claus, the old gent who keeps a list and rewards the just with longed-for toys and punishes the unjust with lumps of coal. We can ask for his help if we remember that his only agenda is for justice, so we must examine the struggle for signs of selfishness, self-indulgence, or willful delusion before we enter into it.
For centuries the message of Tinne has been, "I am a battle-raging spear." The spear is the symbol of the rune that is paired with Tinne, the rune Tyr, the spear of sacrifice and accomplishment. Tinne and Tyr also stand for victory in any sort of competition that uses strength and power in a balanced manner. Not generally a war of words, more common in the technological age, but any athletic competition or contest using a physical skill. In a mythic sense, any struggle that is using unfair power or overwhelming dominance in an unbalanced way is the battleground of Tinne. Although the Holly King can be a daunting figure, the message of Tinne is one of triumph. The spear is an immensely powerful magical weapon that can be sent a great distance when strongly thrown and can defend a large safe area around an embattled warrior.
The card reversed is a warning of a lack of balance. You should look carefully at the basic motivations of yourself and your allies, the possible unexpected outcome of your actions, and the innocent people who might be swept aside in the struggle before you lend your strength to any action. Invoking the aid of the Holly King is something that should be carefully considered, because once he enters a struggle he will side with the just until victory is achieved.
Coll is the tree of wisdom and understanding. The message of Coll is not a direct one, but rather a story message that we can use as a kind of parable. In Irish mythology, the archtypical Hazel tree that grows in the Summer Country, Tir-na-Og, drops nuts of wisdom into the river of life. For centuries the nuts were eaten by the Salmon of Wisdom, who by eating them had gained an understanding of all things. The salmon is caught by an old Druid Priest who is cooking it with the help of Fionn, his pupil. The Druid warns Fionn that eating the salmon is forbidden. But, while working the spit over the fire, Fionn burns his thumb on the hot fat of the roasting fish and puts his thumb in his mouth to soothe it, thus gaining the powers of divination and foretelling the future as well as understanding the speech of all birds and animals. He grew up to become the heroic chief and war leader Finn MacCool, the main figure in one of the great cycles of Irish mythology.
This story and the message of Coll tell of a kind of understanding. There is the directed understanding of long study and research that gradually brings us to a planned goal, and the moment of serendipity when something happens to what we are working on and a completely unexpected but beneficial ending or discovery occurs. Coll is a combination of the two. Fionn was studying with the druid in order to gain understanding, but his eating the Salmon of Wisdom came about by accident. When illumination occurs we must know what we are looking at to understand it. We must have the background knowledge to interpret and use the conclusion. We must use the understanding in an appropriate way to benefit from it and further it.
This makes Coll a very useful card in Magic Workings when we are looking for understanding on a subject we are studying. The Rune paired with Coll is Cen, the rune of illumination. The shape of Cen is the opening of a lantern. To benefit from using a lantern we must know where to point it, and so to benefit from Coll we must know where to look. The card reversed tells us that there is a creative blockage or a misplacement that is keeping us from a conclusion.The symbol of Coll is the egg, echoing the egg shape of the hazel nuts, and indicating the useful meat hidden inside. On the Eightfold Year the time of the Spring Equinox is represented by Coll and the Egg which stand for the illumination and growth to come as spring advances. The Equinoxes are the balance points of the year when the day and night are equal. They are stock-taking points when we should think about ourselves and what we are doing. The message of Coll is a quiet one: "Look around. Consider. Bring yourself into balance and understanding."
Quert is the choice of beauty. Because it provides nourishment, the Apple is the tree of the Great Mother in Northern Europe and all of the other places cold enough for apple trees to prosper. Apples are also persistent trees that easily outlive the society that planted them. As we walk through what seems to us to be uncultivated forest we come upon apple trees flourishing on the edges of the brush, feeding deer and rabbits with the same abundance that they once did people. In North America, we are blessed by having other examples of these mysteries: the Great Mother is represented by the maple tree, whose sap feeds us, and the persistence of life by the Lilac.
In Wicca, as in many other religions, there is a coda to religious action which states, "As above, so below." This refers to the etheric link between the Spirit World and our mundane world. Just as the shadow of the farmyard persists around the apple that in the here-and-now is surrounded by woods so the shadow of the Spirit World persists around the idea of Quert like Avalon, the Apple Island, glimpsed through the mist off Cornwall. Another example of this concept of the hidden mystery inside the mundane appearance is the apple core. When we cut an apple in half, stem to bud end, there is nothing unusual to be seen. If we cut it across the middle, there is a pentagram revealed by the edges of the core. So we are reminded that there is Magic in everything if we look at it from the right angle.
The message of Quert is that there are choices to be made, and that the hidden will be revealed. In the Greek myth, Atlanta loses a race and agrees to marry because she stops to pick up the golden apples that her opponent and suitor has thrown in her path. This is always the case: when we make a choice we can no longer choose the other thing. Our life-path, our Wyrd, is the interaction between free will and fate. We perceive opportunities and act on one of them: fate offers us the choice between winning the race or having the apple. The card reversed tells us that a choice must be made, that life is never static.
The rune paired with Quert is Peorth. Some see this rune as the dice cup, where the hidden is revealed when the dice are thrown and direct action and fate come together. This is an acceptable explanation but, I think, not deep enough. The womb is the cup that reveals the greatest mystery to all of us when we make the journey from the Spirit World to be born. We go from fetus to baby, draw our first breath, and choose life. The moment of birth, like the moment of motherhood, is a pivotal one where all the layers of life tip over together for a heartbeat. The heartbeat of the baby, the heartbeat of the mother, and the heartbeat of the Great Mother who gave birth to and loves everything, all ring together.
The vine of muin is the berry vine, and so the image is that of the bramble thicket. This is a symbol with a wealth of meanings. The traditional symbolic meaning of Muin is to range over a wide area and gather together useful things. This would seem to be about possessions but it is not really about material things but about understanding. The line about Muin in the centuries-old Druid Ogham poem is, "I am a hill of Poetry." The Celts did not view poetry as a literary process or as a form of self-expression but as a means of making Magic and understanding their world. Learning required memorizing long teaching poems, allusive lists, and mystical riddles. Once they were committed to memory, since writing down Magic was forbidden, they needed to be protected.
Just as the ancient Irish made walls out of bundles of thorny branches to protect their cattle and settlements so they would put Muin up as protective walls in their minds to keep their learning safe. The hill in the Ogham poem is the hill-fort, the place where all of the community gathers to be protected in times of trouble. The hill-fort is the seat of the local king's court, the location of the Druid's college, and the vantage point from which the sentries keep watch. The hill is Poetry, symbolic of the precious learning and wisdom protected inside, and also of the beauties of Nature.
A modern image of Muin is the thorn hedge around Sleeping Beauty's castle. The personification of the Maiden Goddess sleeps inside and can be awakened by the completion of a magical quest. Another image is Br'er Rabbit's brier patch where he is safe and can venture forth to gain what he needs. The rune Thorn is associated with the ogham Bramble. Thorn and Bramble both have a common secondary meaning: they scratch at the same time that they keep out intruders. Acquiring knowledge and keeping precious things safe always has some cost; in time, in trouble, in giving up some other path. Focusing on a certain path or way of study always means shutting out something else. The choice must be made with understanding, trying to recognize the validity that rests in other choices.
The symbolic berry vine includes the symbolic berry. A high point of any summer is the family or group expedition to go berry picking. All the pickers, from the least to the eldest, are able to contribute to the sweet harvest. Some are enjoyed at once (some are always eaten in the field) and some are distilled down into a delicious treasure for enjoyment all year long. With its thorns, Muin protects the fruits of learning and understanding.
Another way to express this meaning is by the modern saying, "Knowledge is Power." Learning about things is the purest and best kind of possession. If we learn about anything we can: history, philosophy, psychology, science; it is all useful and we end up by learning about ourselves. The reversed card warns us about closing ourselves off from learning and being intractable. The message of Muin is, "Know yourself by looking outward."
Gort and Muin form a pair, one looking outward and one inward. Both are different kinds of vines, and different kinds of self-knowledge. Although it has no thorns, Ivy is a bitter, dusty vine that can crumble walls and kill its support trees if it is left to grow unchecked. Gort must be treated with respect and balance.
Gort is the spiral labyrinth, symbol of the spiral search for self with the clear blue sky at its center. In the modern Irish language Gort means hunger or need. The message of the ogham Gort is that there are changes necessary before growth can begin or groundwork that is needed to facilitate balance and understanding. In the Ancient Irish mind, hunger and famine are inextricably linked. Hunger does not refer to the feeling you get just before a meal, but to the want of some necessary thing that cannot be supplied. In the hard time of the winter, hunger can easily become famine if the supplies of the tribe cannot be stretched until the spring. Hunger can also exist on the spiritual plane, and refer to the desire for learning, understanding, or the betterment of one's life. The paired rune is Nyd, the need rune that says something is lacking.
If the necessary thing is not supplied, then the course of the life, the tribe, or the history of the land is altered. If the time of need is worked through, and the center is reached, then fulfillment and understanding are achieved. The fire festival of Imbolc is the seasonal point that has this meaning. It is not spring, but we can see spring at a distance in the center of the labyrinth. If all goes well, we will progress from the tipping of the year up the circle to the true point of balance at the Equinox and on to the bright half of the year.
The Sow is the animal symbol. Pigs in the ancient world were not the fat pink domestic animals we think of today, but semi-feral animals that foraged through the woods loosely watched by herdsman. They were a valuable source of food but could also be quite dangerous. One of the most potent and fearful Goddess images is the sow that eats her own young. Pigs are tender and very protective mothers, but if they are poorly cared for or put under too much stress or abused they may respond by neurotically eating their piglets.
We tend to think of self-discovery as an unreservedly good thing but, in fact, it is a path full of pitfalls. Shutting out the outside world and focusing on only our own thoughts, feelings, ideas, and needs can easily be addictive. This is the message of Gort reversed, to beware of selfishness and self-absorption. On the other hand, not listening to the distractions of the superficial world can free us to hear the music of the spheres or the trees singing the great ohmn, to see the blue sky in its lucid simplicity, and to find peace and balance. The message of Gort is "Know yourself by looking inward."
NgEtal is the reed of thatch, floor coverings, measuring sticks, and pens. In the older world reeds were important in everyday living both for common folk and for the gentry. Everyday maintenance is, however, more of a concern to poorer people with fewer reserves to fall back on. If you live in a thatched hut thatch is more important than it is if you live in the manor. NgEtal is the ogham of the maintenance of order, of the preservation of the right way.
Both the Norse and the Irish placed great value on the rights of the common man and the concurrent responsibilities of the ruling class. Modern North American law is based on the Norman/English model, where all people have a duty upwards to the class over theirs ending in the king who rules by divine right and has a duty only to God. Ancient Ireland and the Celtic communities in Britain were ruled by Brehon Law until those lands were conquered and placed under Norman rule.
Brehon Law details the value and rights of all members of society including the poorest peasants, women, livestock, farmland, wild animals, and trees. All people had responsibilities downwards to the people poorer or weaker than they culminating in the king who was responsible for the well-being of all the people under his rule. Any person under him could accuse him of unfairness or selfishness and be heard by the specialist in remembering and applying the law, the Brehon. No member of society was above the law. In extreme cases, if the king was found to be flawed he could be deposed by vote and a new king elected.
NgEtal is also one of the spiritual warriors. Unlike the other warriors, who are noble, he is the warrior of the common man. An example of the archetype that he represents is the folk hero we call Robin Hood, who stole from the oppressive rich and gave to the deserving poor. He is the warrior for those who suffer and have no resources or champion. Many cultures gave the role of preservation of order to a household god. The Norse god's name was Ing, the god who guards the hearth fire or inglenook. The rune Ing is the obvious pair of NgEtal.
The bird symbol of NgEtal is the gray goose. They are useful birds, providing pens, down, and food but they are also life-mates and live and travel in an orderly and directed routine. Goose quills provide fletching for arrows, the weapon of Robin Hood and of the common man. The secondary meaning of NgEtal is stored potential released, like an arrow towards a target or like male potency.
We think of geese as a fall bird because they migrate away from us in the autumn. The festival of Lammas, when the corn god is cut down in the field, is a festival of Ing; just as Robin Hood, mortally wounded in his struggle for fairness, was carried to the window to shoot one last arrow to mark his grave in the Greenwood.
We can use NgEtal in spell working, not for individual gains, but for the benefit of all. The message of NgEtal is to aim the arrow at the correct target, to always consider the balance of Nature, and to share in the common good. The message of the reversed card is to remind us to have a clear purpose and good sight of the goal before letting loose.
Straif is the tree of Samhain, the beginning of the dark half of the year. Its message is that the forces of change are working through our life. Straif is the root word for the English word strife and this ogham, one of the oracular oghams, tells us that we are going to be acted upon by Fate until it will seem that we are brought to the point of no return or of feeling that there is no way left open before us. Another word deriving from this same root, however, is strive. We can let the clouds overwhelm us, or we can struggle to find our way. However Fate acts on us we can decide how to respond.
Whitethorn and Blackthorn are closely related trees. Whitethorn, though, focuses on the growing season and the flowers. Blackthorn sends a message of the fierce thorns and the strong cudgel that can be made from the trunk. The rune with this message is the Rune Hagal, the rune of the hailstorm. Straif is the storm-bringer. Both the rune and the ogham stand for disruption and the destruction of our clear path.
The Thrush is the bird paired with Straif. In the same way that the Raven carries messages from the Gods in Tir-na-Og, the Thrush is an oracle in the mundane world of our Wyrd, or life-path. The Thrush knows us through and through, our unvoiced motivations and desires. He can break through the shell of our preconceptions, like breaking the shell of a snail on a rock, and cause us to see our deepest selves. Breaking our superficial image, breaking through the rocks that stand in our way, is destructive but brings us to a clearer understanding and vision. The storm can jolt us out of the easy way we have picked through laziness or selfishness and into a higher path. No matter how attractive the path we have chosen is, our Wyrd shows us that we are capable of more by showing us this ogham.
Sometimes the storm clears the air for what is to follow. We have all experienced the brilliant sunshine and special freshness that come after a storm. Because storms come into our life whether we will it or no, this ogham has no reversal. When the disruption is past we must see what has weathered the storm, where we need to make repairs, and what has not lasted and must be replaced. This is the time to decide if changes should be made, and to benefit from what we have learned.
We should remember that this is an oracular card, not an evil one. There is always a message being sent that we should be looking for in the events. A warning that is listened to is far more helpful than one that is ignored. We should look into the heart of the mystery rather than close our eyes to it.
Ruis is the tree of the Norns. The Norns are the Northern Archetypes of the prophetic goddesses that Southern Europe called the Fates. They are the old woman who looks to the past, the young woman who lives in the present, and the veiled woman who sees the future. Another one of their descriptions is the one who spins, the one who draws the thread, and the one who cuts the thread off. When we select three runes to answer a question, this is called "asking the Norns" because the Norns are spiritual council-givers, and we get one piece of advice from each Norn.
Elder is the tree of Ruis. It has a shrubby, multi-stemmed growth habit. When it is trimmed it grows back many new trunks from the original roots. The message of Ruis is to remember the circularity of life, that the beginning and the end are parts of the same whole. There is no reversal of this card just as there is no reversal of a circle. One of the lessons that any of the sets of Triple Goddesses teach us is that life progresses and changes. The Irish Triple Goddess shows us appropriate models for the different stages of life. As we age, we step naturally into the next persona and learn the wisdom of that Goddess. The Norns show us how all stages of life can co-operate and achieve their goals together. The message of all the Goddesses is that change is natural and we should change with it.
The Elder has little white flowers like flakes of snow that turn into dark-staining berries. A covering of snow changes the appearance of things and elder berries make a purple dye; thus the rune paired with Ruis is Rad, the rune of transformation. Elder berries can also be made into wine, effecting physic transformation. When there is change, we must look under the covering of snow, through the dye, and beyond the effervescence to the reality.
The bird of Ruis is the grackle, the North American equivalent of the rook. Grackles fly in big flocks, all turning and wheeling together as one in the same way that the Norns each understand the purpose of the all and act together simultaneously.
Ruis is one of the oracular trees, but the message it sends is often not a specific one or one easy to interpret. Ruis sends the message of right balance; to find the center of the circle and spin there, aware of the all.
Зовется она Ancient Irish Tree Cards, автор - Джудит О'Грэди (Judith O'Grady). Колода и впрямь выпускалась очень ограниченным тиражом (если вообще не единственным экземпляром) для Lake of Oaks Protogrove, канадского подразделения международной неодруидической организации Ár nDraíocht Féin, ADF. Автор рисунков на картах - Шэннон Дарх (Shannon Darch).
Пока что выкладываем оригинальные описания карт на английском, позже будет и переведенный вариант.
ЧАСТЬ 1 | ЧАСТЬ 2
Акмэ Бьех
1. Бьех
Beith is the maiden tree, the first of the three Goddess trees. Many ancient cultures use the image of the Triple Goddess. Both the three Fates from Southern European symbology and the Norns from the Norse are personifications of this archtype. The ancient Irish Triple Goddess is both like and unlike these concepts. Like the other triads, the Irish triple Goddess is three women at three life stages, each with her own viewpoint and message. Unlike the Norse or the Romans, the Irish viewed the Triple Goddess as three stages of one single life, or as three different manifestations of the same deity, the Great Goddess Bride. The modern personification of the Goddess Bride is Gaia, the totality of the world. So, for the Irish, the triple goddesses all partook of the same store of universal knowledge and the form they wore was part of the message they were bringing to the listener.
The Maiden is the life stage when adult life is beginning, menarche is past and the girl is beginning to be comfortable with her adult body and to be interested in adult sexual contact. Seasonally, it is the full rush of Spring, the beginning of the bright half of the year at May first, or Mayday. Mayday is the point on the mythical cycle when the Maiden Goddess and the Young God, the Green Man of the woods, become lovers. They engender the child who will be born at the tipping of the year, nine months later, at Imbolc. Historically the Mayday festival was a time for lovers to declare themselves and to begin marriage contracts. Maypoles were made out of birch saplings, and brooms were made from birch twigs to sweep away the remnants of the old, dark time and start afresh. The old saying, "The new broom sweeps clean" comes from this practice.
читать дальшеBirches have this meaning in all of the cultures that they grow in. The rune that Beith is paired with is also birch, or Beorc, with the same meaning of beginning and the same beautiful symbol of Spring. The image of the shining green of new birch leaves, the contrast of the white trunks and spring flowers underneath is the picture of the future clear and bright. The bird connected to this tree is the robin, also the symbol of Spring and a fresh start.
This is the time to start a new project, to make agreements and contracts. The message this card sends is that it is time to begin. The time of preparation is past, difficulties have been overcome, and a new beginning can be made with confidence of success. If you have not been planning for a change, than this may be an indication that something is coming and to be prepared, not to let an opportunity pass. Beith reversed tells us that the way must be cleared first, that there is something to be finished and put away before a new beginning can be made. This is a happy, uncomplicated card with the message, "Go ahead! Begin! Take a risk and succeed!".
2. Льис
In North America, this tree is the Mountain Ash. The same tree in Europe is called the Rowan and has been used since pre-history as a protection against enchantment and evil. For thousands of years people have planted rowans in front of their front doors to turn away evil in all forms, as ill-wishing and evil spell-casting and physical harm. Several years ago, I went to a friend's housewarming party in her newly built sub-development. As often happens, she asked me to identify the tiny tree the landscapers had planted outside her door, and to tell her about its significance. She turned on the outside light and I went back outside to find that it was a Rowan. I have since noticed that Mountain Ashes are often the saplings in the front yards of new-built houses. Of course, they are attractive, quick growing, hardy trees and so a logical choice but this is, to me, an example of the spirit world and the mundane world intersecting.
Making and carrying a little universal cross (one with both arms equal) of Rowan twigs bound with red thread will protect you personally in the same way that a Rowan tree protects your home. The rune that is paired with Luis is the rune of protection, Elhaz, the warding sign. These are the tree and rune most often used in spellcasting and charm making. This use of Luis and Elhaz are an illustration of the first principle of Wicca, "An it harm none, do as ye will." The rune that is paired with Luis is the rune of protection, Elhaz, the warding sign. These are the tree and rune most often used in spellcasting and charm making. An ethical witch cannot cast a spell against someone, but only against the harm directed at her.
In a reading, the message of this card is positive and not negative. It does not tell us that there are things threatening us from outside because we all know already that the world can be a dangerous place. Instead it reminds us that we are already protected and to employ our protections without fear. The card reversed tells us much the same thing, that we should use common sense to overcome what threatens us.
Some of the Ogham are magical weapons, which can be employed against things threatening us. Some of the Ogham are magical warriors, who can be asked to help us. Some are messengers from the Spirit world, alerting us to sendings. Luis has some of all of these qualities, but it is not a personification of a weapon, warrior, or message. It is the personification of the sanctity of the home, and the sacred need for security in our own space.
If we direct all of our energies towards blocking any possible bad or unforeseen outcome then we are left with no energy for forward motion at all. Our Wyrd, or Fate, will sometimes bring us things that are troublesome or disruptive no matter how we try to protect ourselves. We should not refuse to see what we do not welcome but instead pick out the good learning experiences that are imbedded in all unfortunate happenings, send back to the originator the evil, and rise above the sorrow or trouble with confidence.
3. Фьярн
Alder is one of the oracular trees, and sends us the message that we should pay particular attention to what is happening all around us. Fearn is a tree that, when cut down, will send up new shoots from the old stump. In mystical terms, it is as if the tree is still there even when it is removed, and can return. It is a water-resistant wood, and was used in ancient times for foundations and bridge piers. Alders nowadays rarely become full-grown trees, but are mostly found as small, brushy groups of shrubs in swampy areas. Swamps are one of the in-between things that are in the mundane and the shadow world at once. Dawn, twilight, the tidal zone of the sea, and the marshy edges of bodies of water are all places where the boundary between one thing and the other is inexact.
All around us there exists the collective unconscious of the mind of humankind. We have an understanding of all forms of life inside us on a cellular level in our DNA. We feel the pre-language emotions of animals in our reptile brain. We can, with practice, bring ourselves into communication with the mystical world and see the real and the ideal superimposed one on top of another. Almost everything that we see around us or that happens to us is both itself and more than itself simultaneously. This Ogham reminds us to try to extrapolate a more universal meaning from an immediate happening; to make connections between events and meanings.
The Raven is the bird connected to this tree. Ravens are carriers of prophecy and wisdom in many cultures. Two Ravens, Thought and Memory, sit on Odin's shoulders. Ravens fly with the Morrigan to battlefields. Just as Alder is built into bridges in the real world so Ravens create bridges between the real and the Spirit World. The archetypes of the Great Goddess and the Spiritual Warriors are sending the Raven with messages from the Spirit World to us but those messages also manifest in the mundane world in ordinary people and events, giving things in the mundane world double meanings.
The message of Fearn is that we should look for the message we are already being sent in some more ordinary form. Reversed, it means that we are not paying attention and are missing the point. The Rune connected to Fearn is Mannaz, the rune of all humankind or the archtypical human being. The wisdom of all ages of man and nature will give us oracular guidance if we pay attention to it.
4. Саил
The Willow is a lunar and water tree. Saille is a tree connected to the mother and to the nurturing side of our natures rather than the warrior side. One way to say this would be to say that Saille is feminine rather than masculine, but this is only true if we keep in mind that all of us are both feminine and masculine. Being connected to the Mother is completely universal because we were once all helpless babies depending on our mothers. So can we all look to the Great Mother for help, care, and understanding.
It is vital to understand how important water is to us, both as a symbol and as an actuality. We are conceived in wetness and develop in our own sac of water until we are ready to be born. Biologically, we are mostly water on the inside and must constantly replenish ourselves to remain wet enough to live. Ecologically, the health of our water supplies is the indicator of our quality of life. World-wide, the cycle of water being drawn up and released governs the planet's weather, affecting every part of humankind and our well being.
The importance of water to us in the real world is mirrored by its symbolic importance in the spirit world. Water is the element of the West. It is the element of life and of mystery. It is the paradigm of the spirit world itself: we need it to live but we cannot live wholly in it without drowning. We must refresh ourselves in the spirit world but we cannot immerse ourselves in it.
Willows bend gracefully over the water and move gently with every breeze. When great storms come parts of the trunk or major branches may be broken off, but the main tree will adapt and survive. Often the broken portions will grow where they have fallen spanning the stream. This is the message of Saille; to go with the flow and to maintain spiritual balance. Balance and tranquillity are the watchwords. The card reversed tells us that we are lacking in balance and that we should bring the different parts of our lives into harmony. Lagu is the corresponding rune, the water rune of flow.
The message is not one of inaction, however. The bird symbol is the kingfisher, a water bird. Kingfishers will sit on a branch overhanging the water, still and balanced. They seem to be immobile but they are actually alert to every detail of their surroundings and when the opportunity is at hand they hurtle into the water and reappear with a fish. This card tells us to bend and adapt but to also be alert and ready to act when necessary.
5. Ньин
Yggdrassill, the world tree that supports and binds together all the layers of the universe, is an Ash tree. The Ash is the major oracular tree in all the Northern cultures. Just as in Beith, the rune and the ogham use the same symbol and have very similar meanings. Nuin is the ogham, As is the rune of the Ash tree. The meaning is that messages have been or will be sent, and to be alert to them. Unlike the other oracular trees, the messages being sent by Nuin are always of great importance and can be life changing. We can expect when we choose this card that some event will occur that will affect more than ourselves.
Although in general it is a dangerous temptation to put ourselves in the hero spot or star role of an unfolding story, often the message of Nuin is that we do have a decisive part to play in larger events. We may be able to bring a needed skill, knowledge, or attribute to an important effort; or we may be called upon for an action or sacrifice. In the Northern mythos, Odin is the archetype for sacrifice. He gave one of his eyes in exchange for a drink of water from the well of knowledge at the base of the world tree, and hung on Yggdrassill for several days and nights to learn the meanings of the runes. Thought and Memory, the two ravens, fly over the Middle World and return to sit on Odin's shoulders to tell him what they have seen. Thus, knowledge of the Middle World and understanding of the Spirit World are his rewards for personal sacrifice.
The demands that follow this omen can be serious, but they will not be beyond our strength. We must look inside ourselves for what we already know but have not yet perceived. Ash trees produce distinctive seeds, or keys. These are the symbol that we have the keys to understanding available to us. We should be prepared to follow honest advice, and to think globally about the effects of our local actions. The card reversed tells us to avoid insularity and biased opinions.
Wands are made of ash wood, in order to open a channel from the Spirit World to the mundane world. Wands or staffs are one of the magical weapons, but one which has always resonated with magic. Even in the days when arrows, bows, and spears were unremarkable tools of war, wands and staffs had a glamour around them. They can, now as then, only be used with knowledge and understanding. Ash wands, leaves, or keys can be used in spellworking to show our readiness to receive messages but we cannot, of course, force the cosmos to direct itself along the path we choose. This ogham reminds us of our very small part in the all, and we should remember this in our dealings with others and with the greater world.
Акмэ Хуах.
6. Хуах
Huathe is another of the oracular trees, with a special message from the Irish Crone Goddess or from Urd, the eldest Norn. The Norse, always a practical people, saw the past as the special province of the eldest Norn because the oldest would have the greatest knowledge of the past. She speaks about how the actions and events of the past will affect us in the here and now. The future, the Norse felt, was unknowable and so is the province of the veiled Norn about whom nothing is known and who rarely speaks.
The ancient Irish, however, saw the Triple Goddess as three facets of the same persona all of whom know all. The Crone Goddess is the oldest of the three Goddesses and speaks prophetically about the future, often about death. The eldest, the Irish felt, can give us valuable advice about the future from their stores of wisdom and experience. In both cases the persona of the future can also be the personifier of Death. This is logical since death is at the end of all of our futures, however distant. Often the Crone Goddess comes to warriors before battles in Irish legends to help them avoid mistakes and to make the best out of their inevitable end.
Huathe shows us the power of the otherworld and how it interconnects with the mundane world. The three Goddess trees: Beith, Quert, and Huathe are linked and Huathe is paired as well with Straif, the trees which are Whitethorn and Blackthorn. Because it has such a pivotal connection with these trees we must carefully look at the other cards we have drawn and slowly extract the meaning. The advice of the oldest Goddesses, while freely given, is not always easy to understand and can be confusing.
Huathe is not always the voice of doom and foreboding but it is always a warning, both in the upright and the reversed position. The crow is the animal symbol of this ogham. Crows are suspicious and watchful birds, and act as the alarm system of the animal world. They will watch us and report on our whereabouts and actions to the world at large as we walk by them. In mythology, crows are viewed as knowing what is happening all around them and seeing more about the outcomes than the human actors but rarely helping out with advice. People in legends mostly get help from the crows by overhearing them talking about events to the other mythical beings.
Where they grow as a native tree, hawthorn hedges are covered thickly with white blossoms in the spring. This time is known as Hawthorn Winter. Thus the ogham Huathe is paired with Is, the standstill rune of ice. These images give us the tree's meaning: to stop and wait. Huathe signals a period of restraint. Sometimes this can be a sexual restraint, sometimes an adoption of a passive stance or a wait-and-see attitude. When we are deciding on a course of action, we can see Huathe as the mystic Granny with the crow on her shoulder as her familiar. The voice of the old Wisewoman is like the warning cry of the Crow, warning us about the possible bad outcomes of heedless action.
7. Дуир
Duir is the doorway tree. It is the symbol of protection and solidity, strongly barring the way to things that should not enter as well as opening to allow the entrance of things that are welcome. This magical ability to do two things, to tell the difference between good and evil, makes Duir a valuable aid in doing magical work since it helps and strengthens our intentions. We can use oak as a protective charm for our houses and possessions, but also as a strong ally for ourselves.
The Oak King, the Young King or the Green Man, is the mythic representative of Duir. We can ask his aid in positive undertakings, especially those with some element of danger. He is one of the righteous warriors in the cosmos. The Arthurian figure of the king pulling the sword from the stone and the whole mythos of the perfect knight of chivalry are personifications of this Archtype. Protection is his provenance, and this is the message of the card when drawn reversed: that we are in a weakened position or that some threatening event is coming but that we have aid we can freely draw on to help us. This idea is also expressed in nature and in the spirit world by the Oak struck by lightning, but growing even though it is split.
The rune Dag and the ogham Duir are both Oak and both have the same symbolic meanings. They stand for the top of the year cycle, Litha or Midsummer, which is the festival of the longest day. This is the peak of growing things and the triumph of light over darkness. Light and Darkness are always engaged in a struggle as a necessary part of the wheel of life. Neither one can completely conquer the other, and nothing in life is ever purely one or the other. The symbol of Dag, the double-headed ax that cuts both ways, is a reminder of this.
This is not a gloomy or forboding symbol, however. The other representation of this same symbol is the butterfly. The bird symbol of Duir is the wren. The wren is the king of the birds, even though it is small and timid. Each wren is tiny, but the tribe of Wren is strong and lasting. Each butterfly is fragile, but the nation of Butterfly is everywhere. Each acorn is insignificant, but the Oak is a mighty tree growing for hundreds of years and lasting through storms and lightning strikes. Autumn oak leaves are brown and dull, but they stay on the tree until the new leaves of spring.
The message of the card is a comforting one," Everything will work out."
8. Тьинэн
Tinne is the Holly King's tree. In one small sense he is the antithesis of Duir, the young king, but to view them as opposites is very misleading. The old religion is not about opposites but about opposing forces and being in balance with them. It is about understanding your Wyrd and working for the best within it, not trying to fight against it or to deny the forces of nature or the spiritual world.
The Holly King is another of the Spiritual Warriors. He is the champion of Justice. His time of the year is the time just before Thule, the longest night. His tree, Holly, is an evergreen tree with stiff, sharply pointed leaves. Holly leaves show us, in themselves, an example of the message of Tinne. They are soft in the summer when other leaves are abundant but stiffen and sharpen their spines when winter comes and browsing animals will want to eat them.
These would seem to be very grim symbols, but we must keep in mind that the modern image of the Holly King is Santa Claus, the old gent who keeps a list and rewards the just with longed-for toys and punishes the unjust with lumps of coal. We can ask for his help if we remember that his only agenda is for justice, so we must examine the struggle for signs of selfishness, self-indulgence, or willful delusion before we enter into it.
For centuries the message of Tinne has been, "I am a battle-raging spear." The spear is the symbol of the rune that is paired with Tinne, the rune Tyr, the spear of sacrifice and accomplishment. Tinne and Tyr also stand for victory in any sort of competition that uses strength and power in a balanced manner. Not generally a war of words, more common in the technological age, but any athletic competition or contest using a physical skill. In a mythic sense, any struggle that is using unfair power or overwhelming dominance in an unbalanced way is the battleground of Tinne. Although the Holly King can be a daunting figure, the message of Tinne is one of triumph. The spear is an immensely powerful magical weapon that can be sent a great distance when strongly thrown and can defend a large safe area around an embattled warrior.
The card reversed is a warning of a lack of balance. You should look carefully at the basic motivations of yourself and your allies, the possible unexpected outcome of your actions, and the innocent people who might be swept aside in the struggle before you lend your strength to any action. Invoking the aid of the Holly King is something that should be carefully considered, because once he enters a struggle he will side with the just until victory is achieved.
9. Колл
Coll is the tree of wisdom and understanding. The message of Coll is not a direct one, but rather a story message that we can use as a kind of parable. In Irish mythology, the archtypical Hazel tree that grows in the Summer Country, Tir-na-Og, drops nuts of wisdom into the river of life. For centuries the nuts were eaten by the Salmon of Wisdom, who by eating them had gained an understanding of all things. The salmon is caught by an old Druid Priest who is cooking it with the help of Fionn, his pupil. The Druid warns Fionn that eating the salmon is forbidden. But, while working the spit over the fire, Fionn burns his thumb on the hot fat of the roasting fish and puts his thumb in his mouth to soothe it, thus gaining the powers of divination and foretelling the future as well as understanding the speech of all birds and animals. He grew up to become the heroic chief and war leader Finn MacCool, the main figure in one of the great cycles of Irish mythology.
This story and the message of Coll tell of a kind of understanding. There is the directed understanding of long study and research that gradually brings us to a planned goal, and the moment of serendipity when something happens to what we are working on and a completely unexpected but beneficial ending or discovery occurs. Coll is a combination of the two. Fionn was studying with the druid in order to gain understanding, but his eating the Salmon of Wisdom came about by accident. When illumination occurs we must know what we are looking at to understand it. We must have the background knowledge to interpret and use the conclusion. We must use the understanding in an appropriate way to benefit from it and further it.
This makes Coll a very useful card in Magic Workings when we are looking for understanding on a subject we are studying. The Rune paired with Coll is Cen, the rune of illumination. The shape of Cen is the opening of a lantern. To benefit from using a lantern we must know where to point it, and so to benefit from Coll we must know where to look. The card reversed tells us that there is a creative blockage or a misplacement that is keeping us from a conclusion.The symbol of Coll is the egg, echoing the egg shape of the hazel nuts, and indicating the useful meat hidden inside. On the Eightfold Year the time of the Spring Equinox is represented by Coll and the Egg which stand for the illumination and growth to come as spring advances. The Equinoxes are the balance points of the year when the day and night are equal. They are stock-taking points when we should think about ourselves and what we are doing. The message of Coll is a quiet one: "Look around. Consider. Bring yourself into balance and understanding."
10. Куэрт
Quert is the choice of beauty. Because it provides nourishment, the Apple is the tree of the Great Mother in Northern Europe and all of the other places cold enough for apple trees to prosper. Apples are also persistent trees that easily outlive the society that planted them. As we walk through what seems to us to be uncultivated forest we come upon apple trees flourishing on the edges of the brush, feeding deer and rabbits with the same abundance that they once did people. In North America, we are blessed by having other examples of these mysteries: the Great Mother is represented by the maple tree, whose sap feeds us, and the persistence of life by the Lilac.
In Wicca, as in many other religions, there is a coda to religious action which states, "As above, so below." This refers to the etheric link between the Spirit World and our mundane world. Just as the shadow of the farmyard persists around the apple that in the here-and-now is surrounded by woods so the shadow of the Spirit World persists around the idea of Quert like Avalon, the Apple Island, glimpsed through the mist off Cornwall. Another example of this concept of the hidden mystery inside the mundane appearance is the apple core. When we cut an apple in half, stem to bud end, there is nothing unusual to be seen. If we cut it across the middle, there is a pentagram revealed by the edges of the core. So we are reminded that there is Magic in everything if we look at it from the right angle.
The message of Quert is that there are choices to be made, and that the hidden will be revealed. In the Greek myth, Atlanta loses a race and agrees to marry because she stops to pick up the golden apples that her opponent and suitor has thrown in her path. This is always the case: when we make a choice we can no longer choose the other thing. Our life-path, our Wyrd, is the interaction between free will and fate. We perceive opportunities and act on one of them: fate offers us the choice between winning the race or having the apple. The card reversed tells us that a choice must be made, that life is never static.
The rune paired with Quert is Peorth. Some see this rune as the dice cup, where the hidden is revealed when the dice are thrown and direct action and fate come together. This is an acceptable explanation but, I think, not deep enough. The womb is the cup that reveals the greatest mystery to all of us when we make the journey from the Spirit World to be born. We go from fetus to baby, draw our first breath, and choose life. The moment of birth, like the moment of motherhood, is a pivotal one where all the layers of life tip over together for a heartbeat. The heartbeat of the baby, the heartbeat of the mother, and the heartbeat of the Great Mother who gave birth to and loves everything, all ring together.
Акмэ Муин.
11. Муин
The vine of muin is the berry vine, and so the image is that of the bramble thicket. This is a symbol with a wealth of meanings. The traditional symbolic meaning of Muin is to range over a wide area and gather together useful things. This would seem to be about possessions but it is not really about material things but about understanding. The line about Muin in the centuries-old Druid Ogham poem is, "I am a hill of Poetry." The Celts did not view poetry as a literary process or as a form of self-expression but as a means of making Magic and understanding their world. Learning required memorizing long teaching poems, allusive lists, and mystical riddles. Once they were committed to memory, since writing down Magic was forbidden, they needed to be protected.
Just as the ancient Irish made walls out of bundles of thorny branches to protect their cattle and settlements so they would put Muin up as protective walls in their minds to keep their learning safe. The hill in the Ogham poem is the hill-fort, the place where all of the community gathers to be protected in times of trouble. The hill-fort is the seat of the local king's court, the location of the Druid's college, and the vantage point from which the sentries keep watch. The hill is Poetry, symbolic of the precious learning and wisdom protected inside, and also of the beauties of Nature.
A modern image of Muin is the thorn hedge around Sleeping Beauty's castle. The personification of the Maiden Goddess sleeps inside and can be awakened by the completion of a magical quest. Another image is Br'er Rabbit's brier patch where he is safe and can venture forth to gain what he needs. The rune Thorn is associated with the ogham Bramble. Thorn and Bramble both have a common secondary meaning: they scratch at the same time that they keep out intruders. Acquiring knowledge and keeping precious things safe always has some cost; in time, in trouble, in giving up some other path. Focusing on a certain path or way of study always means shutting out something else. The choice must be made with understanding, trying to recognize the validity that rests in other choices.
The symbolic berry vine includes the symbolic berry. A high point of any summer is the family or group expedition to go berry picking. All the pickers, from the least to the eldest, are able to contribute to the sweet harvest. Some are enjoyed at once (some are always eaten in the field) and some are distilled down into a delicious treasure for enjoyment all year long. With its thorns, Muin protects the fruits of learning and understanding.
Another way to express this meaning is by the modern saying, "Knowledge is Power." Learning about things is the purest and best kind of possession. If we learn about anything we can: history, philosophy, psychology, science; it is all useful and we end up by learning about ourselves. The reversed card warns us about closing ourselves off from learning and being intractable. The message of Muin is, "Know yourself by looking outward."
12. Горт
Gort and Muin form a pair, one looking outward and one inward. Both are different kinds of vines, and different kinds of self-knowledge. Although it has no thorns, Ivy is a bitter, dusty vine that can crumble walls and kill its support trees if it is left to grow unchecked. Gort must be treated with respect and balance.
Gort is the spiral labyrinth, symbol of the spiral search for self with the clear blue sky at its center. In the modern Irish language Gort means hunger or need. The message of the ogham Gort is that there are changes necessary before growth can begin or groundwork that is needed to facilitate balance and understanding. In the Ancient Irish mind, hunger and famine are inextricably linked. Hunger does not refer to the feeling you get just before a meal, but to the want of some necessary thing that cannot be supplied. In the hard time of the winter, hunger can easily become famine if the supplies of the tribe cannot be stretched until the spring. Hunger can also exist on the spiritual plane, and refer to the desire for learning, understanding, or the betterment of one's life. The paired rune is Nyd, the need rune that says something is lacking.
If the necessary thing is not supplied, then the course of the life, the tribe, or the history of the land is altered. If the time of need is worked through, and the center is reached, then fulfillment and understanding are achieved. The fire festival of Imbolc is the seasonal point that has this meaning. It is not spring, but we can see spring at a distance in the center of the labyrinth. If all goes well, we will progress from the tipping of the year up the circle to the true point of balance at the Equinox and on to the bright half of the year.
The Sow is the animal symbol. Pigs in the ancient world were not the fat pink domestic animals we think of today, but semi-feral animals that foraged through the woods loosely watched by herdsman. They were a valuable source of food but could also be quite dangerous. One of the most potent and fearful Goddess images is the sow that eats her own young. Pigs are tender and very protective mothers, but if they are poorly cared for or put under too much stress or abused they may respond by neurotically eating their piglets.
We tend to think of self-discovery as an unreservedly good thing but, in fact, it is a path full of pitfalls. Shutting out the outside world and focusing on only our own thoughts, feelings, ideas, and needs can easily be addictive. This is the message of Gort reversed, to beware of selfishness and self-absorption. On the other hand, not listening to the distractions of the superficial world can free us to hear the music of the spheres or the trees singing the great ohmn, to see the blue sky in its lucid simplicity, and to find peace and balance. The message of Gort is "Know yourself by looking inward."
13. Нгетал
NgEtal is the reed of thatch, floor coverings, measuring sticks, and pens. In the older world reeds were important in everyday living both for common folk and for the gentry. Everyday maintenance is, however, more of a concern to poorer people with fewer reserves to fall back on. If you live in a thatched hut thatch is more important than it is if you live in the manor. NgEtal is the ogham of the maintenance of order, of the preservation of the right way.
Both the Norse and the Irish placed great value on the rights of the common man and the concurrent responsibilities of the ruling class. Modern North American law is based on the Norman/English model, where all people have a duty upwards to the class over theirs ending in the king who rules by divine right and has a duty only to God. Ancient Ireland and the Celtic communities in Britain were ruled by Brehon Law until those lands were conquered and placed under Norman rule.
Brehon Law details the value and rights of all members of society including the poorest peasants, women, livestock, farmland, wild animals, and trees. All people had responsibilities downwards to the people poorer or weaker than they culminating in the king who was responsible for the well-being of all the people under his rule. Any person under him could accuse him of unfairness or selfishness and be heard by the specialist in remembering and applying the law, the Brehon. No member of society was above the law. In extreme cases, if the king was found to be flawed he could be deposed by vote and a new king elected.
NgEtal is also one of the spiritual warriors. Unlike the other warriors, who are noble, he is the warrior of the common man. An example of the archetype that he represents is the folk hero we call Robin Hood, who stole from the oppressive rich and gave to the deserving poor. He is the warrior for those who suffer and have no resources or champion. Many cultures gave the role of preservation of order to a household god. The Norse god's name was Ing, the god who guards the hearth fire or inglenook. The rune Ing is the obvious pair of NgEtal.
The bird symbol of NgEtal is the gray goose. They are useful birds, providing pens, down, and food but they are also life-mates and live and travel in an orderly and directed routine. Goose quills provide fletching for arrows, the weapon of Robin Hood and of the common man. The secondary meaning of NgEtal is stored potential released, like an arrow towards a target or like male potency.
We think of geese as a fall bird because they migrate away from us in the autumn. The festival of Lammas, when the corn god is cut down in the field, is a festival of Ing; just as Robin Hood, mortally wounded in his struggle for fairness, was carried to the window to shoot one last arrow to mark his grave in the Greenwood.
We can use NgEtal in spell working, not for individual gains, but for the benefit of all. The message of NgEtal is to aim the arrow at the correct target, to always consider the balance of Nature, and to share in the common good. The message of the reversed card is to remind us to have a clear purpose and good sight of the goal before letting loose.
14. Страф
Straif is the tree of Samhain, the beginning of the dark half of the year. Its message is that the forces of change are working through our life. Straif is the root word for the English word strife and this ogham, one of the oracular oghams, tells us that we are going to be acted upon by Fate until it will seem that we are brought to the point of no return or of feeling that there is no way left open before us. Another word deriving from this same root, however, is strive. We can let the clouds overwhelm us, or we can struggle to find our way. However Fate acts on us we can decide how to respond.
Whitethorn and Blackthorn are closely related trees. Whitethorn, though, focuses on the growing season and the flowers. Blackthorn sends a message of the fierce thorns and the strong cudgel that can be made from the trunk. The rune with this message is the Rune Hagal, the rune of the hailstorm. Straif is the storm-bringer. Both the rune and the ogham stand for disruption and the destruction of our clear path.
The Thrush is the bird paired with Straif. In the same way that the Raven carries messages from the Gods in Tir-na-Og, the Thrush is an oracle in the mundane world of our Wyrd, or life-path. The Thrush knows us through and through, our unvoiced motivations and desires. He can break through the shell of our preconceptions, like breaking the shell of a snail on a rock, and cause us to see our deepest selves. Breaking our superficial image, breaking through the rocks that stand in our way, is destructive but brings us to a clearer understanding and vision. The storm can jolt us out of the easy way we have picked through laziness or selfishness and into a higher path. No matter how attractive the path we have chosen is, our Wyrd shows us that we are capable of more by showing us this ogham.
Sometimes the storm clears the air for what is to follow. We have all experienced the brilliant sunshine and special freshness that come after a storm. Because storms come into our life whether we will it or no, this ogham has no reversal. When the disruption is past we must see what has weathered the storm, where we need to make repairs, and what has not lasted and must be replaced. This is the time to decide if changes should be made, and to benefit from what we have learned.
We should remember that this is an oracular card, not an evil one. There is always a message being sent that we should be looking for in the events. A warning that is listened to is far more helpful than one that is ignored. We should look into the heart of the mystery rather than close our eyes to it.
15. Руис
Ruis is the tree of the Norns. The Norns are the Northern Archetypes of the prophetic goddesses that Southern Europe called the Fates. They are the old woman who looks to the past, the young woman who lives in the present, and the veiled woman who sees the future. Another one of their descriptions is the one who spins, the one who draws the thread, and the one who cuts the thread off. When we select three runes to answer a question, this is called "asking the Norns" because the Norns are spiritual council-givers, and we get one piece of advice from each Norn.
Elder is the tree of Ruis. It has a shrubby, multi-stemmed growth habit. When it is trimmed it grows back many new trunks from the original roots. The message of Ruis is to remember the circularity of life, that the beginning and the end are parts of the same whole. There is no reversal of this card just as there is no reversal of a circle. One of the lessons that any of the sets of Triple Goddesses teach us is that life progresses and changes. The Irish Triple Goddess shows us appropriate models for the different stages of life. As we age, we step naturally into the next persona and learn the wisdom of that Goddess. The Norns show us how all stages of life can co-operate and achieve their goals together. The message of all the Goddesses is that change is natural and we should change with it.
The Elder has little white flowers like flakes of snow that turn into dark-staining berries. A covering of snow changes the appearance of things and elder berries make a purple dye; thus the rune paired with Ruis is Rad, the rune of transformation. Elder berries can also be made into wine, effecting physic transformation. When there is change, we must look under the covering of snow, through the dye, and beyond the effervescence to the reality.
The bird of Ruis is the grackle, the North American equivalent of the rook. Grackles fly in big flocks, all turning and wheeling together as one in the same way that the Norns each understand the purpose of the all and act together simultaneously.
Ruis is one of the oracular trees, but the message it sends is often not a specific one or one easy to interpret. Ruis sends the message of right balance; to find the center of the circle and spin there, aware of the all.
ЧАСТЬ 1 | ЧАСТЬ 2
@темы: символы, Огам, арт, растения, колоды, акмэ Бьех, фэды, акмэ Хуах, акмэ Муин
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16.04.2015 в 11:04А за справку по самой колоде - большая благодарность)
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16.04.2015 в 20:07Но поглядим - может, воспользуемся щедрым предложением, а может переведем сами, тут не большой объем.
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17.04.2015 в 18:00