Sweeping Clean and Bringing Light: Ogham for October

 

The ancient Celts used the first alphabet in Europe which is called the Ogham script.  Each letter is associated with a tree or an important plant.  The alphabet was used as a mnemonic device to encode knowledge, the Celtic song of the universe, Ceolta na Cruinne (Diana Beresford-Kroeger).  The thirteen months of the year (pre-Gregorian calendar) were each represented by a particular tree.  The new year began on Nov. 1^st with Birch, followed by Rowan in December, Alder in January, Willow in February, Ash in March, Hawthorn in April, Oak in May, Holly in June, Hazel in July, the Blackberry (Bramble) or Vine for August and September is represented by Ivy.  The month of October is represented by Ngetal for the first 28 days and Elder or Ruis for the last 3 days which make up the 13^th month of the calendar.

In this post I will write about Ngetal only.  This Ogham is a composite one.  The N is silent but makes the G nasal.  Ng is a composite letter comprised of N from nion (Ash) and G from gort (Ivy).  Danu Forest explains that at this point in the year, the Ogham is moving into a subtler level and therefore many plants could describe the sum of its meaning.  The N is silent but present.  Therefore the uniting and binding energy of Ivy is joined with the spear of Ash.  There is a link here between wounding and healing according to the use of power. 

Ancient Celtic sources write about various plants representing Ngetal over time.  Therefore, the sources that I am referencing here also have chosen different plants.  It could be said that this Ogham can only be described through a combination of all of these.

Liz and Colin Murrary feel that Ngetal is represented by Reed and is like an arrow, aimed at finding basic truths and that it helps with overcoming the upsets of life.  They write that Ngetal is about finding order where others find chaos.

Diana Beresford-Krueger writes that Ngetal is represented by Rush or Brobh (Irish).  Rush is a plant of the bogs.  The centre of the rush is a sponge which holds oxygen.  The leaf is waxed and waterproof.  The Celts used them as candle wicks when dipped into mutton fat. Thus Rush sheds light.

There are several hundred species of Rush worldwide.  It was also used to line the open-pit storage of potatoes and other vegetables with cabbages on top for the winter months.  Rush was used to bed cattle and chickens in the wet months.  Rushes were woven into floor mats, bedding, chair seats and household decorations. 

Rush is poisonous to cattle but it was used to make a body wash for athletes to give them endurance.  And so, the Rush was thought of as sacred and added to the trees.

Glennie Kindred writes that Ngetal is represented by Broom.  Therefore, it represents making a clean sweep.  Cleaning up, soul or astral travel and restoring of harmony are qualities of Ngetal from Kindred’s point of view.

Danu Forest also refers to Ngetal as Broom (Cytisus scoparius).  She writes that it is a “hardy, dense growing shrub with woody branches and small, hairy, trifoliate leaves.”  It has distinctive yellow flowers and it can grow up to 3m tall.  It likes dry soil and it fixes nitrogen. 

Forest also writes about an alternative plant that is represented by Ng; Male Fern.  This ancient plant likes wet soil.  The various plants representing Ngetal results from the remaining source material which attributes different plants to this Ogham.  However the Old Irish word giolcach means both reed and broom.

Broom has a bright and fiery energy and is thought to be a plant of purification – cleanser and clearer of negative energies. This ability to clear the way, to achieve your objective (Ash), supported by the ability to make diverse connections (Ivy) is powerful.

Ngetal reminds us of the importance of combining skills and knowledge, being resourceful and flexible in our thinking and approach to life.

I will post the information about Elder closer to the end of October.

This is a compilation of information taken from the following sources:

Diana Beresford-Kroeger (2019) To Speak for the Trees. Random House: Canada.

Danu Forest (2014) Celtic Tree Magic: Ogham Lore and Druid Mysteries. Llewellyn Worldwide: Woodbury, Minnesota.

Glennie Kindred, (1997) The Tree Ogham. Glennie Kindred: UK.

Liz and Colin Murray (1988) The Celtic Tree Oracle. Connections Book Publishing: London, UK.

Jacqueline Memory Peterson (1996) Tree Wisdom: The definitive guidebook to the myth, folklore and healing power of Trees. Thorsons: London.

Elen Sentier (2014) Trees of the Goddess. Moon Books: Winchester, UK.

The Message of the Mole

 

Anna had been walking for about half an hour.  Despite the humid air and clouds of mosquitoes, she was keeping her promise.  Every day that she could, she walked in the forest and renewed her relationship with all the life there.  She sang to the river and made an offering of respect, of reciprocity.  When she came to the Birch Toad, she made an offering as well and placed her hand on the smooth birch bark.  It was her touchstone, her place of remembering and inspiration.

The mosquito-netted hat made it hard to look around.  She tended to keep her eyes down on the trail but even that was partially obscured by the black netting.  It was like walking in the dusk even at mid-day.  Occasionally yellow, white or purple asters that grew along the side of the trail caught her attention.  She walked that trail so often that sometimes, she stopped paying attention and listened to the dialogues in her head, rehashing old conversations or planning new things.  It was so easy to slip away in her mind, especially after six decades of practice.

And so, when the black thing appeared on the trail ahead of her, she felt a little startled.  It was not moving and as she got nearer, she could see the soft fur of a mole lying outstretched on the trail, as if, half way across it had simply given up.  There was no sign that it had been caught by an animal and it actually looked asleep.  Anna knew that these hairy-tailed moles lived underground searching out earthworms, slugs, grubs and insects but they would sometimes walk around on the forest floor at night.  Perhaps it’s predator got scared off before it could consume the mole or perhaps an owl dropped it and couldn’t find it again.  In the past, she had seen the raised earth of a mole’s tunnel crossing the trail so she knew that moles lived in the forest.  But, it did seem unusual to find one lying right on the path. 

Anna pondered this as she continued down the trail.  Sweat was now running down her face and into her eyes.  She rubbed them through the net and then burrowed her hands into her pockets to keep them away from the insects that were intent on injesting her blood.  Her walking stick was clasped under her right armpit so that her hand could be safely hidden.  She would need the stick on the steep hills.

Suddenly, her foot rolled on a thick branch and she stumbled.  Catching her balance, she managed to stay upright although her heart was beating faster.  How peculiar.  She had walked this trail so many times and had never had a stick roll beneath her foot.  She would have to be more careful and look out for branches.  But this was a forest, and there were roots and branches everywhere so she soon gave up looking.  Her mind kept drifting into the past as sadness welled up.  She thought of people that she missed and her old home.  Her tears mixed with the sweat on her face but it didn’t seem to matter beneath the netting, here in the forest.  This was her safe place where she could let down the masks that were required around people.  Some of the water from her wet face condensed on her glasses causing them to steam up.  This made it even harder to see, but she kept walking nevertheless.

When she got to the Birch Toad and made her offering, she placed her hand on the smooth birch bark of the remaining trunk. 

“Stay,” she heard.  “Stay.” 

“I can’t.  The mosquitoes are too much and I am so hot.  I can’t stay,” she said quietly.

“Stay.  We have something to show you.”

“Can you show me as I walk?” she bargained.

But there was silence.  Deep inside of her, Anna felt the desire to stay, but the sweat and the bugs made her too uncomfortable and she decided to keep going. Suddenly, her right toe caught on a tree root and she stumbled forward.  She got her left hand out of her pocket and used it to brace herself but her right hand was stuck and she landed on the sandy ground.  Her left arm, chest and right knee took the impact, sparing her face.  Feeling shaky, Anna got onto her hands and knees, stood up and brushed the sand from her jeans and light jacket.  Anna had a good history of falling but she had never fallen in this forest before.  It felt like something was really trying to get her attention. 

Once again, Anna’s tears ran with the sweat down her face and neck.  She sniffed loudly and began to cry.  Her chest hurt where she had landed as did her right knee.  Then she remembered that there were lots of people who felt sad and uncomfortable and she breathed in the feeling.  The emotional pain was in her heart area and in her belly.  As she breathed out, she thought about sending relief to herself and everyone else who was suffering.  She imagined relief as the feeling of a cool breeze on her face.  This ancient breathing technique allowed her to open to her own feelings while connecting her with everyone else who felt that way.  She surrendered to the feelings and kept up the practice for a few minutes.  The feelings dissolved and her head cleared.  She was breathing down to her belly and she gradually became aware of her feet.  While walking, her attention had been up in her head so that she ignored any information that her feet were picking up.

“No wonder I fell,” she thought.  As she drew her attention down into her feet, she became aware of all the sensations that they were sharing with her.  She could feel the soft, sandy soil give way to her weight.  She could feel small twigs and stones even through her shoes.  She thought about how moles travel underground with no sight and little hearing.  They are guided by their sense of smell and heightened sense of touch.  They can travel fifteen feet in one hour as they expertly burrow through the forest floor.  She had lost her sense of sight inside the humid netted hat and she had ignored her sense of touch.

Anna’s awareness dropped beneath her feet and she could imagine the complicated tunnels that the moles carved out in their quest for food.  She imagined moles navigating around tree roots and stones.  In her mind’s eye she saw the mole digging straight up to create an air hole by pushing the soil straight up and out.  She could feel that air flooding the tunnels and aerating the forest floor.  That made her take a deep breath and she noticed that her chest no longer hurt.

Behind her closed eyes, she saw the mole descend again, tunneling deeper and deeper.  She could feel the soil get cooler and moister until the mole came to the water table.  The pure water that had been filtered by the sand felt alive to her senses even in the dark.  She became aware of the tree roots that had grown into the aquifer, drawing the water upwards towards their trunks by some mysterious means.

The mole was on the move again, this time in an upwards direction,  The tunnel opened up through rootlets and fungal networks that were the internet of the forest floor.  These mycorrhizal networks allowed the trees to communicate and to share resources.  She could feel the excited energy of these interchanges on the surface of her skin.  It was like a busy mall at Christmas time. 

Every now and then, the mole stopped to eat.  Anna became aware of the invertebrate life in the forest floor.  Earthworms, centipedes, millipedes, beetles, slugs, grubs and hundreds of other creatures that were strange and wonderful were revealed as the mole burrowed on.  Anna was entranced by this journey under the surface led by her expert guide mole.  But, eventually, it dug through the soil of the trail and popped up on the surface. 

She opened her eyes and was surprised to notice that there was no buzzing.  The mosquitoes had disappeared.  She breathed in all the smells of the forest in one deep breath.  She took the breath all the way to her feet and realized that she could feel every part of herself at once.  Her skin tingled and her fingers felt electric. 

She had stayed despite her own protestations, despite her own discomfort.  She had stayed and gone beneath the surface.  Somehow mole had helped her listen to her heart, not her complaining brain.  And the forest had shown her the normally “invisible” part of its community.  In trusting only what she could see with her eyes, Anna had missed so much of the magic.  The trees looked like individuals on top of the surface while underneath, they were intricately interconnected.  Just like people who look like unique beings are interconnected by genetics, society and consciousness.  There was so much more there than appeared to the eye.

It was time to move on and Anna started to walk again.  The hundreds of mosquitoes who were sitting on her hat rose in a minute flock and began to circle her head.  She laughed at her companions and said “Come on, let’s go.”  Within a few steps, her right heel rolled on a small stick but this time, she was not thrown off balance.  She could feel her feet and the messages they sent.  She knew she was walking over roots and living beings and tunnels of air and moles so she stepped lightly, grateful to be in their presence, grateful to share Earth with them.

Thinking About School

 Just west of Port Severn, ON there is a trail leading into the bush named the “Old Schoolhouse Trail”.  This trail leads from near Hwy. 400 to the site of an old schoolhouse named Ecole Pointe aux Pins.  This was Baxter Township\s first organized Roman Catholic School located at Honey Harbour and Macey Bay Roads.  It was built in 1909 by the local settlers.  The language used initially was French as many French-Canadians settled in the area to work for the Georgian Bay Lumber Co.  You can see the sign posted by the Township of Georgian Bay Historical Society below.  You can see children who may have had to walk quite a distance to go to school but they got to go home at night and live with their families.

At the head of the trail, the EarlyON Child and Family Centre has created a Story Walk with a series of signs using pages from the book My Heart Fills with Happiness by Monique Grey Smith.  A friend of mine took pictures of these signs last week and sent them to me which prompted our visit to the trail.  The words are in English and Cree and the images are simple and heartwarming.  So, take a little stroll along the Old Schoolhouse Trail and read along.

Pictures by Deepthie Rajapakse

"What fills your heart with happiness?" asks Monique Grey Smith.  Connection to family, language, culture and nature are some of the things that she suggests.  It is no accident that all these things were taken away from the children who went to residential school.

In light of the recent discoveries of unmarked graves at Residential Schools all across Canada, the theme of school is charged.  This juxtaposition of My Heart Fills with Happiness and the old settler school gets one thinking as you walk under the trees and by the wetlands about what we want for all our children today.  All Children Matter.

Ivy Connects to the Within and the Without

 Ogham for September – Ivy  Gort  G

The ancient Celts used the first alphabet in Europe which is called the Ogham script.  Each letter is associated with a tree or an important plant.  The alphabet was used as a mnemonic device to encode knowledge, the Celtic song of the universe, Ceolta na Cruinne (Diana Beresford-Kroeger).  The thirteen months of the year (pre-Gregorian calendar) were each represented by a particular tree.  The new year began on Nov. 1^st with Birch, followed by Rowan in December, Alder in January, Willow in February, Ash in March, Hawthorn in April, Oak in May, Holly in June, Hazel in July and the Blackberry (Bramble) or Vine for August. September is represented by Ivy or Gort and the letter G.

The Celtic world regarded Ivy (Hedera helix) as a magical plant that offered protection from evil spirits.  Hedera is the generic name for ivy and helix comes from Ancient Greek meaning to twist and spiral.  Hedera helix is native to Europe and western Asia. It also grows in North America.  It is seen in gardens, waste spaces, on house walls and tree trunks.  Ivy climbs with aerial rootlets which have matted pads that cling to surfaces such as rock, walls, trees and cliffs.  It will also cover ground if no vertical surfaces are available.  Ivy grows and flourishes in both cultivated land and wasteland, in full light and shade.  It is strong and difficult to destroy. 

The lower or juvenile leaves are palmate or five-lobed while the adult leaves are unlobed and heart-shaped and grow with the flowers high in the canopy.  The flowers are small, umbels of greenish-yellow colour.  They provide late autumn food for pollinators.  The purple-black berries ripen in late winter and are important food for birds who disperse the seeds.  The wood is good for carving.  As ground cover, Ivy reduces the effects of frost allowing birds and small animals to forage in the leaf litter.  Growing on trees, Ivy provides spaces for hiding, roosting, hibernating and nesting,

Ivy is not a parasite.  Its own root system provides it with water and nutrients.  Ivy is about exchange between this world and the otherworld.  It’s spiral growth, like DNA links us to the strong life-force pulsing from the earth.

In the Raheen Wood in Ireland, you can still see 500-year-old Ivy growing on Oak trees.  At a distance, the stems of this Ivy look like muscles. Perhaps the Ivy provides the Oak with auxin, the growth hormone of the plant world, suggests Diana Beresford Krueger.

 

Ivy bears small greenish flowers that become black globose fruits which are toxic like the leaves.  Ivy is a member of the ginseng family whose medicines act at a cellular level.  The Druids used the uppermost leaves of Ivy for medicines, the recipes of which have been lost. The leaf was used as a poultice for rheumatic pain, the black resin was extracted for dental work and a leaf in vinegar remedy was used for toothache and as a mouthwash.  Ivy is considered toxic, however, historically, ivy leaves seeped in hot water were used for wounds and sores, sunburn and skin irritations.  Ivy berries are highly toxic to humans. 

 

Gort was sacred to the Druids as medicine and as a protector. In the winter, Ivy was brought into the house to bring this protection.  Mummers used Ivy as part of their costumes during their revels.  The Greeks dedicated Ivy to Baccus, the god of wine because Ivy provided a preventative treatment for wine.  Young leaves were infused into vine even though they are toxic.  You still see Ivy painted or growing over the doorways of pubs. 

 

The word Gort meant “field” and as gorta, “famine and hunger.”  Perhaps Gort means a green field or garden because people have to unite in agricultural tasks.  Ivy assists the group effort and helps people to work together.  Ivy has been associated with immortality, resurrection and rebirth because of its spiral growth.  Ivy is weaker when it grows along the ground, symbolizing the weakening aspect of isolation and the strengthening power of community and the need to find a good balance of the two.

 

In the Middle Ages in Britain, wine goblets were made of Ivy wood and ivy wrapped around poles was used to advertise taverns. Ivy wreaths were used in the classical world to signify intelligence as well as for a newlywed couple.  Ivy is associated with the moon and moon goddesses. Also, during the Middle Ages, at winter solstice, a boy wearing a Holly crown and a girl wearing an Ivy one were paraded around the village.  Holly is ruled by the sun and is masculine while Ivy is ruled by the moon and is feminine. Ivy was thought to offer protection from enchantment by the fairies for cattle and so milkmaids wore Ivy crowns.

 

 

 

 

As a vibrational essence, ivy is good for learning to give and receive support and to give and feel unconditional love.  It is also about letting go and offering freedom to others and oneself.

 

According to Glennie Kindred, Ivy signifies a warning, determined power, binding, restricting, search for the self, attachment, freedom, and uniting.  Ivy has a fierce, determined power.  It can bind trees together and also restrict passage.  Ivy can also smother and kill a tree.  Ivy represents the search for the self and the link with others through the group collective soul.  It is about the balance of clinging to one concept which may bring restriction and embracing many concepts that puts you in touch with your own freedom and inner resources.  Ivy needs a host to climb on and it can unite many trees.

Traditionally, Vine and Ivy are seen as adversaries.  Vine, through intoxication releases prophetic powers while Ivy connects you to your own inner resources so you can see with the eyes of the soul.  The colour “gorm” or sky blue is associated with Ogham Ivy.  “Retain a vision of the clear blue sky to which you aspire in your mind’s eye – don’t be gorm-less” (Liz and Colin Murray, p. 46).  Ivy represents the labyrinthine wandering of the soul in search of the self from going within to find spiritual strength and without, linking with others in the collective unconscious. 

This is a compilation of information taken from the following sources:

Diana Beresford-Kroeger (2019) To Speak for the Trees. Random House: Canada.

Danu Forest (2014) Celtic Tree Magic: Ogham Lore and Druid Mysteries. Llewellyn Worldwide: Woodbury, Minnesota.

Glennie Kindred, (1997) The Tree Ogham. Glennie Kindred: UK.

Liz and Colin Murray (1988) The Celtic Tree Oracle. Connections Book Publishing: London, UK.

Elen Sentier (2014) Trees of the Goddess. Moon Books: Winchester, U