The Ogham

The Origin of the Ogham

When is the Ogham one? Not hard: the whole of it. When is it two
things? Not hard: vowels and consonants. When is it three things?
Not hard: vowels, diphthongs and consonants. When is it four? Not
hard: the three groups of consonants and the ten principle vowels.
When is it five? Not hard: vowels, diphthongs and three groups of
consonants. When is it six? Not hard: the three composit letters of
the Ogham nG, Sr, Qu. When is it seven? Not hard: the three
additions to the Primer, Ho, Forsaid and Arnin.
- The Book of Ballymote
During historical contact with the Celts of Gaul, Caesar found that
the Druids had an apparent taboo against the use of writing, a
characteristic that Caesar remarked upon when he wrote: "They
commit to memory immense amounts of poetry...they consider it
improper to commit their studies to writing...lest it should be
vulgarised and lest the memory of scholars should become
impaired". On those occasions when it was necessary to
correspond or maintain public records, the Gauls used Greek
letters instead of their own.
The Celtic alphabet known as Ogham was invented, according to
the medieval Irish Book of Ballymote, by Ogma Sun-Face. It
comprises three sets of five consonants and one set of five
vowels, a total of twenty letters. In actuality, the manuscript refers
to more than one hundred types of Ogham, each with unique
names and notches.
Ogma, or Ogmius as he was known in Gaul, was described in the
second century by the Greek writer Lucian as the Gallic god of
Eloquence. He was variously described as "honey mouthed" and
"eloquent". The golden speech of Ogmius was recorded in Gallic
artwork in the form of a fine gold chain linking the tip of his
tongue to ears of a group of followers.
In the Book of Ballymote, written in 1391, the invention of Ogham
was achieved when "Ogma Sun-Face raised four pillars of equal
length", and it was upon these pillars that the characters of the
letters were etched.
Ogham, and the mysteries associated with it, were kept a strict
secret among the scholar/priest druids. Mider's abode on Man was
guarded by three cranes who called out to all who approached
"Enter not! Stay away! Go on by!" Arawn king of Annwn, the
Brythonic Otherworld, and whose name also means Eloquence,
guarded his realm of secret knowledge with his pack of hounds.
The Book of Ballymote indicates that there were a number of
secret ways in which Ogham could be used to communicate non-
verbally. Finger ogham equates the five letters of each pillar with
the thumb and four fingers, such that the first letter of each pillar