Ogam: The Celtic Oracle of the Trees: Understanding, Casting, and Interpreting the Ancient Druidic Alphabet

by Paul Rhys Mountfort

A comprehensive and practical guide to the ancient oracle based on the alphabet of the Druids.

• Describes the symbolism and mythology of the 20 "tree letters" and their magical correspondences.

• Includes instructions on how to make your own Ogam divination sticks, cast the oracle, and perceive omens.

• Provides historical background and bibliographic references to the Druidic mythology ruling this 1,500-year-old oracle.

The ancient Ogam alphabet is a magical and mysterious script, the Celtic equivalent of the runes that can teach us about our fate and future. Named after woodland trees, Ogam's 20 "tree letters" all have unique wisdom to impart that is linked to figures and themes from Celtic mythology.

The author addresses three major areas in this book: Ogamlore, the history of this 1500-year-old oracle of the Celtic Druids; Ogamfews, the meaning of the individual tree letters, their magic, characteristics, folklore, and related stories; and Ogamcasting, the practical art of Ogam divination, which includes spreads, castings, and how to create your own Ogam set. With these tools of ancient Celtic wisdom, readers will receive insights and guidance on how to maneuver through life's questions and challenges.

Genres: Divination, Spirituality, Nonfiction, Witchcraft, Occult, Language, Folklore

224 pages, Paperback

First published August 2, 2001

About the author

Paul Rhys Mountfort is a writer, researcher, and workshop leader specializing in oracles and the Celtic and Norse traditions. He is the author of Ogam: The Celtic Oracle of the Trees. Active in the contemporary pagan community, he lives with his partner and son on Waiheke Island, in the Hauraki Gulf of Auckland, New Zealand.

Reviews

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contained some frustrating errors.
In one instance the reference quotes for one of the tree Ogham was actually a cut-and-paste quote for one of the previously mentioned Ogham trees, leaving me to wonder what the actual quote was supposed to be...

Altogether though, this book is a great start for Ogham Divination, and Druid/Celtic research in general. I enjoyed it thoroughly, and found it relatively easy to understand. The caveat though, is that I felt the need to cross check all the info after finding a couple of editorial mistakes.

Why people print books that contain careless errors is beyond me, but that is hardly the point, nor should it deter you from reading this book.

I would recommend that anyone interested in the genre read this book (with the usual open-minded skepticism) before tackling one of the more complex accounts, such as Lady Augusta Gregory's "Gods and Fighting Men: The Story of the Tuatha De Danaan and the Fianna of Ireland"

[Gwyndyllyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the main books on using Ogam / Ogham. It contains some tree lore and is basically good. It also gives some good background information on the development of Ogham and Druidism. It uses the Beth/Luis/Nion system and includes the four treasures as additions. I don't use the treasures in my practice and stick with just the 20 sacred trees of the grove.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ogam: The Celtic Oracle of the Trees is the first book that I have read on the ogham. I have begun this study as someone experienced in divination by other methods. I appreciate a lot about this book and have recommended it to others. It is well organized, thoroughly researched and referenced, and contains kennings (word ogham), meanings, characteristics of the associated tree, and stories, folklore, and magic related to each of the oghamfews. It also contains information on creating your own set of ogham, casting and reading ogham (with examples of practice readings), and some information on other ogham resources available at the time of publication. I will note that I do not appreciate binary understandings of gender in any book, but that while this is present here, it is not overwhelming and I found it easy to simply bypass and not incorporate into my own reading + understanding of ogham. I did find the addition of 'four treasures' as additional feda perplexing and cannot see utilizing this. Overall, I am glad to have this book as a reference on my shelf and recommend it to those interested in learning about, and learning to divine with, the ogham.

[Indigo Crow · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book to be better written and easier to read (by that I mean that it didn't bore me mindless) than another book on the Ogham I've read recently. I feel this book is better suited to a beginner than the other one, too. The explanations are clear and interesting.

Some sample spreads are given toward the end of the book, but as the author says, you could just as easily use a method from a form of divination you already know well, like tarot, and it should work for you.

The author mentions magical uses of the Ogham, but actually never tells you how that can be done anywhere.

There are errors in the book that you'd think would've been corrected by now, given this book is 20 years old! That was very frustrating.

[Dylan Gregory · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was skeptical when I first started reading this book due to the author's Wicca and eclectic background but he seemed to do a decent job of presenting all of his information in line with a very reconstructionist approach to the whole thing which is much appreciated for my purposes. So overall a great place to start on the subject, his Wicca and eclectic background definitely shows but I don't feel it detracts from any of what he is teaching. Great book.

[Ettore Bellussi · Rating 3 out of 5]

very nice book on ogham. Do consider that the author added 4 of its own feda that are not part either of the ogham few or of the forfeda

[Emma McGilvray · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was nice to connect Celtic lore with Ogam but i kinda skimmed over the actual doing the magic bit. good ideas for world building.

[Danni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ogam: The Celtic Oracle of the Trees is a comprehensive and clear introduction into using the divination practice of Ogam. It begins with a brief history of Ogam and the cultural changes that have occurred around the practice. The second section of the book describes each Ogamfew in detail. The final section describes how one can cast and understand the Ogam readings. Every topic is easy to understand and provides a great amount of information for a introductory book.

I loved the second section of the book about the Ogamfews. Each Ogamfew included a bit about the name, keyword, a picture, visualization, meaning, natural characteristics, storylines, and magic and folklore. Almost every learning style is used to help readers get a strong lesson on the message behind each Ogamfew. This style also lends itself well to quick reference questions and lengthy/detail orientated study.

This is going to be such a fantastic reference book. I've already enjoyed it so much!

[Hege Fossum · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a nice introduction to learning about the Ogam, and it left me inspired to go running out in the woods collecting my own fews/staves. I am delighted.

It was not so interesting for me to read the sample readings of an ogam-casting at the end of the book, but that is because I have been working with the Tarot for over 20 years, and there was nothing new under the Sun here regarding divination techniques for me, but I gave it a five anyway because one need to include this in an introductory book. The free-casting of staves was the only new thing that I haven't tried before, and I think I will spend the coming days investigating that.

[LS Schulz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. The section on history contained many things I had not previously learned, making this a very interesting read. I also enjoyed learning about the tree-lore behind the various tree Ogams.

[Brenda Jenkins Kleager · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent reference for using Ogham for divination.

[Maya · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good book if you are a Wiccan, for someone who is CR leaning this book is a disaster lol.