by Searles O'Dubhain

Searles O'Dubhain was a practitioner, scholar, and teacher of Druidry who wrote and taught on the Druid path for decades. This essay, posted to alt.religion.druid in February 2012, offers a philosophical defense of Ogham's multidimensional character. Against scholars who reduce it to mere alphabet or dismiss its magical dimensions, Searles argues that Ogham cannot be confined to any single discipline. To understand it fully, one must become what he calls "an archaeologist of languages and a linguist of anthropology" — approaching it from every angle at once. The essay stands as a statement of methodology as much as of belief: the Ogham reveals itself only to those willing to hold it whole.

Some say that the Ogham is merely an alphabet invented to write in Irish. Others analyze the forms of Irish in which Ogham was written to determine its origins. There is much debate about this and many different opinions. Students of the Ogham will discover in the beginning of their studies concerning the Ogham that this is one of its main properties: to inspire many different ideas about its origins, uses and properties. One should not be surprised that the Ogham is not just one thing, nor that it fits nicely into a single theory of language or cultural use. The truth of this is to be found in the many uses to which Ogham has been put over the ages and the many conjectured uses and abilities that have been assigned to it in that time. Simply put, every culture that has used or known the Ogham has used it in many different ways and not just in one way alone.

Ogham was indeed used as an alphabet by the earliest literate Irish scholars. We have examples in stone that have survived from a period in Ireland that exists before Old Irish was formed or used. The language of this usage is known as Primitive Irish or even Ogham Irish. It is the Irish that the Irish spoke before they spoke Old, Middle or Modern Irish. It is very old and contains concepts in its structure and forms that tells us most of what we know about the Irish of the earliest times. Only archaeology tells us more (though there are Latin writings that coexist with Ogham usage that have some things to say about Ireland and the Irish). As an early alphabet and language of Irish, Ogham also has some of the magical and esoteric characteristics associated with it that many early alphabets possess. It is considered to be a gift of the gods or the wise. It is said to be able to describe things in a symbolic way.

One may even be able to manipulate the symbols in ways that associate with the items it describes in single characters and words. As words and characters, Ogham may also have musical notes and tones associated with it. In its forms and structures it may be used to measure words, music and concepts. In its organization it describes numerical order and possibly even geometrical spaces and objects. As such Ogham has many of the things associated with it that are also linked to both cosmology and cosmogony in a culture.

Scholars of Ogham in various academic disciplines are uncomfortable with the multifaceted nature of Ogham, so one of the first things many of them generally do is to investigate and negate the uses of Ogham that may have occurred outside of their area of expertise. The linguists will attempt to discount the magical uses of Ogham. Many Celticists will attempt to link Ogham to some other language or culture like Latin and even to the early Christian church. Use of Ogham mentioned in the insular literature will be said to be merely to a generic use of language and alphabet. Any quirkiness in Ogham usage or meaning that departs from a Latin origin will be assigned to an imperfect or uneducated usage by early Irish monks and poets. Later magical or esoteric uses will be said to be a similar misunderstanding of Medieval people far removed from the original culture or even further afield — the magical and esoteric uses of modern folks with Ogham will be said to have been invented out of whole cloth entirely and be without basis in the Primitive Irish culture from which it sprang.

The whole of the Ogham is much greater than any of its parts and the knowledge that it contains and reveals is far beyond what any single-minded pursuit of its secrets along a narrow disciplined study in a single field. To understand Ogham and its impact on the people that invented and used it, one must become an archaeologist of languages and a linguist of anthropology. One must associate meanings across disciplines with skill and faculty to master its entirety. Simply put, to discover the Druid origins and secrets of Ogham one must approach it in a multifaceted immersion of many skills and a mastery of every discipline to which Ogham can apply. One cannot assume that truth will be self-evident to all of one's associates and adversaries in such an approach. Every usage or application will have to be documented and explained against a backdrop that is firmly established for other skills, practices and disciplines. This research will have to stand alone (or together with) many different approaches to knowledge and study. It is not a simple task at which to succeed and many will be lost to its answers and discoveries.

Colophon

Written by Searles O'Dubhain and posted to alt.religion.druid on February 14, 2012. Searles O'Dubhain was a central practitioner and teacher in the Druidic revival, author of numerous essays on Ogham, Celtic cosmology, and the practices of the Druid path. This essay defends the multifaceted nature of Ogham against reductive scholarly interpretations, arguing that the full study of Ogham demands mastery of archaeology, linguistics, musicology, cosmology, and esoteric practice simultaneously.

Preserved from the Usenet archive for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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