by Searles O'Dubhain

Among the Ogham diagrams preserved in the medieval Book of Ballymote is one of the most cryptic: the Wheel Ogham of Roigne Roscadach, named for the poet-seer of the Sons of Míl whose prophetic speech opened Ireland to the Gaelic people. Searles O'Dubhain — a central figure in the online Druid community of the early 2000s, founder of the Summerlands website, and author of an extended course on Celtic Ogham — posted this excerpt from his own book to alt.religion.druid in February 2004. It combines a translation from the Leabhar Gabhála (the Book of Invasions), commentary on the cosmological structure of the Wheel, and a meditation on fate, destiny, and the moment of vision. The Wheel Ogham, he argues, represents the fulcrum between what will be and what might be — the seer's vantage point where spiraling flows of destiny divide and the path forward becomes visible.

Here is an excerpt from a book I've written and a course I teach on Ogham regarding this Ogham symbol from the Book of Ballymote:

The Wheel Ogham of Roigne Roscadach

"Sing thy description in the great knowledge of Ireland, O Roigne." — Mal, Son of Ugaine

There is another sort of wheel that occurs in the Ogham tract of the Book of Ballymote known as Rothogam Roigni Roscadhaig (The Wheel Ogham of Roigne Roscadach). This wheel is the most cryptic of the Ogham symbols to interpret. Scanty mention of it exists in the Leabhar Gabhála (The Book of Invasions). Fortunately, a few stories from other tales guide us into realms of meaning for understanding it. It has no Forfedha at its center (as found in the Stream Strand of Ferchertne), nor does it lead us through the cycles of the Wheel with a circular Forfedha (as is the case with Fionn's Wheel or Window). The Wheel Ogham of Roigne Roscadach is both a crossroads and a series of whirlpools that represent the thin line between choice and destiny. A step off the pathway plunges us into spiraling current that changes what can be into what is. What we know propels us to the eternal beginnings of the wheel. What we chance and how we choose creates the uncertainties that can be disaster or great success. To be close enough to see the difference is a fine line that can cut like a razor. To see the line one must either step off of it or look directly ahead. The first instance is to lose the pathway by searching for it, while the second instance is to lose the possibilities of change and choice by seeking only what is already known.

Traveling the pathways of the Wheel Ogham of Roigne Roscadach is a journey of adventure and coming into being as told in the Leabhar Gabhála:

Of the adventures of the Gaedels from the time when they went from Scythia till they took Ireland and the division of Ireland between them, with their chieftains, the poet Roigne Roscadach son of Ugaine Mor said to Mal son of Ugaine his brother, when Mal questioned him:

"Sing thy description in the great knowledge of Ireland, O Roigne,"

Roigne answered him and said:

O noble son of Ugaine,
How does one arrive at knowledge of Ireland,
The conquest of its company?
Before they overflowed Scythia
They reached the host-king of Shinar;
They approached Egypt,
Where Cingeris was extinguished,
So that a great troop was destroyed,
Who died in the Red Sea.
They flowed through a space very faithful,
With Pharaoh fought;
Niul contracts with Scota,
The conception of our fathers.
They took the name "Gaedels,"
The name "Scots" spreads,
The fair daughter of Pharaoh.
They overspread lands,
Burst into Scythia,
Determined long combat —
The Children of Nel and Noenbal.
Golam was a young lord,
Who slew the son of Neman,
Escaped to Egypt,
Where was Nectanebus.
Pharaoh was welcoming
To Golam; gave
A marriage Nectanebus,
Scota was at cot's head;
A name was changed from them.
They advanced past Africa,
Good was the man under whom they trembled;
Fenius Farsad, the keen,
Well he spread for us a lasting name.
They approached Spain,
Where was born a numerous progeny,
Donn, Airech, Amergin,
Eber, Ir, Colptha himself,
Eremon, Erannan,
The eight sons of Golam.
Mil's renown came upon them,
The sons of Mil wealthy;
Their scholars resolved,
Divided ships,
The Men returned from the burial of Fial.
They divided Ireland,
In twice six, an inheritance of chieftains.
Seek the truth of every law,
Relate sharply the inquiry,
O Son!

This response from Roigne in the Leabhar Gabhála tells us the story of a coming into being by the Sons of Míl and their voyage to Ireland. It is another way of saying that our pathway to the future begins in the past.

Roigne Roscadach is also associated with the word roscada that is defined as "a species of alliterative verse" in the Auraicept and defined as "an extemporaneous dithyrambic composition" by the Dictionary of the Irish Language. A famous collection of such sayings was Roscada Flainn Fina. Another was named Dúil Roscadach for Roigne.

Wheels within Wheels

The Wheel Ogham of Roigne Roscadach is an image presenting wheels within wheels that are spinning both clockwise and counter-clockwise. Mug's half of the wheel is the South or deasal direction. This is the pathway of the Sun, of honor, of positive workings and of harmony. Conn's half of the wheel is the North or tuathail direction. This is the realm of conflict and battle. Tuathail motion is associated with banishing, cursing, perversity, challenge and wickedness. The wheel Ogham are grouped as four groups of five. They spiral to the left and to the right in their groupings, with a centerline dividing North from South.

Roigne Roscadach is the name of the Poet of the Sons of Míl. He was the judge who decided the initial divisions of the Land among the people. These warriors and their people are representative of humanity's coming into possession of Ireland. The people obtained the land from the gods through battle and conquest, as well as through the powerful incantations and judgments of Amergin their Druid. Since this Ogham diagram is associated with prophetic utterance and vision (as well as a division of positive and negative), it can be seen as being representative of the sky, and the heavens including the astrological signs (also matters of vision and division). It possesses both sunwise and counter-clockwise flows, separated by north and south (just like the zodiac). This division of the land into Conn's half and Mug's half is also an indicator of both good fortune and misfortune. It is only when we follow the central path, or the king's highway, that we can avoid the whirlpools of Destiny and the pitfalls of Fate. The centerline of this mandala is the most auspicious pathway for castings made for the purpose of divination. Its east-west pathway across the mandala's center seems to parallel the pathway of the zodiac and the planets across the sky at night. If we look upon the Wheel Ogham of Roigne Roscadach, we can find "What Will Be" among those things that might be, as surely as we can divine the ways of the future through the arts of astrology and the computation of natal charts. Into which part of fortune will our lots be cast?

The Symbol of the Future

The symbol of the future is the Wheel Ogham of Roigne Roscadach. It is a quartered diagram containing four spiraling Ogham strings, with a centerline that faces to the east. The flow of its streams originates in the cauldron of the west and is parted by the sword of the east. It is a birth canal for the spirit and for destiny as surely as our own navel strings have provided us with creative sustenance from our mother's womb. The entryway of Brugh na Bóinne is like this. The times of change in the seasons are like this. The end and beginnings of days are this way. Dual attention is also this way. It is when we are none of the things in the system that we can see all of its parts as an observer. Only then do we see how the pieces can fit together. New births are filled with this potential until a pathway is chosen. New ideas are the same. It is the moment of change, when an idea or an inspiration is first upon us that it contains within it all of the answers of creation. It connects to everything. That is how the center and the edge are joined.

In the potential of the moment, when all things can be the same — that is how one walks between worlds and sees the truth in a complex system. That is how one is reborn. On the Wheel Ogham, the center pathway is the navel string. It is the pathway of the Sun and the reflecting pool of the Moon. It is the separation and the joining of the seasons, the two halves of the brain and the four ways in which the center connects to its parts. Its flow goes from that which is the source to that which is unlimited. This is the pathway between all that is and all that can be. When we walk this pathway to its completion and return we have attained imbas and are prepared to take the next upward step in our journey back from form and through flow to spirit. With the knowledge of the winds and an awareness of the influences of the Gods, an understanding of where it is that we've originated; where we are now and the choices that are to be made. It is within these whirlpools of probabilities and amid the nexus of necessary decisions that a Seer seeks to stand and to also later interpret meaning. Clarity of vision and preservation of memory are the twofold tools necessary to succeed in this undertaking.

Colophon

Written by Searles O'Dubhain, founder of the Summerlands website and teacher of Celtic Ogham. Excerpted from a book and course he wrote on Ogham; posted to alt.religion.druid, February 2004. Original Message-ID: [email protected]

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

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