A Wiccan Bible - Exploring the Mysteries of the Craft from Birth to Summerland

(^164) A Wiccan Bible
Idho/Winter Solstice
Beth
Luis
Ruis
Nion
Fearn
Saille
Huath
Tinne Duirr
Coll
Gort
Ngetal
Eadha/Fall Equinox Onm/Spring Equinox
Ura/Summer Solstice
Quert
The Celtic Tree Calendar
moon after the Winter Solstice. Should that day be on the
Gregorian December 24th, then the dates given will be reason-
ably accurate. Should that not be the actual day of the first new
moon after the Winter Solstice, well...you have some math to
do.
But the Celtic Tree Calendar is much more than a way of
keeping track of the months in a year. If indeed it is an actual
ancient calendar, then in its earliest form, it is a written lan-
guage called Ogham, named after Oghma Grainaineach who
either created or received the secret language. Each month of
the year, the four Quarters of the year, and three other key points
have a name, associated tree, and letter in the Ogham alphabet.
Although that alphabet may be loosely translated to our mod-
ern alphabet, the letters of the Ogham are quite a bit different.
Following a straight line in wood or stone, the Ogham letters
consist of strokes to either side or across the straight line. Note
that the Ogham grew after its introduction. Hundreds of ver-
sions of Ogham have been speculated, although I am sure a few
of them are just due to bad handwriting.
The Ogham
B – Beth
L – Luis
N – Nion
O – Onn
F – Fearn
S – Saille
H – Huath
D – Duir
U – Ura
T – Tinne
C – Coll
Q – Quert
E – Eadha
G – Gort
Ng – Ngetal
Ss– Straif
R – Ruis
I – Idho
Ph – Phagos
A – Alim
q WB Chap 09.p65 164 7/11/2003, 5:53 PM