I have to admit: the first thing that comes to mind when I think of Elder is Monty Python. “Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!" Perhaps not the most spiritual of references, but give me a minute to spin that here. Elder is an ogham that calls bullshit, which can often be uncomfortable. But we all need that friend who will tell us the truth, especially when we aren’t facing it ourselves. Elder can be that friend. The trick is to avoid falling into the spiral of shame

I don’t think any ogham is BAD, but Blackthorn is one that demands respect for sure. And, while I will crack a joke about nearly all omens, I’m tossing salt over my shoulder while laughing about this one. Honestly, it’s a gorgeous tree – early to blossom in spring in a profusion of white flowers that make the hedgerows buzz with happy pollinators. Blackthorn berries (or sloes) make sloe gin, jams, and jellies, and are an important food source for birds. Its tangled growth and enormous thorns mak

Ivy is a plant with RANGE. And I’m not just talking about the way it climbs all over everything. Clematis? Love it. Wish I were better at cultivating it. Poison ivy? Hate it. Violently allergic.While I’m fixated on my hatred of poison ivy, I have to admit it’s a pollinator buffet. Its flowers provide nectar to pollinators like honey bees, butterflies, wasps, and beetles. The berries that follow are a great food source for warblers, vireos, woodpeckers, and many other birds, often later in the se

The world has a lot of vining plants, not all of them delightful. Lucky for us, Vine/Muin is an ogham of delight – ecstasy, even. Think of grapevines and the harvesting of their fruit, cultivated with skill over generations, bringing communities together to share the burden of work. The thing about grapevines, though, is that they are NOT a “set it and forget it” kind of crop. Timing and selection matter. Protection from pests and careful pruning matter. Terroir (that near-magical combination of

I’m delighted that there are so many ogham trees here at my home, including a lovely old crabapple. She grows on a slope and her shape is a bit gnarled and unkempt. When she’s in bloom, I stand under the branches and I can feel in my bones the soft buzzing of so many tiny bees! A couple of years ago, she yielded crabapples that made the best apple butter I’ve ever tasted. We planted a bunch of other apple trees (mostly dwarf varieties) on the same slope and hope to have a bit of an orchard event

We’re talking about one of my favorite ogham today: Hazel. I’ve even got a little hazelnut sapling that hasn’t died yet, even though I don’t really like filberts or hazelnuts or whatever you call ‘em. There are a lot of varieties of Hazel; it’s native to many parts of the northern hemisphere, but here in the US it is mostly a smaller understory tree or shrub.  The deep green and texture of the leaves look so pretty! It works well as a small shade tree or windbreak. And its fruits (nuts) support

Oak is one of those trees of legend, you know? With more than 500 varieties across the Northern Hemisphere, both deciduous and evergreen, it looms large on the landscape and in our imaginations. Oak is a keystone species that supports the whole forest, including 960 kinds of caterpillars! Humans harvest oak timber for construction and furniture-making, acorns for their tannic acid content, and cork from its inner bark. Despite its ability to thrive in climates from near-desert to subtropical rai

There are hundreds of species of Hawthorn that thrive in a wide variety of conditions. Some are native to my area! They are shrub trees, with thorny branches and scraggly shapes in the landscape, blooming with flowers pollinators go bonkers for, and producing edible berries (though I’ve never tasted them). Hawthorn makes a natural and protective hedgerow. Small birds and wildlife seek shelter under its branches as protection from predators, especially birds of prey and critters too big to get th

Crowning the set of three modifiers is Star. If Mountain represents connection to the Earth Mother and all that has happened before, then Star represents our connection to Inspiration and all the things that might be.When I see the Star modifier, I know it’s time to elevate my perception and seek guidance from the collective unconscious. It carries an energy of readiness to catch the solar wind in my sails and fly to galaxies unknown. Where Mountain is an anchor, Star is an antenna. Though I hav