Ogham: Digital Grove

Ogham (OH-am) is an early medieval alphabet used primarily to write Primitive Irish and Old Irish. It consists of a series of strokes or notches cut along the edge of a stone or piece of wood. In divination, each of the 25 feda (letters) corresponds to a tree or plant, carrying symbolic meanings rooted in Celtic Druidic tradition.

The Ogham alphabet is divided into four groups of five letters called aicme (AK-meh; plural: aicmi). Each aicme is named after its first letter: Aicme Beithe (birch group), Aicme hUatha (hawthorn group), Aicme Muine (vine group), and Aicme Ailme (fir group). A fifth group of supplementary letters called forfeda rounds out the system.

Feda (FEH-dah) is the term for individual Ogham letters (singular: fid). Each feda represents a tree or plant in the Celtic tradition and carries divinatory meaning connected to that tree's qualities. For example, Beith (birch) represents new beginnings, while Duir (oak) represents strength and endurance.

Ogham can be read by drawing individual feda from a bag (similar to rune casting) or by laying out multiple feda in a spread. Common layouts include The Branch (3 feda in a line), The Coill (forest spread of 5 feda), and Crann Bethadh (Tree of Life spread). Some readers use contra (reversed) positions for additional nuance.

The forfeda (FOR-feh-dah) are five supplementary letters added to the original twenty Ogham characters. They include Ebhadh, Oir, Uillean, Iphin, and Eamhancholl. These letters have more esoteric and complex meanings compared to the core feda, often representing compound or transcendent concepts in readings.