Recently I’ve noticed a trend of pulling the Iodhadh few in a number of readings. Iodhadh is the ogham for Yew, and can mean a number of things. It’s the “death” few (in the Celtic sense of death and rebirth more than the “you’re gonna die” sense), but it can also stand for the Ancestors.

That’s been the interpretation I’ve felt more often – that I need to be listening to the wisdom of the Ancestors. So yesterday I did a reading specifically to ask them what their guidance was. I lit incense and a candle as offerings, said a small prayer, and asked what wisdom they had for me, what perspective they thought I needed to know.

This was the result:

Iodhadh (again) – Yew – Ancestors, Death and Rebirth, Transformation
Fern – Alder – Protection, guidance
Luis – Rowan – Magical protection, beauty and delight

Persevere in your transformation and allow yourself to be reborn; we will protect and guide you to a place of magic and safety.

Perhaps I should be reading more as “death and rebirth and transformation” then. I suppose that’s pretty clear. (I almost get the feeling of “No, you moron, we mean death and rebirth. Really!”) The Dedicant Path is nothing if not a path of transformation. I’m hesitant to call this a reading that confirms I’m where I’m supposed to be, but internally I feel this was a reassuring sort of reading (as reassuring as it can be to get “Death”). Sort of a “stick with it and we’ll help you” message that is nice to get when you’re in the middle of things.

I also need to make myself some ogham flash cards. I’m still having to look up most of the fews. I know that will get better as I get more used to reading with them, but I could stand to speed up the process!

4 responses to “Ogham Reading: Ancestors”

vlaughlin

November 9, 2012 at 9:33 am

I’m terrible at divination, and it generally doesn’t occur to me to ask for clarification later. However, I will try to remember to do it more often, as you have shown that it can be useful.

I do have a question, though. How do you go about formulating the single interpretation containing all the ogams you’ve drawn? I personally use runes, but I think learning this skill would be helpful for me.

I have been using the runes for almost a year, and I still don’t have them memorized! I also just need to make some flash cards that I can carry with me and go through in my spare time. Perhaps I will cut index cards in half and use each half as a flash card. Index cards are a bit large for my available bag space, and they have the advantage of saving trees! 🙂

Blessings,
Victoria

Reply
1. The Druid in the Swamp
  
  November 9, 2012 at 12:22 pm
  
  Victoria –
  
  If you don’t mind, I’m going to turn your questions about divination into a set of blog posts on the subject. I started writing a comment and realized I had a lot to say!
  
  For now, the best I can figure is to look at the three ogams (or runes) and what they mean, and try to put them into context with each other. For me, that means making a sentence that “feels” right, that includes all three of the ogams, often in the order they were drawn (but not always).
  
  That’s the short version, more in a few days when I can get some more explanations together for posts!
  
  Reply
  1. vlaughlin
    
    November 10, 2012 at 9:34 am
    
    I don’t mind at all! In fact, I’m glad I inspired you to write more. 🙂 Some of us just aren’t good at divination, so it will be very helpful for you to write a few posts about it to help us out! Thanks in advance. 🙂
    
    Many blessings,
    Victoria
Working on my Ancestors Essay « The Druid in the Swamp

January 15, 2013 at 10:47 am

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