Serpents of Change,
Change between Heartbeats,
Heartbeats of Drumbeats,
Drumbeats beyond Darkness.

 Darkness beneath Stone,
Stoneways above Wormways.
Wormsigns through Lifesigns,
Lifesigns of Love. 

Love brings a White Light,
White Light above Pathways,
Pathblazing and Fire Finding,
Fire in the Head.

 Headstones of Prophets!
Prophets of Wisdom!
Wisdom of Worldways!
Ways of Bright Knowledge! 

Fionn's Wheel is a cryptic figure that is found within the Book of Ballymote and its treatise on Ogham. Within the structure of Fionn's Wheel is hidden the Cosmology of the Celts and the Druids. It is a Magical Mandala of Ogham, as well as a symbol of the Mysteries that are Ireland. The Ogham aicme, are shown on Fionn's Wheel as separate pathways connecting the five circles of existence. Each of these pathways is formed by Ogham symbols that connect the extremes of the Cosmos: the Circle of the Heavens ("Cruinne, Roth") and the Sacred Center of Being ("Bíle"). The exception to this connection of outer/inner pathways is called the "Forfedha", the fifth set of Ogham, which are arranged around the second ring of the Wheel. I call this circle the Circle of Poetic Thought or the Circle of the Oak. It is my belief that the Forfedha were placed here, due to their use by the Filidh in ritual. How this could have happened is based on the concepts of number and time, as well as the changing of the seasons, as determined by the Dagda's Harp..

In Irish, the number one is "Aon". This word has deep connections to assemblies and can best be associated through Ogham to the primal Goddess Anu, Mother of All. One is a number that is representative of the center, the self, even the beginning. It is for this reason that the Forfedha Ogham Eadha was placed at the first position in its aicme on Fionn's Wheel. Not only does it start the aicme, but it also symbolizes Imbolc, which is all about the center of life, the beginnings of flow, the hearth fire, and the home of the Celtic family. The first Ogham of the Forfedha is also the cross of the Sun. It represents Being, Creation, Nature and the Source. 

If One is about Being, then Two is about Becoming. In Irish, the number two is "dó". "Dó" I associate with The Dagda, "who was good at everything that he did". Two is a number about actions and changes. Two is the transformation of One. It is the revelation of the Draíocht that exists within Being. It is also a measure of time. There are two parts to a day: darkness and lightness. There are two parts to the year: Winter and Summer. There are two great parts to Being: Death and Life. The Dagda’s staff itself has two ends, one dealing out death and the other giving forth life. There are two parts of Becoming: Giving and Receiving. It is for this reason that the opened doorway of the Diamond represents the second character of the Forfedha. It is placed at the time of Bealtaine on the Wheel, a time of giving and receiving, a time of fertility and a time of growth. It is a time when we pass between the twin fires of Bel, embracing the fertility of life and the growth of Summer.

"Tri" or "Three" could mean "Triple God/desses" or it could mean "one child with Three Gifts". Three is the child of One and Two, just as Angus was the child of Boann and the Dagda. Angus, the child, is the result of their mating. He is the new Sun arising from the powers of the Brugh. Three is the third part of the spiral at the entryway to the White Mound. It completes the Three Worlds and establishes our reality. It is what transforms our diversity of two into a harmony of three. Three was a number of balance to the Celts. There are three Sons of Tuireann, three Gods of Danu, three Brighids, triple Morrigu, three Queens of the Tuatha Dé ... Three was a number of continuing and a melody of harmony. The third Ogham of the Forfedha on Fionn's Wheel is Ifin, which is represented by the combinations of the Cross and the Diamond. Three is a number of transformation. It also contains the crossroads of four within it.

"Cathair" or "Four" is a number that connects and assimilates. It is a number of focus. Four is represented by the Ogham Uileand, a vine that spirals around the Sacred Bile. As its spiral tightens, all of our hazy and uncertain concepts take form to reveal their secrets. Four is a number that turns a plane into a solid, and gives form to appearance. Four establishes the mental pathways that are necessary for weaving the cloth of knowledge from the threads of information. Four is Mastery of Divination. It is all about seeing beyond the ordinary to other worlds and to other dimensions. I associate "Cathair" with Cathbad, Druid Seer extraordinaire. The Ollam’s chair at Emain Macha, rightfully belonging to Cathbad, was itself called "Cathair Ollaman". I also associate cathair with "Coll" which is symbolic of the source of all "seeing" which is the Magical Well of Segais. This well could only be safely accessed when Nechtan and his three cupbearers chanted around it. Such chanting by fours around a well was also found in the healing work of Dian Cecht and his three children at the Well of Slane. Four Druids chanted the Spell of Truth over the dreamer of the Tarbh Feís. If the Celtic Cosmos consists of Land, Sea, and Sky, then four represents the pathways that exist between these worlds. It is a spiral of stitchwork that melds the Three Worlds into a new creation. This spiral also represents the entry way to the House of Donn (always in the Southwest) and/or the Brugh na Bóinne (which is opposite it in the Northeast) . One direction on the spiral leads down into the World of the Sea and the Isles of the Ancestors. Reversing the spiral, takes us up through the Brugh of the Gods and into the World of the Stars. The unity of the Three Worlds is woven within the weave of the spirals by the vine of life. This weaving of four yields a new creation, which is five, our pathway to Destiny.

"Cuig" or Five is a number of mastery and completion (as also is nine). Five is also a number that represents the Land. I associate "Cuig" with "Quert" as this is the altered Magical "C" sound. What better five than the five pointed star concealed within the seeds of the Apple? What better Land than the Isle of Apples itself, which is concealed within the mists of an Otherworldly Sea? There were five parts to the Land; five fingers to the hand; five strokes to the Ogham. Five is the center defined by Four and Three. It is the center of worlds, plains, and realities. Five exists on many levels and in many directions. Five is symbolized by the Four directions and Four Hallows as They lay across one another to form the Fidchell board of the Gods. Four lines by four lines yields a figure that has nine compartments. This is the Cró of Lugh within which he was able to trap all opponents. This is the maneuver that Lugh used to defeat Ogma at the game of fidchell, thereby gaining entrance to the fellowship of Tara. The mystery that connects five to nine, within the intersections of time and space, is found contained within the word "noinden". This word signifies a gathering of warriors, or it can also be applied to the ancient Celtic week, a period of nine days. As a gathering of warriors. it is the number of the Cró of Lugh. As a period of nine days, it shows us that the fifth day is the center of the week. The mastery of five is that it defines the center, which is also defined by the center of nine. This center is our connection to Creation. The relationship of five and nine is also shown in the lore of the Well of Segais, which was surrounded by nine hazels, but which also was the source of five streams of wisdom. If we are wise, we will embrace the strategy of Lugh amid the Draíocht of Segais, when we connect the fivefold nature of the Ogham to the ninefold nature of the Dúile. May the center of wisdom guide us in our own efforts at foreseeing the future. May our Wood Wisdom reveal that which is hidden. May our Cauldron of Wisdom be positioned to receive the flow of imbas. Five is the game of Destiny. It is a creator of Worlds and a map to the Cosmos. Five is the window that connects us to the Gods and the Ancestors. It is at the center of the Feast of Age. Five is the Mystery and the Mastery.

The five elements of the Forfedha are also said to be the gift of the "Crane Bag" of Manannán Mac Lir (which is curiously similar to the "crane bag" that Finn inherited from his father Cumhall). Manannán and Finn are no strangers to the Ogham or the Wheel. It was Manannán that caused the White Hazel containing Balor's severed head to be made into the Shield of Fionn (another name for Fionn's Wheel). Manannán fashioned this shield and made Finn a gift of it. It was in this way that men received the wisdom of Balor without succumbing to the poison of his "evil eye" (but that is another story). Another name for Fionn's Wheel is Fionn's Window which is representative of the Celtic zodiac as it is seen through the smoke hole in the roof of an Irish hut. It is only when the "star speech" from the Skyworld is superimposed upon the "wood wisdom" of the Ogham, that the true pattern of the Wheel is revealed. It is my hope in this analysis (and the divinations that result), to decipher some of the ancient wisdom and meanings of the Druids.