Re: Making Ogham Staves
Searles

Sat Mar 23 12:19:23 2002
Stacey,*p*The answers to your questions are:*p*1. It's ok to make the Ogham staves from any sort of wood that is special to you, especially if it is *gifted* to you.*p*2. The staves can be anywhere from a knuckle's length to a finger's length for most purposes. There is a record of some that were said to be about 24 feet long! :-) These were used for record keeping and not for divination however.*p*3. I prefer those that have the strokes carved on, but wood burning is also ok. There is no mandate on how this is done though traditionally Ogma was said to have carved his with a knife.*p*4. The staves are called fedha (plural) and fidh (singular) in Irish.  This is another name for "woods."*p*5. The staves or fedha can be four-square, or three-sided, or almost flat like a Rune (when carved on the face of the fidh instead of the edge/druim).  I've seen small branches that were cut on a diagonal at the end and then the Ogham character was either burned or painted on the diagonal sopace. These were about a finger's length long and seemed to work well for casting.*p*In summary, any wood will do so long as it has a special connection for you. How the fedha are shaped, carved and cut is also an individual preference. One must keep in mind that the Ogham serve as a doorway to the Cosmos and the Gods for the Seer. It's a two-way street that should be viewed as sacred and esoteric fo you and your own traditions.*p*Searles*p*Stacey wrote,*br*: The two birches up at our Grove site didn't make *br*: it through the winter. I thought what a more *br*: fitting tribute to them would be to make Ogham *br*: staves out of them. From what little I've read *br*: Ogham staves are made from oak or the individual *br*: tree of each stave, so I know I'm pushing it a bit *br*: here.*br*:*br*: I am trying to get an idea of the size of the *br*: staves but have had no luck.  Could those of you *br*: with staves kindly tell me their dimensions? I *br*: would need length, width, and depth.  And how were *br*: the Oghams themselves carved into the stave? *br*: Woodburning tool?  Wood knife?*br*:*br*: And one more question: what is the Gaelic term for *br*: Ogham stave?*br*:*br*: Thank you ever so much!*br*:*br*: Stacey*br*
Making Ogham Staves
Stacey
1063
 Fri - Mar 22 - 11:38pm



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