OGHAM KEYS TO WISDOM

OPENING THE PATHWAYS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                    BOOK I of VOLUME I               

 

THE CAULDRON OF FORMATION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Searles Ó Dubhain


Text and copyright by Searles O’Dubhain

Diagrams by Searles O’Dubhain

Cover Design by Searles O’Dubhain

Cover Art and Celtic Illustration by Cari Buziak,
©1996-2003
,  Aon Celtic Art & Illumination
http://www.aon-celtic.com

CONTENTS


CONTENTS.. ii

Tables. 8

Illustrations. ix

Preface. ii

Dedication.. ix

Acknowledgements. x

Introduction.. xii

How to use these Books. xv

Ogham Keys to Wisdom... xvi

PART ONE Opening the Pathways.. 1

Chapter 1 In the Beginning.. 2

A Warning at the Entrance to the Way.. 4

Becoming a Druid.. 9

Being a Druid.. 9

Outer and Inner Knowledge. 11

Walking the Druid Way.. 12

Finding Knowledge. 15

Ogham, Language of the Druids. 21

Ogam as a Secret Language. 26

Ogham Inscriptions. 34

Ogham Variations and Styles. 36

Ogham Encryptions and Forms. 38

Chapter 2  Sources of Knowledge. 41

Ogham Books. 41

Common Misconceptions. 43

The Greatest Druids. 57

Stepping Upon the Path.. 75

Chapter 3 The Mind of the Druid.. 78

A Relaxed, Aware and Meditative State. 78

The Memory of Druids. 80

The Paintbrush of Perception.. 84

Memes as Messengers. 86

The Three Worlds. 87

The Tree of Life. 89

Viewpoints and Reflections. 90

Chapter 4  The Cailleach.. 91

A Terrible Darkness. 91

Treasures of the Cailleach's Apron.. 93

The Hag's Chair. 115

The Lament of the Cailleach.. 116

Ebb and Flow... 121

Walking the Labyrinth.. 124

Chapter 5 The Stones Speak.. 125

The Brugh na Bóinne. 127

The Stones of the Brugh.. 129

The Symbols of Brugh na Bóinne. 132

The Point, Infinity and The Void.. 133

The Star Speech Revealed.. 141

The Powers of Stone. 141

Humans Shaped by Stone. 142

Stone Tallies. 143

Chapter 6 The Elements of the Dúile. 147

Understanding the Cosmos. 149

The Center of the World.. 150

The Qualities of Everything.. 153

Nine Elements. 154

Druidic Creation.. 159

Dúilamon the Creator. 164

Anam, the Celtic Soul 168

Sound as Power. 171

The Mystery, the Song of Amergin.. 182

Chapter 7 The Cosmos and the Self. 186

Looking Without and Looking Within.. 188

Amergin’s Cauldron of Poesy.. 193

The Three Cauldrons. 195

Centers of Being.. 217

Turning the Cauldrons. 218

Living Cauldrons. 221

Cauldrons as Symbols. 221

Cauldron Interactions. 224

Chapter 8 The Vision Seers. 226

The Wisdom of the Sages. 226

The Origins and the Ends of Manifestation.. 243

A Cauldron Meditation.. 249

Chapter 9 The Chair of Caer Sidi 251

Fountains and Fires. 252

Barddas. 253

The Boundaries of Mystery.. 262

Chapter 10  Merlin and Taliesin.. 269

The Life of Merlin.. 269

Taliesin's Cosmology.. 273

Chapter 11  Cauldrons of Life. 280

The Stone Basin of Knowth.. 280

Celebrating the Qualities of Being.. 285

The Ebb and Flow of Experience. 288

The Nature of Form and Structure. 290

Circles within Circles. 293

Chapter 12 The Parts of the World.. 294

Time and Space. 295

The Cities of Magic and  The Four Directions. 295

The Four Hallows. 298

The Four (Five) Directions,  Masters, and Qualities. 300

Chapter 13 The Sacred Center. 307

Gathering at the Center. 309

Celtic Ritual Space. 319

Other Indo-European Ways. 326

Across Time and Space. 327

Chapter 14  From the Setting of the Sun into its Rising.. 328

Pathways between Worlds. 348

Journeying Within, an Ogham Meditation.. 352

The Edge of the Forest. 361

Strings, Streams and States of Being.. 362

Continuing on the Druid Way.. 367

Appendices. 372

Appendix A  UPG – Unverified Personal Gnosis. 372

Appendix B A Generalized Approach to Analyzing  Old Irish Traditions and Writings. 376

Appendix C Basic Ogham Correspondences. 380

Appendix D  A Pronunciation Guide for Irish and Welsh Deity Names. 385

Bibliography.. 391

INDEX... 405

NOTES.. 410


 

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