I can’t pull Gooseberry without giggling, so it’s probably a good thing I don’t see it very often.  Gooseberries are shrub-type plants, rather than full trees. They're lively and beautiful in the landscape, great for wildlife, and very yummy in pies. They do fine with some benign neglect, but if you want to harvest any of its fruit in volumes useful for human consumption, you’ll need to take care of it: mulching to prevent weeds, pruning old canes to encourage new growth, and

Like Beth mentioned, Spindle is an ogham with nuance. In the same context as Broom, Spindle relates to home life and chores, but more specifically in the sense that our efforts are part of a larger process.  The European spindle tree is unfortunately invasive in my area, so I can’t plant it, but before we understood how aggressively it spread, I definitely liked the shape of it as a small tree and its vibrant color in autumn (it’s commonly called “burning bush” around here). 

White Poplar grows well enough in many circumstances to be a problem, gaining up to 130 feet in height quickly. It grows eagerly on woodland edges, where it spreads by sucker and forms colonies of tall trees that sway in the breeze.  As with Aspens, its silver-green foliage tremble in the slightest breeze. White Poplar flowers and catkins are small and unremarkable but its height and bark have a lot of ornamental interest. First introduced to the US in the 1800s, it quickly “

The Fifth Aicme is what we call the Forfeda. It consists of the last and later-added ogham fews. They represent sounds that had been omitted, that weren’t universally a part of every dialect, or that were added to the language as it developed—possibly due to the encroachment of Latin in Ireland. There isn’t much agreement on what these added sounds even were. In addition, there is very little in the lore about these ogham, and it is likely that the “tree names” were added by

Yews are trees of age and legend. In Britain, they’re often found around churchyards and cemeteries, and there’s more than one estimated to be thousands of years old. The Fortingall Yew (in Scotland) is one of the oldest known non-clonal trees in Europe at 3,000-5,000 years old. (Some estimates say it’s only 1,500 years old; others date it at 9,000 years old.) It’s hard to precisely date because the trunk has split into several parts over time, which hasn’t left enough heart

Sometimes called Quaking Aspen, the leaves of this tree tremble at the slightest breeze.  Quaking aspen spreads through its root system, naturally growing into large stands over time, with one tree being a clone of the next. Pando is the name of a quaking aspen clone made of up ~47,000 stems that at first glance seem to be individual trees, but NO. They are connected to a common root system that spans 106 acres in Utah's Fishlake National Forest. This makes Pando the world's

Heather is one of my favorite omens, and a plant I wish I could grow. It's a low-growing, evergreen shrub with purply-pink flowers. I used it in my wedding bouquet. (It's also the name of a longtime friend. Hello, Heather.) Heather is a plant whose seeds germinate best after a wildfire. A lot of seeds need tempering in some form — whether it's cold, scarification, or (in this case), heat — so it's not all that unusual, but the environments where Heather grows are cooler and w

Hello, all – When I’m most hoping for divination to give me a dramatic choice or change in perspective, that’s when it gives me the most ordinary guidance. (( sigh )) This month, the magic is in the ordinary. Just one foot in front of the other, right?   Overall Theme: Pine , for perspective. This one is fresh in my mind from a recent #oghamtuesday, as a reminder to get some emotional distance and check whether I’m on the right path. Pine keeps me anchored in the map. I’m che

Gorse is an ogham that sits you down and asks you to be honest about your passion. Sure, sexual passion is a clear correspondence, but it’s so much more on top of that (innuendo unintended).  Gorse is not a tidy plant – is sprawls across a landscape with prickly leaves and spines and riotous flowers – and it’s not a tidy omen. This is not EASY passion we’re talking about, okay?  As an evergreen shrub, Gorse thrives in poor soil and in windy, exposed, and “wasted” ground. It c

For the purposes of intersecting ogham with botany, Pine is significant primarily due to its height. There are a bunch of Pine varieties — not all of them very tall — but we aren't talking about them today.  Mature pines can reach 120 feet or taller. These are the trees that stretch above the canopy, offering a view of the surrounding landscape. I've even seen cell phone/aerial towers disguised as pine trees because they need to be that elevated to pass a signal along, which

Dying, Transforming, Renewing Yew/Idho is the 20th letter of the Ogham alphabet. What would a stereotypical old English graveyard be without Yew trees? Unauthentic, for one thing! Yew trees, with the way they arch over to the ground, are a threshold from one plane of existence or stage to another. Its connection with death and rebirth is also apparent in the fact that every piece of a yew tree (save the flesh of the fruit) contains the poison taxine. Taxine can affect the hea

Testing, Challenging, Prevailing Aspen/Edadh is the 19th letter of the Ogham alphabet. Aspen/Edadh is the 19 th  letter of the Ogham alphabet. It represents the [e] vowel sound, which isn’t an E at all, but what in English would be the long /a/ sound in “eight” or “hey”. Here in the U.S., we think of aspen trees as a Rocky Mountain phenomenon, but they are actual indigenous to Ireland, as well. As an omen, Aspen has to do with overcoming fear and being challenged in some way.

(No, you're not time-traveling. New Moon Divination goes out via email each month to subscribers, and then comes to the blog for everyone about a week later. Subscribing is free and the messages are pretty low-volume. There should be a link at the bottom of any page of the website!) Hello, all – I’m so glad I took an extra day for this one. Life is heavy right now, mostly in a good way. but the world feels heavy around me in a NOT good way. This month’s divination has really

Accepting, Partnering, Loving Heather/Ur is the 18th letter in the Ogham alphabet. Heather is a hardy little plant that grows well in scrubby, otherwise unforgiving ground. It’s fitting, then, that the omen Heather/ Úr symbolizes is strong, healthy relationships. This 18 th letter of the Ogham alphabet, and the Old Irish word refers to moist soil and the cultivation of plants. Úr represents the long [oo] sound in the English word “food.” Besides appearing on hillsides all ov

Romancing, Pursuing, Indulging Onn/Gorse is the 17th letter of the Ogham alphabet. The bright yellow flowers of the Gorse plant speak to the focus on passion of the Gorse/Onn ogham. Onn is the 17 th  letter of the Ogham alphabet and represents a vowel sound that lies somewhere in and around the long [o] sound and the [aw] sound, as they are pronounced in U.S. English. I will absolutely not be making a joke about passion and the lip-shape of this vowel sound. Passion brings to

Far-Seeing, Observing, Understanding Pine/Ailm is the 16th letter of the Ogham alphabet. Can you hear me from up here? Just checking The fourth set of ogham differ from the first three in that the letters represent vowel sounds, rather than consonants. Ailm  is the 16 th  letter of the ogham alphabet and represents the vowel sound most closely sounding like the “ah” sound in the world “calm”—at least in U.S. English. All of the Word Oghams refer to groaning sounds, and this i

I have to admit: the first thing that comes to mind when I think of Elder is Monty Python. “Your mother was a hamster and your father...

I don’t think any ogham is BAD, but Blackthorn is one that demands respect for sure. And, while I will crack a joke about nearly all...

A note for time-traveling friends: Your calendar is not wrong. New Moon Divination goes out via email to website subscribers first,...

The ogham for this week is blessedly literal: Broom, which is both a shrub and the tool made from it. An omen of simplicity and care in...