Ogham Tuesday: Honeysuckle/Ifín

How much do I love this ogham? It’s tattooed on my skin.

Sure, as a gardener who focuses on native plantings, honeysuckle is a bane. I’ve hired people to help me pull it out, but I can still appreciate how pretty the flowers are, how nice it smells when it’s in bloom, and how GOOD it is at thriving. It isn’t the plant’s fault. All the qualities that make it invasive are advantages: leafing out earlier than anything else in the understory, climbing for sunshine and nutrients, and twining around support. 

That’s the heart of Honeysuckle as a message, though. Moderation matters. Gather sweetness to yourself without clinging. Reach for the structure you need without getting entangled. That sort of thing. 

As for the tattoo, I have both Honeysuckle and Spindle right now -- symbolizing gratitude and service. I think it's a nice balance to be reminded of.

Keywords include: sweetness, gathering, entangled, needs, survival, instinct, hope, intrusive, thrive, ease, maintenance, dizzy, power, diversion, distraction, fragrant, cloying, cherish

Guidance might include:

• Working with Honeysuckle is an exercise in gratitude. Take a moment to observe the gifts already within your reach. 

• Start by growing where you’re planted, and expand from there. 

• You are not “too much.” 

Questions or cautions might include:

• Why are you asking permission to thrive?

• How might you balance your own needs with those of the collective? 

• Could approaching this situation with sweetness change both the tone and the result?

What connections do you see? 

Blessings,

Nicole

~ Nicole (Nikki, sometimes Saffron Hare) is founder and general manager at Nine Fires Press. Her Druidic practice has included solitary, small-group, and congregational worship, with a focus on liturgy and seership. She is studying for her Master Gardener certification, rehabbing an underground home in the Midwestern US, and loves to fall in love with bad ideas.

 #ogham #omens #divination #druidry #pagan #ninefiresogham