Ogham Tuesday: Luis/Rowan

Rowan: Protecting, Shielding, Warding

Luis/Rowan is the second letter of the ogham alphabet.

Luis, according to my research, is the Old Irish word for the rowan tree. It represents the /l/ phoneme. In both modern Irish and Scots Gaelic, however, rowan is rendered caorann. It’s possible that the two Irish words aren’t even related, and it’s certainly unlikely one word evolved into the other.

Just as rowan and mountain ash are two words for the same tree species. In fact, the English word “rowan” comes from German. The Anglo-Saxon name is cwic-beám, and comes to us through folklore and fable as the Quicken Tree (and popularly in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Two Towers, as Quickbeam the Ent.)

Regardless of what you call the actual tree, rowan has long been associated with magical protection in many cultures in the northern-most regions of Europe and Asia that make up the species’ habitat. Twigs and other tree bits are used for charms, and the wood is often used to fashion staves and wands. It is long associated with witchcraft and magic—and ironically on many levels as a charm to protect you from witches. (And fairies, which, you know, FAIR.)

Volume 2 of the Carmina Gadelica lists and translates verses explicating the use of rowan for charms and artifacts to  protect milk production, as well as funerary items such as coffins for the dead. Often ceremonial cakes were baked over fires of rowan to lend its power of protection and blessing to the people who ate the cakes.

Whenever the Rowan ogham appears in a reading, strong protection is being offered. Do accept it, and it wouldn’t hurt to ritualize whatever means you use to ward against harm or evil, either.

--BB