Ogham Tuesday: Nion/Ash

Nion/Ash is the fifth letter in the ogham alphabet.

Ash: Transforming, Shape-Shifting, Evolving

Nion is the fifth letter of the ogham alphabet, representing the /n/ phoneme. It’s also the last letter in the First Aicme, or set, of the letters. Don’t forget that starting next week, Nicole will take over and go back to the beginning to talk about each letter in a more arboreal context.

The ash tree is one of the heavy-hitter, oft-called sacred trees in the Gaelic tree lore, along with oak and yew. Of the five “guardian” trees that still exist in Ireland today, three of them are ash. Ash is the quintessential World Tree to many pagans.

Druidic ritual has at its center, a bile (BEE-lay)* that connects parts of the ritual cosmology—root and crown, physical and spiritual, below and above. As such, it’s part of opening the portal between so-called mundane space and the sacred, which allows energies to flow between humans and deities.

It is this ability to shift and transform energies that gives the Ash ogham it’s meaning. When Ash appears in a reading or omen, expect to shift your thinking and actions. Prepare to be stretched by new insights and new ways of doing things. It might be something that makes life events easier to maneuver, but it also might be uncomfortable. Either way, prepare to EVOLVE, DAMMIT.

*A bile refers to an ancient, sacred tree specifically. A more garden-variety, while also sacred, tree is called a crann (Irish) or craobh  (Scottish.)