Ogham Tuesday: Pine/Ailm

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 is most likely due the sound of the phoneme rather than any inherent meaning in the word “ailm.” Vowels, I tell you.

Purely coincidentally, those vowel-like wide open spaces come into play with Pine for divination purposes. Depending on your ogham system and references, any number of long-lived, tall evergreen trees might represent this ogham few. We’ve settled on Pine. Pine trees, of course, are evergreen, connecting them to eternity, hope, and constancy. Pine isn’t mentioned frequently in the lore, but it was a staple product for construction. The Carmina Gadelica briefly mentions Pine in a chant relating the best moon phase for harvesting the lumber. Other sources suggest pine logs were burned ritually at Midwinter. (Duh.)

Pine invites us to its uppermost branches, if only figuratively. From that perch, we can scope out the lay of the land. We can notice patterns that are not readily visible from the ground. Pine is there to give  us a different perspective and a wider view. Too often, we hyper-focus on what is before us, what is immediate. Stepping back and up shifts our view, enabling us to see what’s actually going on. Pine is our occasional reminder to do just that.