#ailm

The three major meanings of Ailm, gleaned from the glosses of the Bríatharoghaim, are birth, astonishment, and sickness. Each of these are significant liminal moments in a person's life, usually indicating a change is taking place. A baby is being welcomed into this world, while their parent is in a dangerous physical state that could lead to their death. Someone is learning some new information, the astonishment leading to it changing their paradigm. A sick person has their life in the balance; they are waiting to find out if they will live or die, and even if they survive, possibly live with a permanent disability. If death comes instead, that means leaving this world into the next.

Birth, Sickness, & Death

Birth traditions dictate that while child was being seperated from the body of their parent, the Otherworld was near. Spiritual protections were paramount, for everyone involved. Both parents were susceptible to evil or life-threatening forces, and needed accompaniment to avoid being harmed. Folk beliefs around changelings drove a lot of this fear, and so cleansing and warding/banishing practices were particularly important. Directly after birth, parent and newborn were "sained" by whirling a fir or pine candle around the bed three times. Even after the birth, child and mother were seen as at risk until they could be "churched"—receiving a baptism and blessing of holy water, respectively, at the church. Newborns had iron sewn into their clothes for protection, and before picking up the baby, folks had to make the sign of the cross over them. All of these safeguards were to prevent both child and mother from being stolen away to the Otherworld, not only as a changeling, but also through death. The two worlds are close at the time of a birth, and during this liminal period, precautions are immensely important.

In the time before modern medicine, sickness very commonly led to death. In fact, the room of a sick person was known to be particularly susceptible to the Otherworld, just as the room where birth was taking place. When a departed loved one was seen in the sick-room, it was a sure portent of oncoming death. There are many stories of ghosts being seen in sick-rooms, including one of a crowd of spirits being heard and felt a whole day before death. To pass between the boundaries of this world and the Next was to create a liminal moment and space where the two intersected, which necessarily creates a need for protection. In sickness, the body and spirit were seen to be gearing up to transition, opening up a space for the two worlds to touch.

In addition to the fear of death, changelings were also to be feared in sickness. Sick children should not be left alone, lest they be stolen away and a changeling put in their place. There's evidence that this is related to the sick person's spirit leaving the bounds of their body, as evidenced by a story where a sick woman's spirit was seen leaving the house with a "strange woman" in her place, and once prayed over, returning and entering the body of the "strange woman" to become herself again.

There's an additional point of confirmation for the meaning of this Bríatharogham. While Ailm uses "groaning in sickness" as an additional gloss, the highly connected Emaincoll has lúad sáethaig for a Bríatharoghaim, which translates to "groan of a sick person." Emaincoll has the sound value of "CH," which is also the final sound for the traditional literary Irish cry of death—"ach." Therefore, this kenning is undoubtedly saying that the cry of a sick person is the cry of death. By glossing Ailm with that same phrase, ancient scholars were connecting the sound of Ailm to be both the first cry of a person and their final cry (it should be noted that ach begins with an Ailm). Within death, as well as birth, Ailm touches on the separation of soul from body.

Initiation & Revelation

This pattern of liminality is continued with meaning of astonishment. To be astonished is to be given information that you finds surprising, especially information that doesn't fit your beliefs or perspective. In that precise moment, both ideas are real and present, the seeming wrong belief and the new surprising information. Two beliefs that contradict, yet still hold influence. The astonishment comes from the hold the old belief had on your worldview, or, at least, your view of a situation. To move forward, one must become changed. The new information must be taken in, processed, and dealt with. Even if you return to the previously held opinion, there is no way to remain unchanged by the experience. This astonishment could even be pointing to revelation: a paradigm-shifting moment where a message is received, a moment of intense transformation.

A strong possible association that encapsulates all of this is initiation. Initiation rites happen all over the world, for different reasons that correlate with the culture they belong to. The primary reason initiation exists is to incorporate an individual into their community: by helping pubescent children leave their child role behind and enter their culturally assigned gender role, by taking an individual from their previous secular, personal life into a leadership role or into the walls of a (usually religious) institution, or by helping an individual transcend their human existence, usually by granting them secret knowledge into life mysteries that will fundamentally change their spiritual life. In different ways, these ceremonies acted to both divide the initiated and the uninitiated and to incorporate someone inside a boundaried community.

While initiation ceremonies have many different reasons for existence, transcendence and incorporation are their primary purpose. This usually leads to death and rebirth symbology, sometimes simulating a gestation in a womb that leads to birth or a violent death and then trek through the underworld/afterlife to be born again. Initiates are meant to understand that they have ritually and symbolically died; their old selves are left behind, and they are now someone new, with new responsibilities and understanding of their place in the world. Birth, sickness (death), and astonishment are all inherent properties of initiation.

Seperation, Incorporation, & Inception

Birth, death, and initiation all deal with a seperation, seperation of soul from the Oneness of the Otherworld into a body, seperation of the soul from the body, seperation of the individual from one state to another: childhood to adulthood, layperson to leader, uninitiated to initiated. Boundaries between categories are being blurred and crossed. Seperation and incorporation are deep inherent meanings of Ailm. That transitional moment is an intersection of two worlds, sometimes literally, sometimes between worldviews, but each time you are both inside and out at once.

With a wider scope, this can be turned to look at relationships. In its basic form, any relationship is the joining of two people, of being able to love through the joy of not being alone. To be One is to be whole, but it is also to be alone. True togetherness is achieved through seperation, through the integration of different parts into a greater whole, a different kind of whole that is stronger. Each strength can be used to counter the others weakness—you have someone to watch your back. In the same way that initiation bridges a gap between the individual on the outside and the in-group, relationships bridge the gap between yourself and others, between being alone and being in community. Its a growing, gradual, intense experience that fundamentally changes everyone in it, and creates a threshold that is stepped through, changing each person for better or worse.

There is a liminality inherent to all relationships. You each bring different things, different parts of self, that add together into something new. And even further than that, you create things together, create entire new ideas and traditions, and even people, who weren't there before. In the act of procreation, two people are coming together to create something new. A change is started in one person's body, it will never be the same again. A gestation period begins, which triggers bodily changes, and indicates a time of liminality for the parent, and liminality of status for the fetus. It's creating someone brand new, a combination that has never existed before. A change is started within the relationship, within the family, a new life coming that must be welcomed. And of course, conception can lead to birth, the ultimate stepping from one life into another. One could even argue that the cry of Ailm is also heard in the moaning of pleasure.

Crossroads

Esoterically, the symbol of Ailm looks like a crossroads, a meeting point of two planes. Of course, birth and death both involve the meeting of two planes of existence, but so does any liminal moment. That place where two things intersect causes an inherent change in both, and leaves a liminal moment or space where neither reality is paramount.

Another inherent property of the crossroads is the enforcing or opening of boundaries. Boundaries seperate things, seperate one plot of land from another, one tuath from another, one realm from another. They help us categorize the complexities of life into quantifiable aspects, to help us better understand the differences. These divisions can be artificial, they can be blurred or transcended, they can be dissolved. But they are still a real, concrete thing, just as all constructs are. We make them real by participating in them, boundaries and categories can be a tradition in themselves. Ailm can help us in this pursuit, help us understand when and where shifts in states of being, identity, or meaning take place.

The symbol of Ailm looks like a compass—dividing the portions of space. This allotment is admittedly a human invention, but it is also a human reality, born of our perspective in the universe. The four corners of the negative space within Ailm imply the areas of division, while they all seem to converge at one meeting point in the center. I will leave it to you to ponder the full esoteric implications of this symbol.

Crannogham

Relationship between Pine & Birch

The primary tree associated with Ailm is pine (ochtach) or fir (giuis). Pine trees are seen all over Europe as a symbol of birth and rebirth. When cut down, a new tree would grow from its roots, being an observable example of metempsychosis. It's evergreen quality also suggests the immortaloty of the soul—the body may follow a cycle of death and rebirth, but the soul is evergreen. Fittingly, pine trees are heavily associated with the winter solstice (or Christmas), which, being the longest night, is the death and subsequent rebirth of the sun. In Ireland, bog pine was the desired wood for the Bloc Nollaig (yule log), given to be ideal for its distinctive aroma. Pine wood burns very bright, making it a common cheap light source in Ireland, which visually connects it to solar fire.

Pine, along with birch, is also traditionally connected with either Bealtaine (Mayday) or the summer solstice. It is thought that pine and birch were seen as interchangeable symbols of birth. The Icelandic rune-poem for Bjarken ("Birch") has abies (Latin: "pine") as its gloss. This is particularly notable for Ogham, as Beith ("birch") is the first fid in the Ogham, and Ailm is both the first fid of the final aicme and directly connected to birth.

The natural fertility within birth and rebirth is more resonant in the traditions used for summer. During this time, fertility is a necessity for the land to be able to provide for its inhabitants. Across several cultures, summer was celebrated through a ritual burning or drowning of of a straw effigy, a personification of Death, and then the cutting down of either a birch or fir tree, these traditions evoking a celebration of birth and triumph over death. Bog pine was also the wood of choice for Midsummer bonfires in parts of Ireland. May-poles also connected the tree friends of birch and pine, as all throughout Europe, a pole of one or the other wood was erected in the center of town, often to be danced around.

Pines/firs and birches are known for their symbiotic relationship. Both are particular friends of mushrooms, utilizing mycorrhizal networks to communicate and share nutrients both intercommunally and intracommunally. Scots pine is known to house over 200 species of fungus. Interestingly, pine and birch are the two species of tree that amanita muscaria, known as fly agaric, favors the most. Douglas fir and paper birch have been documented sending sugar back and forth, with the sugar-rich birches offering the most help. The more ths firs needed the help, the more sugar birch is willing to send. Foresters have discovered that planting fir and birch together yields a faster-regenerating and hardier crop. The birches help the firs get healthy and strong at the start of life, preparing them to shoot up alongside their benefactors, overtaking them.

It's not impossible that this relationship was noticed by our ancestors. As we will get into a little further down, there are a lot of folkloric commonalities in the uses of the two species of wood. These connections for pine will be elaborated below, but in short: both trees are connected to purification and protection, particularly around birth and other boundaries. Cradles were made of birch to protect the baby, and it was said that herding pregnant cows with birch would result in healthy calves. Birch branches were brought inside on Midsummer, which is also connected to pine. An old Welsh custom, called Beating the Bounds, was to walk the boundaries of your property, beating the ground with birch, to protect your land and drive away malevolent spirits. This was done on Ascension Day, close to Bealtaine (and symbolically close to Midsummer). Beating the edges of one's land delineated the boundary between the wild and cultivated, and it signaled to the Other that that property was owned and protected.

Pine trees were said to be protective of fertility and act as a guard between the worlds. On Samhain in Scotland, splinters of pine were lit and carried sunwise around the crops to fertilize and protect them. Pine candles were whirled around newborn and parent to protect them after birth. There are Scotish folktales that tell of lit pine staves being used to ward off ghosts, and a specific pine tree atop Doon Hill is said to be the entrance to the Otherworld Palace of one of Its Queens. This folklore gestures to the idea that pine trees relate to the boundaries between worlds, keeping them separate, reinforcing their barriers, but also opening them when needed.

Sap & Resin

It's interesting to focus on the properties of pine resin, as it has a similar function, both in its purpose for the protection of the tree, but also its usefulness to human society. Sap and resin are often confused or mistaken for one another, but they serve different functions. Sap is the transportation highway that brings water and nutrients from its roots to the top of the tree, and then sends back down sugars from the leaves where photosynthesis creates its sustenance.

Resin, on the other hand, acts as a sealant for the tree, protecting its insides from the harsh outside. It is found in the outer layer of the tree, so that when wounded, it pours out to cover the wound, quickly hardening into a tough scab. This keeps bacteria from entering the tree, and allows the necessary work of healing to take place. Trees live on a much slower time frame than most life on earth. Their electric signals—used to communicate danger—only travel at one-third of an inch per minute, making it vital that resin quickly pours forth and seals the breach. It's easy to see how this relates to Pine's greater purpose in reinforcing boundaries.

The human uses of pine resin is even more relevant to pine trees—specifically, as resin is present for the same purpose in most trees. It was most popularly used as a cure for cuts or boils. Pine's resin and sap are naturally antiseptic, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory, and it can be used to close and seal wounds, just as it's created for in trees. It was also used to pitch and seal seams in boats, as it is good for waterproofing. The Brehon laws name "its resin in a bowl" as for why it is classified as a noble tree—clearly pointing to its use as sealant. Pine was very commonly associated with its resin, which has an inherent ability to preserve and reinforce barriers, especially in keeping out water or unwanted entities, namely, bacteria. It also had in itself a transformitive quality—to turn a construction of wood into a boat, to take this wood and create a sealed vessel that exists to keep out unwanted influence.

Pine resin is also an incredible fire starter, and pine is quite flammable due to its presence. It's even said that the word "fir" comes from "fire-tree." Its resin is what gives Pine the power of creation—its internal properties create fire—which in itself is a powerfully transformational force. Fire is another concept that is commonly associated with boundaries and protection. Lit staves of pine were said to keep out the influences of the Otherworld: in particular, through circumbobulating the boundaries of land. Lit pine candles were also used to spin around a birthing mother or newborn, keeping them both safe from Otherworldly threats. This folklore in itself affirms pine as an excellent symbol for Ailm.

Rebirth

Pines were also seen as a symbol of reincarnation and rebirth. As we know, after being cut down, a pine tree will grow back up from its roots, making Pine a powerful example of a life, or soul, returning from death. As discussed above, Ailm is associated with birth and the travel of the soul between lives—which, if believed in, also points directly to the transmigration of the soul.

Transmigration of the soul (sometimes called reincarnation) is attested to be a belief of the Celts. Julius Caesar said, "The Celts were fearless warriors, because...[of] one of their main tenants, that souls do not become extinct, but pass after death from one body to another." This belief has its echoes in Gaelic literature under the figures of Fintan mac Bochra and Tuan mac Cairill, with strikingly similar stories. Both men are said to have lived many lives, as humans, animals, and plants. At the moment of death and rebirth, they each found a cave and remembered the other shapes they had had and lives they had led.

These stories not only affirm the idea of a pre-Christian belief in metempsychosis, but also encapsulate the three given meanings of Ailm: birth, death, and realization. Right at the moment of death, Tuan and Fintan had a moment of revelation, a sudden realization or remembrance of past lives, and then passed on into rebirth in their next life.

Liminality is a common theme shared by all of these attributes of pine, connecting the inherent meaning of Ailm, contained within its Bríatharoghaim, to the assigned tree—pine. While its crannogham ("tree-Ogham") is not the absolute meaning of Ailm, it is an intentionally chosen connection to the underlining meaning, or theme, of the fid.

Other Lists

Lapwings & Piebald

The crannogham is also not the only list of associations we have. The dathogham ("color-Ogham") for Ailm is alad, meaning piebald, a spotted or patched marking of white and black. This polar duality of black and white could not only nod to liminality, but also to polar opposite states in general: life and death, truth and deception, past and future, dormancy and transcendence. This encapsulation of the two opposites into one existence is a powerful symbol for the meaning of Ailm.

Another Ogham list is the enogham—the bird-Ogham. The bird for Ailm, lapwings (aidhircleóg) are known for their distinct, shrill cry, making it the perfect symbol for Ailm's human cry of transition. They are particularly regarded for their expertise in deception. When their nests are threatened, the shrewd bird will lead predators away by flying with a limp, faking an injury in order to come off as an easy target and lead them away from its nest. Lapwings also have particularly piebald plumage, which is a beautiful poetic synergy.

Plough & Sovereignty

Two other lists of Ogham attributes are the danogham ("art Ogham") and the ogham tirda ("agriculture Ogham"). The agricultural tool associated with Ailm is arathar ("plough"). What better tool to be connected to Ailm than the plough? Ploughing fields was an extremely important first step within agriculture—digging deep troughs in the earth, violently seperating the grains of dirt to allow seeds to be sown.

The danogham is a list of crafts and occupations associated with the first letter each Ogham fid. The ability associated with Ailm is airigeacht ("sovereignty"). Sovereignty is well-known and well-documented in Celtic literature to be bestowed upon a king by the blessing of a goddess, through the sharing of his bed, joining together in procreation. The king is then divinely appointed to be a symbol of the health and fertility of the tuath, seperated from his peers in his elevation. He is meant to serve as the center of the kingdom—the point in which all divisions lead to—a revolving point that is neither in nor out, a liminal place within society.

Other Personal Gnosis

Ailech Imchell & Uchtach

There is debate that ochtach ("pine-tree") became associated with Ailm through a misreading of uchtach ("answer, cry" or "elevation, the front of a hill"). This potential association with elevation is particularly interesting when you consider the Dindshenachas of Ailech Imchell. Corrgend of Cruach was sentenced by an Dagda to carry the body of His son, Aed, whom he had killed, on his back until he found a gravestone and dug a grave at the top of a hill. Suddenly, Corrgend fell under the weight of the stone and died of exhaustion, letting out a cry "that was 'ail' with an 'ach.'". Ail is the Old Gaelic word for "boulder, rock," while ach is the traditional cry of death. Thus, Ailech was named for the final cry of Corrgend. This, combined with the fact that uchtach resonates with the death of Ailech Imchell, seems to be an echo of connection between the meaning of Ailm and the sound it contains, "ail."

To further reinforce this connection, áil in Old Gaelic is "request, supplication, wish." Not precisely the same meaning, but another interesting potential call-and-response, this time as placeholders: "áil?" "uchtach!" Additionally, scholarship have suggested that the words aicc ("no, nay") and/or aithesc ("answer, reply" ) could be related, as a response to the kenning tosach fecrae ("beginning of an answer"). Regardless of which wordplay could've been originally meant, there does seem to be an inherent theme—one that could be summed up as Call-and-Response.

Aicme Ailme & The Fordeda

One of the Bríatharoghaim for Emancholl specifically glosses "expression of a weary/sick one" as "ach." In a passage from the Book of Cenfáelad, the commentator says that the position of Ailm as first of the vowels, and Emancholl as last, is because "for among letters it is older and among vowels it is nobler, and it is the first expression of everything coming into life, namely 'a' [sic], and the cry of everyone dying, to wit, ach." These feda have a close relationship, as not only is Ailm the first letter of ach, but also Emancoll can be the dipthong "AE" (along with "Ch"). This definitely seems to connect the entirety of human life with aicmí Ailme and Ébaid (forfeda). Birth takes place with Ailm, with the pure cry of "Aaaaa" and ends with the death cry of "ach," specifically giving Emancholl the final value of "Ch."

The entire process of life is illustrated as the journey from Ailm to Idad, then fully fleshed out within the fordeda. Ailm is the birth (which comes from the previous death), Onn is the life in this world, Úr is the death of the body, Edad the journey of the soul (or the life spent in the Otherworld), and Idad is the lasting memory and legacy on their community. The forfeda tell this story again, instead focusing on desired attributes of life. Ébad representing the journey of the soul to this world, Óir the vigor of life in childhood, Uillenn the precious things clung to in adolescence and the changes that brings, Iphín the abundance and prosperity—and necessary protection of both—that comes with adulthood, and finally, Emancholl, the death that no one can escape.