#forfeda

The other main difference between this new Oak set and the old Birch set is that I'm opting to forgo the Forfeda with this set. I'm not invalidating the Forfeda, nor am I judging Anyone who prefers to read and work with the Forfeda, but it's time to let Them go in My practice with the Ogham as I move forward with My practice in general. There are all kinds of reasons why I made this choice, but the simplest answer is this: In My opinion, Ogham, or at least the original twenty feda of the Ogham, is the form of Divination in the world that is the easiest to make accessible for the Blind in My opinion. The Forfeda greatly detracts from the quality of accessibility. I mean, I have several tactile Ogham sets, and yet no two People can seem to make the Forfeda exactly the same in a tactile sense.

The Dindshenchas, a collection of Irish place-name lore, describes the well as being surrounded by nine hazel trees whose nuts fall into the waters, and are eaten by the salmon who dwell there. By eating these magical hazelnuts, the salmon are imparted with all the knowledge of the world, and, according to the Boyhood Deeds of Fionn, if one is able to catch and eat one of these marvelous fish, they will have that knowledge imparted unto them, in turn.

"The father of Ogham is Ogma, the mother of Ogham is the hand or knife of Ogma." The ogham alphabet is a mysterious writing system from the Early Medieval period, though its origins may stretch back much further. The creation of this alphabet is attributed to the Irish god Ogma in the text of the Ogham Tract, which says that Ogma first used it to serve as a warning for Lugh. In its standard form, the ogham alphabet contains twenty letters--fifteen consonants and five vowels--which are divided into five "aicme" or families; although the manuscript tradition later included an additional aicme known as the forfeda ("extra letters"). The Ogham Tract lists many varieties of ogham with many different kennings, associations, and mnemonics for each letter, as well as different "scales" or variant ways of writing them. While tree and plant names make up the bulk of the letter names, ogham cannot correctly be called a "tree alphabet," as not all the letters are named after trees, despite popular belief - "soil," "terror," "weaver's beam," "ingot," "sulfur," and "the act of wounding" are among the meanings of the letter names. Each letter also has an associated bird, color, agricultural tool, and art, in addition to an associated tree. This piece features twenty staves of yew, engraved with the letters of the ogham alphabet and arrayed around a circular diagram known as Fionn's Window, which is one of the scales found in the Ogham Tract. The forfeda are included as engraved stones to reference the many, many examples of "ogham stones" across Ireland and Western Britain. The center of the piece features Ogma's knife, modeled after a traditional Scottish sgian dubh, and decorated with a sun design for Ogma himself, who was known by the epithet Grianainech ("sun-face").

Slainte!

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