Post by wren on Aug 31, 2006 13:41:56 GMT -5
Duir (Oak), pronounced DOO-r)
Botanical name: Quercus robur. Status: chieftain tree. Sound: d.
Elaborations on the Ogham Name Duir: Oak, higher than bushes is an Oak.
Word Ogham of Morainn mac Moín: Oak is the highest of bushes, with respect to its wood in the forest.
Word Ogham of Cú Chulainn: Oak equals kneeling work, bright and shining work.
Word Ogham of Óengus: Oak equals craft or carpenters’ work.
Duration
We see the Oak King standing within a dolmen’s arch, limbs of strong wood, hair of leaf, crowned with mistletoe.
Duir, Oak, has long been seen as the King of the Woodland in the British Isles. It is a stout tree in height and girth, long lived too, its wood excellent for working. The Gaelic name duir reflects both the practical and magical qualities of oak: its word roots link to the words ‘endurance’, ‘duration’ and ‘doorway’. This is a tree-letter of established strength, maturity and nobility. You stand at the peak of your powers, mighty like an oak.
The oak tree takes a long time to mature but once established it is great in strength. Its roots dig deep into the nourishing earth, its trunk stands hardy to all weathers and its branches spread magnificently over its surroundings. Oak is a mighty tree which can grow up to one hundred fifteen feet with girths of thirty to forty feet. This ‘highest of bushes’ is not literally true; it is more a veneration of the tree’s venerable status in Celtic culture. One of eight chieftain trees in the Book of Ballymote, Oak was valued not only for its wood but is sheltering role in woodland and field. With a lifespan of up to and over seven hundred years, it is one of the longest living forest dwellers in the Northern Hemisphere, though far outstripped by the yew. Slow to mature, seventy or eighty years elapses before an Oak produces acorns. These fruits were used as feed for pigs, and humans when larders were bare, adding to the tree’s reputation for being a great provider. The incredible resilience and beauty of Oak’s wood have made it a much-loved tree, which has added to its decline due to over-felling. Oak has a tendency to attract lightning. Yet it endures hardship well and many twisted, blasted Oaks testify to its great skill in enduring the elemental powers. It’s role as a lightning rod has linked it to several pagan gods across Europe and it has sometimes been seen as actually embodying the lightning’s flame.
The Oak is popularly associated with the Druids and a previous generation of scholars tended to regard Druidism as a kind of ‘cult of the oak’, in part from the claim that the roots of the word ‘Druid’ lie in duir-id, literally ‘wise one of the oak’. Though this etymology is not currently fashionable, there is no doubt that the Oak was an extremely holy tree to the pagan Celts. The ‘kneeling work, bright and shining work’ referred to by Óengus could refer to worship or worshipful attention to the Oak. These are marvelous trees to contact as powerful guardians of the Greenworld. You can approach Oak as your guardian tree, which will instill in you a deep sense of solidity and strength in times of trouble.
Be like an oak, firmly rooted, secure in your own nature, branching out in fruitful directions. Here you have come into your own power, having survived weathering at the hands of the elements – storms, losses, defeats, darkness, terrors. This Ogham letter teaches the wisdom of endurance, both physical and spiritual: it also takes you beyond mere survival into an established mode of life.
Perhaps you have found your feet in your vocation or ascended a knotty rung in the ladder of life. Your position is favorable is and likely to strengthen. Emotionally you are becoming more grounded and able to endure the assaults of experience. You could also be involved in parenting or some other responsible role and doing well. In mental and creative matters, your talents are finding expression. You are deepening and mellowing, like good mead encased in oak barrels.
As mentioned, the word ‘doorway’ is related to duir. This was not simply because of the suitability of the oak in the carpenter’s work. Oak is a sign of progress, as if a door stands ahead of you, signaling your transition into a higher state. As such you also become a doorway for others, a sheltering and protective force. This situation is not one which will pass quickly but a lasting state or condition. Allow yourself to relax into this role, full of goodwill and wit, for there is a noble aspect to this Ogham. Oak is one of the great chieftain-trees.
Reversed, duir warns that you may be behaving in a manner unbefitting your strengths and resources. Are you undermining your own position by not acting as sensibly or honorably as you might? Are you letting yourself down or overplaying your hand? Moments of weakness and confusion are only human but do not let them become a habit.
Botanical name: Quercus robur. Status: chieftain tree. Sound: d.
Elaborations on the Ogham Name Duir: Oak, higher than bushes is an Oak.
Word Ogham of Morainn mac Moín: Oak is the highest of bushes, with respect to its wood in the forest.
Word Ogham of Cú Chulainn: Oak equals kneeling work, bright and shining work.
Word Ogham of Óengus: Oak equals craft or carpenters’ work.
Duration
We see the Oak King standing within a dolmen’s arch, limbs of strong wood, hair of leaf, crowned with mistletoe.
Duir, Oak, has long been seen as the King of the Woodland in the British Isles. It is a stout tree in height and girth, long lived too, its wood excellent for working. The Gaelic name duir reflects both the practical and magical qualities of oak: its word roots link to the words ‘endurance’, ‘duration’ and ‘doorway’. This is a tree-letter of established strength, maturity and nobility. You stand at the peak of your powers, mighty like an oak.
The oak tree takes a long time to mature but once established it is great in strength. Its roots dig deep into the nourishing earth, its trunk stands hardy to all weathers and its branches spread magnificently over its surroundings. Oak is a mighty tree which can grow up to one hundred fifteen feet with girths of thirty to forty feet. This ‘highest of bushes’ is not literally true; it is more a veneration of the tree’s venerable status in Celtic culture. One of eight chieftain trees in the Book of Ballymote, Oak was valued not only for its wood but is sheltering role in woodland and field. With a lifespan of up to and over seven hundred years, it is one of the longest living forest dwellers in the Northern Hemisphere, though far outstripped by the yew. Slow to mature, seventy or eighty years elapses before an Oak produces acorns. These fruits were used as feed for pigs, and humans when larders were bare, adding to the tree’s reputation for being a great provider. The incredible resilience and beauty of Oak’s wood have made it a much-loved tree, which has added to its decline due to over-felling. Oak has a tendency to attract lightning. Yet it endures hardship well and many twisted, blasted Oaks testify to its great skill in enduring the elemental powers. It’s role as a lightning rod has linked it to several pagan gods across Europe and it has sometimes been seen as actually embodying the lightning’s flame.
The Oak is popularly associated with the Druids and a previous generation of scholars tended to regard Druidism as a kind of ‘cult of the oak’, in part from the claim that the roots of the word ‘Druid’ lie in duir-id, literally ‘wise one of the oak’. Though this etymology is not currently fashionable, there is no doubt that the Oak was an extremely holy tree to the pagan Celts. The ‘kneeling work, bright and shining work’ referred to by Óengus could refer to worship or worshipful attention to the Oak. These are marvelous trees to contact as powerful guardians of the Greenworld. You can approach Oak as your guardian tree, which will instill in you a deep sense of solidity and strength in times of trouble.
Be like an oak, firmly rooted, secure in your own nature, branching out in fruitful directions. Here you have come into your own power, having survived weathering at the hands of the elements – storms, losses, defeats, darkness, terrors. This Ogham letter teaches the wisdom of endurance, both physical and spiritual: it also takes you beyond mere survival into an established mode of life.
Perhaps you have found your feet in your vocation or ascended a knotty rung in the ladder of life. Your position is favorable is and likely to strengthen. Emotionally you are becoming more grounded and able to endure the assaults of experience. You could also be involved in parenting or some other responsible role and doing well. In mental and creative matters, your talents are finding expression. You are deepening and mellowing, like good mead encased in oak barrels.
As mentioned, the word ‘doorway’ is related to duir. This was not simply because of the suitability of the oak in the carpenter’s work. Oak is a sign of progress, as if a door stands ahead of you, signaling your transition into a higher state. As such you also become a doorway for others, a sheltering and protective force. This situation is not one which will pass quickly but a lasting state or condition. Allow yourself to relax into this role, full of goodwill and wit, for there is a noble aspect to this Ogham. Oak is one of the great chieftain-trees.
Reversed, duir warns that you may be behaving in a manner unbefitting your strengths and resources. Are you undermining your own position by not acting as sensibly or honorably as you might? Are you letting yourself down or overplaying your hand? Moments of weakness and confusion are only human but do not let them become a habit.