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Post by Senbecc on Apr 20, 2006 3:08:43 GMT -5
Luis would be pronounced LWEE or LWEESH, and is known as the quicken tree of mountain ash. It's sound is L. "Delight of eye is mountain ash, owing to the beauty of it's berries." Word Ogham Of Morainn mac Moín: Delight of eye is mountain ash; quicken tree; to wit, the flame. Word Ogham of Cú Chulainn: Rowan is the strength of cattle. Word Ogham of Oengus: Rowan is friend of cattle. When we take the time to visualize Rowan, we see a wreath of Rowan makes a pentacle above an arched doorway to a sanctuary, where stands a woman in crimson robes. Luis is a letter of protection, sanctuary and defense. Rowan is a traditional ward from the "evil eye", Dark witchcraft (meaning baneful sorcery), and other such dangers, as it's primary use is to defend from harm. What ever it is the threatens or menacing you, Rowan gives the signal of safety, but only if your willing to take the appropriate measures, and choose your movements wisely. Magical protection was a common idea in the ancient world. I suppose that today we may not be so ready to attribute bad luck to dark Witchcraft, though there is still plenty in our world that needs to be guarded against. If Rowan appears within a reading it is a reassurance that you are taken care of, and shouldn't fear harm. One the other hand this doesn't mean that one should to big-headed, as the simple presence of Rowan suggests a lurking danger of some kind, which you may want to prevent somehow. The threat could be, say happiness, health, prosperity, or something similar. There may be people working some sort of mischief against you, or maybe something in a wider environmental spectrum...Threatening and conspiring against your security. Yet again Rowan is an assurance that you do have the means by which to out wit any given trouble. Rowan is a tree-letter that embodies magical, mystical protection, a good luck charm of sorts that tells us the good powers are over seeing us and are at work for us. Acknowledging the Guardian spirits, whether these are your ancestors, guardian angels, and/or animal totems will help these good powers carry out their role in furthering your interests and shielding you from the ill, or the baneful. Signs and amulets are used as shields of protection within many cultures around the world. A sprig of Rowan above a door-way for example is a traditional protection for the home and is a wide spread use of this ogham. Such talismans can be worn by individuals to protect themselves against dark and baneful energies which threaten ones well being...As the discussion continues on Luis or Rowan we will discuss it's place in the Irish texts, such as how a beautiful woman's red lips are compared to the color of the Rowan's berries. I hope to spark some interest in the ogham with these post, so feel free to ask questions and perhaps together we can uncovers Luis's many hidden truths. Grá, Solas agus Gáire (Love, Light and Laughter) -Senbecc
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Pel
Philosopher
Some are born to move the world
Posts: 216
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Post by Pel on Apr 20, 2006 13:11:33 GMT -5
Every time I hear "Rowan" I think of that grey-eyed beauty from The Witching Hour with the whiskey voice. Anyone else?
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Post by moonwind333 on Apr 20, 2006 14:12:23 GMT -5
I always think of the Anne McCaffrey books. ;D
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Post by Senbecc on Apr 26, 2006 16:58:57 GMT -5
Every time I hear "Rowan" I think of that grey-eyed beauty from The Witching Hour with the whiskey voice. Anyone else?
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Post by Silver on Jun 15, 2006 15:41:10 GMT -5
I am not sure why but I have always thought of the Rowan tree as symbol of knowledge, psych knowledge that is. and as a symbol continuing life
I suppose in reference if one has knowledge then one can protect themselves
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Post by Senbecc on Jun 24, 2006 8:24:50 GMT -5
I am not sure why but I have always thought of the Rowan tree as symbol of knowledge, psych knowledge that is. and as a symbol continuing life I suppose in reference if one has knowledge then one can protect themselves To the Irish I suppose the symbolic tree of knowledge would be mainly the Hazel and Oak, but mostly the Hazel, as it is said the hazel is nurished by the five streams of Imbas which spring from the well of Segais, where the Salmon of knowledge and wisdom are said to swim.
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Post by wren on Aug 14, 2006 12:32:00 GMT -5
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Post by wren on Aug 14, 2006 12:35:09 GMT -5
Also... Fraoch and the Rowan Tree
A very ancient fragment of the Celtic myth still remembered among Scottish Gaels is the tale of Froach and the Rowan Tree, preserved in the Book of Linsmore, a Gaelic text of the sixteenth century. There was a king in the land whose wife was named Meve, and they had a marriageable daughter, the princess. The rowan (our mountain ash) stood among the ancient Celts as 'the tree of life' because wondrous medicinal virtues were believed to reside in its red berries; and the lesson of the tale exhibits the sin and dire consequences of disturbing its growth. The king with Queen Meve and their daughter lived near a lake in the midst of which was an island on which stood a rowan-tree guarded by a dragon, as is told in Henderson's translation in verse of the old 'grete':
A rowan tree grew on Loch Meve-- Southwards is seen the shore-- Every fourth and every month Ripe fruit the rowan bore: Fruit more sweet than honeycomb, Its clusters virtues strong, Its berries red could one but taste Hunger they stand off long. Its berries' juice and fruit when red For you would life prolong: From dread disease it gave relief If what is told be our belief. Yet though it proved a means of life Peril lay closely nigh; Coiled by its root a dragon lay, Forbidding passing by.
In the neighbourhood dwelt a young nobleman named Froach, the suitor of the king's daughter, who tells him that her mother, the queen, is ill, and that her only cure is in the berries of the rowan growing on the island as gathered by Froach's hands. Froach protested a little at the extreme peril of the task given him, but bravely agreed to try, and stripping off his clothes plunged in. Swimming to the island he gathered and brought back a goodly quantity of the ripe berries, unnoticed by the dragon. But Meve declared that they were useless--to cure her she must have a branch of the tree bearing fruit.
Froach gave consent; no fear he knew But swam the lake once more; But hero never yet did pass The fate for him in store. The rowan by the top he seized, From root he pulled the tree; And the monster of the lake perceived As Froach from the land made free.
The dragon then attacked the hero, who had no weapon, "and shore away his arm." The princess seeing his plight, ran into the water and gave the man a sword, with which he ultimately killed the brute; but his wounds were fatal, and he reached the shore only to deliver the tree and the dragon's head to the women, and to die at their feet. In another version, however, Froach is nursed in the palace to recovery, outwits a rival, and obtains the princess despite Queen Meve's illwill. ~ from sacred-texts.com
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Post by wren on Jan 12, 2007 12:52:04 GMT -5
Natural Characteristics The most significant natural features of rowan are its white flowers, which sprout in summer, and its red berries. The Ogham Elaborations make clear that its title 'delight of eye' is based on the scarlet appearance rowan takes on by virtue of these berries and in the great Irish epic Tochmarc Etain (The Wooing of Etain), the beautiful Etain's lips are praised for being 'red as the berries of the rowan tree'. When the Word Ogham of Morainn mac Moin alludes to rowan as 'the flame', it is probably describing how the tree can set the hillside ablaze with the hue of its berries. In order to understand the significance of these facts, we have first to realize that in Celtic cultures the paring of red and white was thought to be especially significant. In a number of Irish and Welsh tales, animals with white bodies and red ears, such as pigs and hounds, appear in the path of a hero or king. These are beasts of the Otherworld, for red and white are the colors of the Sidhe (those who dwell in the sidhe or burial mounds). This association makes the rowan extremely potent in Celtic thought, a tree of magic and witchcraft. Storylines Like birch and heather, the rowan tree plays an important roles in the Irish legend of Toruigheacht Diarmada Agus Ghrianne (The Pursuit of Diarmaid and Grainne). Diarmaid and Grainne are on the run from Finn, whose jealousy over the young lovers' elopement knows no bounds. It is a life and death situation, for Finn is determined to avenge himself upon his faithless wife and nephew. After a number of trials, the lovers come to the Wood of Dubhros, the site of ' a wonderful quicken tree'. This tree had grown from a berry dropped unwittingly by a member of the Tuatha de Danaan (the old gods of Ireland) when they were passing through the district... "After it happened one time after the tree was grown, there were messengers of the Tuatha de Danaan going through the woods of Dubhros. And they heard a great noise of birds and bees, and they went where the noise was, and they saw the beautiful Druid tree. They went back then and told what they had seen, and all the chief men of the Tuatha de Danaan when they heard it knew the tree must have been grown from a berry from the Land of the Ever-Living Ones." (Gregory, Irish Myths and Legends) A guardian volunteers his services in protection of the tree. His name is Searbhan Lochlannach (the Surly Viking of Lochlann). Yet his appearance - 'very black and ugly he was, having crooked teeth, and only one eye in the middle of his forehead' - identifies him as an archetypal character recognizable in a number of myths. Searbhan is the Wild Man of the woods, the protector of the Greenworld who later finds an echo in Arthurian Romance as the Green Knight, whose challenge to the Arthurian court is accepted by the hero Gawain. Here in these woods Diarmaid and Grainne shelter, after making an agreement of peace and surety with Searbhan. For a time they are safe, because no one will enter the woods. However, through a series of misadventures Diarmaid is forced to kill the Wild Man and Finn is then able to enter the forest with his soldiers. The lovers hide in the uppermost branches of the rowan, where formerly the 'bed of the Surly One was'. They are safe there for a time and Oengus, the god of love, arranges to transport the fair Grainne in safety to his residence, Bruigh na Boyne. In this story from the Fenian Cycle the quicken tree is clearly steeped in associations of protection, defense and sanctuary. Folklore and Magic In the latter two Word Oghams, Luis is described as the 'strength' or 'friend' of cattle, an allusion to the role of the rowan in magic to drive evil spirits away from cattle, to prevent them from souring the milk. Cattle were of great importance to the Celts as a source of wealth, as the many cattle-raid tales make clear. Anything that could interfere with them was naturally associated with the powers of darkness and much later, in the European witch-hunts, accusations of witchcraft were often leveled at people because their neighbors wanted to blame someone for the barrenness or disease afflicting their animals. This may be based on a much older cultural theme, for in the Irish Mythological Cycle we are told that the Queen of Witches and great battle goddess, the Morrigu, 'was much given to meddling with cattle'. In terms of traditional tree magic, it is rowan that acts as a ward against misfortune. Thus in times of trouble and danger, you may wish to invoke the protective energies of Luis. Rowan was planted at sacred sites, especially stone circles and oracular shrines, likely to protect them from malevolent energies. There are great protective thickets of rowan in the Baltic 'amber islands' which share in the Celtic legends associated with Avalon, the most sacred of all isles. Rowan itself is said to be protected by dragons or serpents, who are well known guardians of their environs.
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Post by Senbecc on Jan 12, 2007 12:58:47 GMT -5
The ogham fews are truly beginning to take shape Wren, when I have more time I will join you in the discussion on each. I look forward to it.
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