Reddit mentions of The Druid Magic Handbook: Ritual Magic Rooted in the Living Earth

Simply put: Ogham is an alphabet. The symbols are called feadha (usually rendered as "few" in English), arranged into groups of five called aicmí, and they represent letter sounds.

It gets more complicated when we start looking into the fidh names, Bríatharogam, divination, and neopagan innovations. I would say that in neopaganism we use ogham as an alphabet for cultural and practical reasons (it is easier to carve/burn into wood than the Roman alphabet is), as well as for divination and magic.

There is no simple answer to the meaning of the feadha. If you follow the links I provided above, you will find that there are varying names and Bríatharogam with which each feadha can be interpreted. If you would like a guide for how some modern Druids interpret ogham, you can check out The Druidry Handbook or The Druid Magic Handbook, both of which are written by John Michael Greer, the Grand Archdruid of AODA.

Keep in mind that these interpretations are neopagan innovations which descend from some questionable records handed down to us from Christian monks. The pre-Christian Irish may not have interpreted ogham quite in this way.

Edit: fidh is singular, feadha plural.

I'm going to answer at length... Sorry if it's too long. I like to talk.

> Why magick? What brought you to occult studies?

I had a broad interest in alternative spirituality going back to my high school days. I studied Zen Buddhism and attempted zazen (poorly), studied Wicca a bit... I had the idea that I could combine the two for a while, but I lost interest after I discovered things including alcohol and radical politics. For a while in college I was interested in "psychonautical" explorations-- that ended after a terrifying (but in retrospect, fascinating) mushroom trip.

Over time I got more into politics (and beer), and less into spirituality of any kind. A few things changed that. I had a powerful revelation while on a long wilderness trip. And I discovered the work of John Michael Greer, who is the head of the Ancient Order of Druids in America and also a blogger on topics related to peak oil, the environment, and organic gardening. He talks about magick quite a bit (indeed, his first two books are very interesting explorations of the Kaballah), and I became interested. I started reading about Druid magick. Not much came of it, at first, but later my life changed quite a bit (a story in itself; among other things I stopped drinking and lost half my friends), and suddenly I felt ready. I stumbled onto Donald Michael Kraig's Modern Magick, and started following the lessons he presents there. My first entry in my journal is dated January 26th of this year.

> What constitutes your daily practice?

Learning magick is part of a larger process of personal renewal for me, and it all started at the same time. (Actually on the same day). So I include some not-explicitly-magickal things I do every day, specifically running and zazen.

Every day, I perform, in sequence, the LBRP, the Banishing Ritual of the Hexagram, the Middle Pillar and Circulation of the Body of Light, and the Tarot Contemplation described in Modern Magick. I also follow other practices from that book: I write down my dreams every morning, and I perform the 4 Solar Adorations except when I forget to. For the last few months I've been working with the elements-- right now I'm on water.

Recently I came across an interesting practice in John Michael Greer's book Paths of Wisdom. Every night, before you go to sleep, you take a few minutes to recall in sequence all the events of the day. I've tried it the last 3 nights while lying in bed, and on every occasion I've fallen asleep before noon.

> What specific books or programs are you following? How much progress have you made?

I'm at Lesson 5 of Modern Magick. My progress has been smooth but also... I mean it's had its fits and starts. There are some aspects of some rituals that persistently give me trouble-- for instance, I have an incredibly hard time seeing the earth hexagram in the BRH. I don't know why. I also have a hard time picturing that shape during the lines "...And within me shines the 6-rayed star" in the LBRP. It's very strange.

> What do you hope to get out of being part of the Emerald Council? What do you want to learn and what do you feel you can contribute?

I don't know a single person in real life that's into this stuff... and given where I live right now, I'm not likely to meet anyone. My partner thinks it's cool (she's a practicing herbalist and massage therapist, into esoteric stuff) but it's not her path, and most of my friends are supportive. But I don't have anyone to compare notes with, you know?

So my hope is that we can learn together, and create a supportive environment for one another. And do some cool stuff.

> Do you have any concerns about or for the group or about your own involvement?

My hope is that we can be more than "just a subreddit." You know what I mean?

I have another concern, related to myself, and the odd position I find myself in. My own life is in a process of change. It's exciting and wonderful, but it also puts me in a position I haven't been in in a long time-- that of a beginner! I hope I can remember that, and approach this group with humility.

> Are there any particularly interesting stories from your practice that you'd like to share?

Here's something odd that I've been hoping someone would comment on.

DMK describes the Circulation of Light like so: You perform the Middle Pillar. Then you focus on the sphere of light at your crown, representing your yechida. You begin to visualize a wave of light circulating from the crown of your head down the left side of your body to G'Uph at your feet as you inhale, and then back up to your crown as you exhale. After 6 or 10 of these, you visualize the light coming down the front of your body and going back up the back. Finally, you visualize the light spiraling up from your feet, wrapping around your body as you inhale and exploding in a fountain from your crown as you exhale.

The first time I did this ritual was intense. I didn't remember the part about the light following the breath... so I just visualized it while breathing rythmically. At the end, during the spiraling-up phase, things became difficult. I had to force the light around and around my body. It became thicker and thicker and more solid, and by the time it reached the crown of my head I wasn't breathing at all. At times the light seemed to take the form of a serpent, and every time it "fountained" from my head was powerful and dizzying. By the end of the ritual I could barely speak.

The day after this I woke up incredibly sick. I don't get sick very often, and when I do I usually recover quickly. But this was an extremely bad illness and it lingered for weeks, during which I did none of my usual work, either in magick or anything else.

And then it passed. I returned to my daily practice, and the Circulation of Light went smoothly from there on out.

Has anyone encountered anything like this, either in the Middle Pillar/Circulation of Light or any other magickal work?

> Is there anything else you'd like to add? Any questions you think are important-- that you'd like everyone to answer-- that I left out?

Well, I asked this question, so I don't feel qualified to answer it. Anyone else?

Hmm...sounds suspiciously like you belong here. I'll recommend a book by John Michael Greer, The Druidry Handbook, as a solid introduction to the path.

You might want to learn to banish and shield and such if you're being bothered by ghosts/shadow people/other unwelcome visitors. The standard AODA banishing ritual's the Sphere of Protection (which they should have a version of on their webpage, or in, again, JMG's The Druid Magic Handbook). I'll also recommend Spiritual Protection by Sophie Reicher (she's a Northern Tradition Pagan, not technically a druid per se, but it's helped me immensely in overcoming psychic assault).

Apart from that...Druidry's nice in that the theology is kinda DIY and compatible with damn near anything. So you can be Christian or Polytheist or Pantheist (edit-sorry) or whatever. There's also various orders to look into (Greer's AODA or formerly AODA or something, I'm a (lazy) solitary practitioner who'd rather not do things alone, but whatever).