“Kingship was an important institution, and kings were much more powerful than some scholars have thought.”
Donnchadh Ó Corráin
Once, the wood has been received, then the process of empowering, charging, and shaping them should be done. If using hand tools is your choice, that is well, by all means use them, but power tools are also acceptable (depending on the interconnection between the seer and the machinery). Call upon the gods of your people; chant their names; state your purpose and let the your own personal power (Sean ÓTuathail calls this “bri”) flow into the fedha as they are fashioned. With repeated use, their “bri” will be augmented by a form of ritualized power known as “bua.” As in all Magical undertakings, consistency of action and thought allow the forces of one’s spirit to shape the nature of power.
The Two Forms of Power
When we consider the ways that the Druids used and controlled power, we really are talking about two forms of power: inherent power and redirected power. In esoteric matters, as with all other forms, energy has to obey certain laws. One of these laws is the Law of Conservation of Energy. This law basically states that energy can exist in two forms, but that it cannot be destroyed, only used. The types of energy are kinetic (energy in motion) or potential (energy that has power but no outlet). Another law that all forms of energy obeys is the famous Einsteinian equation of e=mc**2. This law says that energy can be converted into matter and light or vice versa. It is another way of saying that energy has two forms and defining the relationships that those forms can take.
All this talk about energy and the laws it obeys is necessary so that we can discuss the two forms of energy used by the Druids in their Draiocht: Briga and Búa. These two forms of energy are used to empower your Ogham fedha. Briga is another name for the inherent potential energy of anything as well as the naturally occurring ways in which this energy is converted to kinetic energy. A waterfall is a great example of briga. It is “high” which gives it lots of briga, yet it works in conjunction with gravity and the mass/connectivity of water to “flow” over a cliff and fall into a pool or a river bed below.
Most of the power of a waterfall is contained in its creative structure and its very existence. How high is it? How much water flows over it in a minute? How does it impact us by its roar and its grandeur? A mill or a waterwheel is a good example of the other form of energy, which the Druids called “búa.” Búa is a word that describes how energy is used, shaped and channeled. It is a word closely associated with skill and action. Búa is how the waterwheel or the mill uses the briga of the waterfall. The briga of the waterfall is converted into búa by the “briga” of the waterwheel.
The Siege of Knocklong
An excellent example of how briga and búa were used by a Druid is found in the tale, “The Siege of Knocklong.” In this story, the army of Munster is battling against an invading army from Ulster. The major forces at work are Druidic and Otherworldly. I shall speak to the Druidic forces in this message. The Munster Druid, Mug Roith, was called upon to battle a fire that had been created by the Ulster Druid, Ciathruidh. Mug Roith had his helpers gather Rowan wood that had grown in a certain place to create a fire. Next, he had each warrior provide a shaving from the haft of his or her spears.
All of this was bundled together into a ball by using butter. After performing suitable invocations to his personal God and while observing all of the appropriate forms. Mug Roith threw his created ball of spear shavings and butter into the rowanwood fire. This created a counter fire and a Magical smoke that Mug Roith ascended while dressed in his bullhide cloak and wearing his feathered bird headdress. The battle was taken into the Otherworld at this point and Ciathruaidh and Mug Roith battled within the clouds. The fires on the surface of the land followed the battle in the clouds. As one prevailed, so did the other. In the end, it was Mug Roith who was the victor. Ciathruaidh and his assistants were turned into stones.
In this tale, the Druid takes the briga of the rowan and the briga of the warriors’ valor and turns it into a new creation by converting it into búa. This conversion process was facilitated by the Magical fire as well as the chanted incantations. The entire working was used to provide a channel for the bri to flow within. Mogh Roith guided the actual búa of the conversion while in his Shamanic state of consciousness known as “Magical Flight.” No energy was lost but much energy was converted between this world and the Otherworld. The skill of the Draiocht was in shaping the working by recognizing what elements of briga were available and necessary and then providing a means for converting that briga into the búa of the working. By his success in the battle, Mug Roith increased his own briga and his ability to channel búa.
The Empowering of Ogham Fedha
The empowering of Ogham fedha is no different from the techniques used by Mug Roith. When we empower them through a flow of búa from our own inner briga. The use of blood to stain the fidh is not necessary (though it is a powerful technique for such things and a way of binding them to you). Using blood, water, paint, stains, berries, etc., are more a matter of personal choice and the spirit of the moment. What is required, is that the Ogham establish a direct link with you and your Anam. Sweating, chanting, the exercise of personal conviction, and the infusion of your own personal spirituality are sufficient to this task. It was the knife of Ogma that was a mother to the Ogham but it was his immortal spirit that was their father.
After their construction is complete, your fedha can be used in Ogham Divination by selecting them (in sets of nine, one for each respective dúile) and by casting them upon a cloth. The casting cloth itself should be white with suitable cosmological symbols in the center and at its four corners (in the finest of Northern European traditions). The symbols that are selected for the corners are used to orient the cloth to the four cardinal directions, while the symbols of the center are used to interpret the meanings and relationships of the Ogham fidh themselves. The entire cloth should represent the elements of the Cosmos while the Ogham fidh can be said to represent the dúile of the self (more details will be given later). I will be discussing these relationships more completely throughout this work and will be giving specific examples of my own use of Ogham in the sample readings that are provided in the last section of this book.