Ogham, The Iona Scribes Story - Sunday Sessions 2021

My first connection with Ogham symbols was during the 50s before I was a teen, and as a 60s teen dabbled with Ogham Divination as a 'toy. It was not until I met my stone mason boss on Iona, Attie McKechnie, during the 70s, that I learned a deeper story of the Ogham language and have been passionate about it since. Attie was a mason's apprentice during the 1930s when Iona Abbey was being restored. He was a very fluent Gàidhlig speaker and extremely passionate about the language and it's origins. Attie aslo had a huge passionate interest in the way early medieval scribes used and change the old Scottish language. Through him I learned the tree language connections and how that found a system of scribing. Quite amazing for me to connect to Ogham on a Scottish Pilgrimage island hosting a few hawthorn trees, small hazel trees, and a few imported beech trees. During this Sunday Session I will tell my version of the Ghaels bringing their tree language to land to be called Eara Ghael, Argyll, and what happened when they met the farming Picts and their rune style blade cut stone and wood symbols. How the two tribes forged a language so they could speak to each other. Then how the early medieval scribes attempted to unravel this in a linear way that has preserved some of the roots of this communication, the Gàidhlig, still among some people today. We will explore how we can actually return to some of the pre-scribed oral tree language as a guide for living a more inspired, fulfilled and better interpreted life today.