The Poet's Ogam is a creative exploration of the Ogam, based on a 17-year study by Irish author John-Paul Patton. The text explores the historical context of Ogam and the relationship between Ogam, poetry and the Gaelic harp. It contains a range of comparative studies between Ogam and the Kabbalah, Runes, I Ching and other systems. The text also presents original creations of an Ogam calendar, a divination system, and a reconstruction of Fidchell (the ancient Irish chess game) based on Ogam. The text further includes a system of Gaelic martial arts based on an elemental Ogam framework, magical Ogam squares, Ogam pentacles and much more, that fill this Tour de Force of contemporary Ogam study and use. The Poet's Ogam carries on the Art and Science of the Filid-the Philosopher Poets who created and developed the Ogam and is a must for anyone with an interest in Celtic spirituality and magick. John-Paul Patton is generally recognised as a leading authority in Ireland of esoteric Ogam... More > studies.< Less
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By Wolfe93
May 9, 2011
I really enjoyed this book and would consider it a very useful text book for anyone interested in Irish magic. My favourite chapter was the 'Historical context of Ogam' chapter which offers up an alternate perspective on the history of Ireland and gives many insights often overlooked in the conventional take on Irelands past. Some chapters proved difficult without the expertise to fully understand them, like the chapter on the Irish wire strung harp and its relation to Ogam but I'm sure that this would be a gold mine of information for those with a musical background. Overall, wether you have an interest in the historical, magical or mythical traditions of Ireland or indeed any particular school of majickal or esoteric thinking there will be something to gain from this book. One of the great things that the author portrays is that given some care and attention the ogam of our ancestors will indeed become 'A living magical tradition.'
http://druidnetwork.org/en/node/1003375 This is the first formal review of my book it is written by Simon C of the druidnetwork and may be viewed at source via the above URL. Review Ogam is the ancient Irish writing system, used over 1600 years ago for inscriptions, and through the medieval period for encoding poetical learning. The alphabet of ogam charcters were linked by medieval Irish scholars to aspects of many diverse areas of life, including trees, saints, Irish placenames, and weapons. This book follows in the footsteps of the medieval Irish ogamists. Based on 17 years of research and study, the author presents a pretty comprehensive overview of every aspect of Ogam and many related subject areas. It include sections on the ogam as a tally system for counting; Ogam and harp music; Ogam and Kabbalah; Ogam calendars; Astrology; Ogam compared with runes and other early alphabets; divination; board games; and martial arts. While this can seem a dizzying list, the author is at... More > pains to point out that Ogam naturally operates as a device for corresponding and labelling anything and everything, and he has clearly worked long and hard at each of these diverse subject areas. In each of these sections, the text starts by setting out the Irish historical and mythological background. Then more eclectic parallels or speculative suggestions are brought in, and finally the author proposes a working modern system for using ogam in that particular discipline. It is a great strength of the book that it is almost always clear when the author is presenting historical research, when he is making speculative connections and suggestions about the history, and when he is presenting his own newly created systems and ideas. The book relies heavily on historical evidence. Patton cites many authors, from the latest respected academic scholars, to obscure, unusual or outdated writers, and also references some interesting excerpts from his own dream journals and astral experiences. These disparate sources are woven together well to give each section a clear direction and narrative, and there are plenty of citations allowing the diligent reader to follow up the sources. This book is clearly rooted in the author's ceremonial magic background, with invocations, complex tables of correspondences, magic squares, and frequent references to Thelemite ideas. However, its scholarship is broad and deep, and there is much in here to interest anyone interested in any aspect of Druidry or ancient British and Irish native learning. The book is self-published using the Lulu.com online print-on-demand system, and is available as a PDF download, paperback or hardback. I have the hardback edition and the printing and binding quality is very good. The typesetting and layout of the book is generally good, though some of the tables (e.g. in the extensive correspondences) have slight formatting issues. The book contains a number of black- and-white and halftoned illustrations. All are slightly too small in my opinion, and could have been doubled in size with no problems at all. All, including the black-and-white line drawings, are reproduced as low-contrast halftones, which makes them rather hard to see, and not doing justice to the interesting manuscript facsimiles, or the beautiful paintings specially comissioned for the book. These paintings would be worth issuing seperately as colour prints. The book is fairly reliable in its facts; astonishingly bold and original in its speculation and creativity; and open and honest about the difference between them. In many ways it reads like a new Auraicept. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the ancient Irish and British traditions. Simon C< Less
