The Ogham alphabet is thought to be named after the Irish god Ogma. One theory of its origins is that it evolved out of a system of tallies used for accounting. Ogham is also known as or ogham craobh, beth luis fearn or beth luis nion, the latter two using the first three letters of the respective alphabets, similar to FUTHARK for the runes.

About 500 Ogham inscriptions have been found in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England dating from between the 4th and 7th centuries AD. There are inscriptions in archaic forms of Gaelic and Pictish, which have not been deciphered. A handful of inscriptions featuring the Ogham script and the Latin alphabet have also been found.

While all surviving traces of Ogham are inscriptions on stone, it was probably more commonly inscribed on sticks, stakes and trees. Inscriptions generally take the form of somebody's name and the name of a place and were probably used to mark boundaries.

Some Notable features of Ogham are:
· Each letter is named after a tree or other plant and has a number of other associations.
· Letters are linked together by a solid line, which represents the trunk of a tree, while the letters themselves represent branches or twigs.
· Ogham was usually written vertically (bottom to top) in inscriptions and horizontally (left to right) in manuscripts
· The Eite (feather) and Eite thuathail (reversed feather) symbols are used at the beginning and end of sentences respectively.

http://www.omniglot.com/writing/ogham.htm

Celtic Ogham Staves in a Pouch

This is our most economical set of Celtic Ogham Staves. The staves are made from fruitwood with the Ogham glyphs burned on a flattened area of the stave. Each set comes in a handy leather pouch with a drawstring closure.

Price: $25.00 + SH

Celtic Ogham Staves: Bag Set

This set of fruitwood Ogham Staves comes in leather bag with drawstring closure. The Ogham glyph is burned onto a flattened portion of the stave. In the pocket on the front of the bag you will find a set of 20 cards with the Gaelic name and the English name of the Ogham, the glyph, and several key words or phrases telling the meaning of that Ogham. The background of each card is a photo of the tree associated with that Ogham. There are also cards telling a bit of history of the Ogham and how to cast them for reading.

Price: $35.00 + SH