Page 32 - The Flickering Cauldron Magazine - June 2022

The observance of the course of nature, and the changing of the seasons, which would over time, become the ‘Wheel of Life’ was essential to the survival of our ancestors.
The Sun rose at the same point and set at the same point each day. However, the visibility of the Moon varied and the repetition of the phases of the Moon was not lost on our ancestors as a measurement of time.
They understood that if they counted the variations of the phases they would form a pattern as to when the life-giving Sun was at its warmest and how that affected them.
As our first building material, a source of warmth and of course a provider of both fruit and nuts, trees were pretty much an essential to our very existence.
Unsurprisingly then, trees and the forests were revered, feared and worshipped.
Ponder on the point that long before any major organised religion existed, what would have been more reliable or dependable on, than the trees and of course, the forest itself.
As the seasons changed, so did the trees, they are the very essence of the wheel of life.
Born in the Spring to flourish in the Summer, to grow old in the Autumn and die in the Winter, to be born again the following Spring.
A child born, a life lived, seeds sown and a soul passed on, and throughout this (human) cycle of life, the trees and forests would endure.
So, should we assume from this that the Celts and their spiritual leaders, the Druids, were simple tree worshipers?
32 | The Flickering Cauldron® Magazine - Ogham Zodiac
We’d be very wrong if we did...
The Druids created what we would now refer to as the Ogham Zodiac, a division of the year into phases, based on the movement of the Moon across the night sky, and the traits of a person born at a given time.
It consisted of 13 Lunar phases (months) and understandably they named each one after a tree, which as we know, were sacred to them.
Each Lunar phase was named after a tree and an animal was a symbol of each phase.
Unlike the Zodiac we are familiar with (each having its own traits and characteristics), the Zodiac of Celtic tree months and the animal signs associated with them (the people born during them) are referred to as being either of a new Moon or full Moon character.
The former being born in the first two weeks of the sign, and the latter the second two weeks of the sign.
Undoubtedly, you will spot a few traits that you recognise in your family and friends, and most likely in yourself too.
Each month we will bring you your Ogham Zodiac, starting with June.
Ogham Zodiac