The last couple weeks have been a difficult road and so I’ve ended up a couple weeks behind on my Ogham writing. So if all goes well I plan to catch up now with a double post. For this first post I had been focusing on Coll, which approached me and held through for the last two weeks before I could write these posts. Coll is ready to be presented.

Attributes and Associations

Coll. CULL. Her meaning is Hazel Tree. Coll is the Irish name of the ninth letter of the Ogham alphabet, which is related to Welsh collen pl cyll, and Latin corulus. Its Proto-Indo-European root was kos(e)lo-. Its phonetic value is k. Hazel itself is a fast growing tree that produces nuts and is often bonded with honeysuckle. Often referred to as “witch hazel” it is used as a divination tool, and has been known often to find underground water sources. Today, it is still used to seek out ley lines and underground energy lines.

Hazel brings wisdom and knowledge to those who hold to it. The main associations are with smooth transitions, creativity, wisdom, enlightenment, inspiration, luck, introspection, protection, and reconciliation. Arianrhod is the deity that patrons Hazel, goddess of the moon and wisdom. Coll gives us taming of wild nature from which we grow knowledge and wisdom.

The Contract

Coll speaks to life-learning. As years gather on and our youth dwindles before us, the realization of age becomes reality. What was once untamed and endless passion becomes tempered and soon becomes knowledge and wisdom. We pay a price for this tempering, in aching bodies, changes in face, and final meetings with loved ones. Coll helps ease our challenges with this.

Coll tells us to seek that wisdom, to find that which is hidden beneath. Hazel is one of the most powerful trees in nature, and despite being one of the easiest to work with, it’s one of the best to find a way from naivety to wisdom. Coll can be a guide to finding a answers to question and a lead in the direction to hidden paths that need to be found. She can held find a way in the difficult times of life. Coll can teach us to analyze and think critically on knowledge we’ve learned, and to hone that information in such a way as to protect the important and practical bits, which grow into wisdom. Hazel brings direction on our path of life.

The next week’s drawing is Ceirt.