Akme of the Grapevine – the Art of Branching

The third family of the Ogham is devoted to the “power of branching,” that is — the capacity of a system to generate currents and impulses that diverge from its main flow while retaining contact with it. Akme Mun examines such “side buds” that can be awakened on the main stem of a shoot.

1. Mun (Muin) – Vine (Blackberry). The power of branching is awakened in a system when it discovers its applicability, its ability to deviate without breaking. The word «muin» is rendered as «neck» — in the sense of the meeting place of the source of life (the torso) and the source of wisdom (the head) — and also as «craft», «ruse», «roundabout maneuver», that is, the capacity to find nonobvious solutions, nontrivial conclusions. Vine and blackberry — plants capable of both climbing upwards and sprawling over the ground, and both used in winemaking — correspond to this primary “urge to adapt” that arises in a system that has discovered it is not always obliged to force one’s way through to achieve the best result, and that the most impenetrable thickets are not made by mighty oaks but by the entangled vines of climbing plants. The vine is a force for broad expansion, the ability of a system to occupy the greatest space without entering into overt confrontation with other objects. Accordingly, the magical application of the fida Muin consists in awakening the system’s “nonlinear” development, its capacity for new, unforeseen actions and alternative routes of expansion.

2. Gort – Ivy. The nonlinearity that originates in the fida Mun finds its expression in the fida Gort, since ivy not only can sprawl and twine, but it can use other plants as a food source, and its evergreen leaves capture even the meager rays of the winter sun. The very word «gort» means «ploughed field», while «gart» means «vineyard», «garden», which points to Gort’s ability to provide a field for development. At the same time, if from Vine (and Blackberry) they produced ordinary wines, wine from Ivy reportedly had hallucinogenic effects, which speaks to this force’s ability not only to find nonobvious solutions within the system but to move beyond its bounds. The activity of the fida Gort is autumnal, manifesting when most plants have already shed their leaves and only the evergreen Ivy continues to live and flourish. Ivy expresses the same force of dominance as the Oak; however, where the masculine form displaces and suppresses, the feminine form Gort entwines and strangles. Nevertheless, the ivy’s persistent growth, climbing trunks, stones and cliffs upward gives it an advantage over less flexible trees. Accordingly, the magical application of the fida Ivy aims to activate potentials for the system’s inexorable development, finding nonobvious opportunities for its growth, its capacity to lean on other resources and make them its own.

3. nGetal (Gyetal) – Reed (Bulrush, Viburnum). The expansive activity of the third akme is expressed by the fida of the pioneer of thickets — the Reed. Just as Ivy finds unexpected ways to grow toward the sun, Reed occupies free watery places, where it meets no competition for expansion, colonizing shallows and backwaters first. Like Alder, it expresses the urge to live where life did not exist before; however, while Alder needs “luck” in the form of an island of dry ground amid a marsh, the reed creates its own environment, fashioning new habitats itself.

 Traditionally, reed has been used for roofs and thatch, which also attests to its protective (and separating) function.

The name of the fida «ngetal» is rendered as «preservation», indicating the Reed’s protective properties, and also as «wounding», «killing», which points to its expansive nature: the reed “stops” or “kills” the river, mastering it for its habitation.

Reeds were used to make musical instruments, which speaks to the “creative” energy of this fida.

From the foregoing it is clear that the magical application of the Reed’s fida lies in awakening a system’s ability to spread into new areas and in protecting its resources and conquering new ones.

4. Straif (Straf) – Blackthorn. Just as Reed actively conquers new territories for habitation, the thorny Blackthorn forms impenetrable thickets on the land. The word «straif» is translated as «sulphur», which speaks to the caustic character of this fida‘s energy, “displacing” other sorts of energy from the field of its manifestation. The power of Blackthorn is the irresistible force of evolution, the “natural course of things,” the inevitable victory of entropy. To survive under such conditions one must be able to seize the slightest opportunity for the manifestation of one’s potentials, to seize every chance.

Magic wands made from Blackthorn were used in transformations into animals, which also attests to the transformational energies of straf, to their drive to occupy every available niche. Drinks made from sloe were used in rituals to enhance vitality and healing.

Overall, the energy of Blackthorn is an energy of broad and manifold resistance to death, and therefore its magical application consists in expanding the influence of a system into new domains, survival, and resistance to harmful influences.

5. Ruis (Ruis) – Elder. The “fruit” of the akme of branching is the power of Elder, which symbolizes experience. The word «ruis» means «red», which speaks of the “power of blood” as an expression of death, in counterpoint to the “milky force” as the principle of life. In this sense Elder completes what Birch began — the formation of a system, its establishment, after which inevitably follows decline. Elder was called the “old woman’s tree,” which on the one hand reminded one of inevitable death, and on the other spoke of the “experienced” nature of its energies; thus many medicines were made from elder, and wine from its berries opened possibilities of clairvoyance. Elder is the “energy of completion,” of conclusions and results, and also the “witch’s tree,” whose practitioners, having learned all the wisdom “of this world,” turn toward otherworldly wisdom. Elder was considered both a “witch’s bush” and, conversely, a protector against witches, as if absorbing their power and thus preventing its transmission.

The magical application of the fida Elder consists in activating a system’s capacities for drawing lessons, for accumulating wisdom, for “sealing” within it the imprints of the events that occurred to it, and also in enhancing the system’s vitality.