Ogham Series - Sonas - Good Fortune

Ogham Series - Sonas - Good Fortune
Ogham is the first written script of Ireland. Said to have been created by the God Ogma as proof of his scholarly prowess, these characters can be found all across Ireland marking prominent stones where ever you may go. Combining this ancient script with the words from the living Irish language our Ogham series hopes to bring new energy and awareness to both.

Sonas is the Irish word for good fortune, good luck, and unsurprisingly, happiness.

There has long been a perceived association between Irish people and the concept of luck. Now I could point out that reading the history of Ireland even a recently as from the 1800's onward, you would be hard pressed to find much in the way of luck. what you will find is a belief in it though.
From horseshoes, to shamrocks to harvest traditions there has always been a very intentional awareness of luck. Yet most of the traditions were less about gaining good fortune and more about defending it from loss or theft by others.
Our folk lore tells of practices designed to steal the bounty of another person's land or their butter by means of magical practices. As such there was a lot of of effort invested in protecting what good fortune you have.
These practices were not just designed to defend against avarice neighbours, they were quite literally the only way one could survive some encounters with the Sidhe, of folk of the Otherworld. From protecting your cattle from 'elf shot',  to your new-borns from abduction, The process of protecting ones good fortune was serious and in some ways still is serious business.
As a child I was warned against talking out of turn about our family business, told to be wary of saying too much even among extended family and advised that a sure way to "loose ones luck" was to talk too much about it. Some of these themes are readily apparent in the ancient lore of my island, most notably in the tale of Macha. She weds an Ulsterman and his fortunes soar, but when he breaks faith with her one rule, not to talk about her, he looses all the good fortune that had come his way.

Sonas is the Irish word for good fortune, and maybe the happiness part of it comes from being intentional about that which we have, from conscious gratitude and active awareness of that from which we benefit.

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