Ancient Celtic Ogam in California
California is not a place where history suggests a Celtic inscription may be found. This metate or grinding stone was inscribed with a series of lines that looked to be an ogam message. Mr. Burrell Dawson, a Celtic scholar from Lone Pine, California deciphered the message. This was written in a very old style that does not have a middle line, or stem line.
There are many forms of the ogam writing system. There is only one book that shows the many different kinds. The Book of Ballymote is a very old manuscript that was written in about the tenth century. A scribe wrote down the different kinds of ogam and a description how they worked. This book is very hard to read because it is written in Gaelic. Mr. George Calder translated this old book in 1917 and called the translation,
The Scholars Primer.
Scholars who had studied the Primer recognized the ogam writings in America Most archaeologists who worked with America's ancient rock art did not. Clifford Park Baldwin surveyed the Inyo County petroglyph site in 1931. He saw the lines on the metate had been partially ground away. He thought that the stone had been used for food preparation. Mr. Dawson, who had studied Calder's Primer, deciphered the metate and revealed the message to be a prayer to an important Celtic god. The metate was used to make powders used for medicinal purposes or ceremonial use.
You might notice letter differences in the translation. In many ancient writings, the letters B,D and T are interchangeable. So are P and B and F and V. Scholars often have arguements because of these interchangeable letters. Even today we have letters that sound alike. For example, C, K and Q often have the same hard sound. If it were not for schools and dictionaries, writing would be very difficult and reading might be almost impossible!
The word Mr. Dawson figured out to be FI might just as well have been translated to be FE. He says the word means EVIL. Actually, the word translates better into evil enchantments. The whole message can be read in a more friendly manner to read Lugh is good luck!
