HOW? WHY?
Ogam, or Ogham was an ancient writing system used by the Celtic people of Ireland. It is not unusual to come across inscriptions, usually on stone, in Ireland and the British Isles; in a lettering style which resembles sticks placed in rows.
I find it to be of special interest, however, that the longest, translated Ogam inscription in the world is to be found in West Virginia!
The strange petrograph is to be seen at Horse Creek,West Virginia located on the southwestern end of the State in Mingo County next to the Kentucky line. Anoher smaller Ogam inscription is to be found in neighboring Wyoming County.
For years it was assumed the translation would need to be done through Celtic sources but all such trials were unsuccessful. The ten-foot long sign is in the form of a large bison or buffalo both in size and placement of the characters. Eventually it proved to be translatable only through the Basque language. Ancient writings hold that the Irish, at on time, carried on trade with Bay of Biscayne peoples.
The prevailing theory is that St. Brendan did, indeed, make a trip to the New World as Irish lore has insisted all along he had. That would be somewhere around 600 to 700 AD. It would also be a time when the most primitive native tribes occupied the area until exterminated by the Cherokees some decades later.
The theory also holds that the Irish people who made up the small group were Christians but of the Gnostic style centered in Alexandria and when Ireland, suddenly switched to being Roman Catholic, with all eyes turned to Rome, heretical group of Gnostics, thought to be in lands afar, were ignored and forgotten.
Other fragment Ogam markings are found in New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania, Colorado, Newfoundland, as well as those in Kentucky and West Virginia.
The translation of the text of the petroglyph at Horse Creek tells of a large buffalo hunt undertaken by a group. A passage had been walled off and closed and the plan is to stampede the herd into the trap where they would be run off a cliff and those not killed by the fall could then be clubbed to death for meat and hides. The plan went well and the herd stampeded with noisemaking and yelling. They, then, set about the butchering with which the visitors were not experienced. I wondered why they divided the meat and hides into three parts. Two insertions also excite our special curiosity. The writer notes, after the success of the killing, says the “clan mother” was ”pleased” with their cooperative effort. Later only the “clan mother” sees a large thunder storm developing and rush to the butchering site to warn them to get out of the canyon lest they be drowned in a wall of water which may come rushing down the canyon. She arrives just in time, too.
The inscription in Wyoming County gives a short version of the beginning of the Christmas story... speaking of Christ being born in a cave.
Many seem to think the Horse Creek writing was done by a Gnostic Priest in the group who could have been learned in the Basque language and also aware of maternally organized tribes.
Any World War II veterans visiting the the Ogam site, would certainly, look around expecting to see small signs or chalk markings reading: “O'Kilroy was here!”
A.L.M. November 21, 2002 [c583wds]
