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www.celtic-connection.com
MAY 2001
THE ANCIENT WISDOM OF TREES
[In our April issue, we began part-one of "The Wisdom of Trees in the Celtic Landscape," by Cynthia Austin. The following is the final part of the series.]
By CYNTHIA AUSTIN OLLY (Old Irish "Tinne," genus Ilex) is a densly foliated tree that can grow to 50-feet in height and 40-feet in width. Dark green leaves accented with red berries decorate this slow growing tree. Evergreen plants, such as the holly, hold favour in European folklore for their unwavering green attire during winter months.
Holly is the cloak of the ancient Holly King, monarch of the waning year, who duels eternally with the Oak King, lord of the waxing year.
The holly log is a traditional Yule log, its burning signifying the end of the reign of the Holly King. Holly is also the tree of the mythic Green Knight whose club was made from it.
The holly represents the letter "T" in the ogham alphabet and the eighth month from July 8 to August 4.
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The Hazel tree (Old Irish "Coll," genus Corylus) is an enormous shrub that can grow into a small tree which may reach 20 feet high and wide.
Excavations in the area of the legendary hall of King Arthur at South Cadbury, Somerset, England uncovered arrowheads, pottery and several hazelnuts dating from the Neolithic era.
At the Lacra group of stone circles in England, hazel and oak charcoal as well as a hazelnut, was excavated from an urn containing cremated deposits. The presence of these items with the burial may suggest a seasonal ritual.
Hazelnuts discovered at Windmill Hill at Avebury may also have had autumnal seasonal significance as well. These findings give ancient testimony to the intimate and abiding relationship between mortal souls and vegetative spirits.
The hazel is the tree of Celtic knowledge, sacred to fairies, poets and seekers of wisdom. W. B. Yeats felt that the Irish World Tree was a hazel. Hazel rods were formed into wands and divining rods and there was a taboo upon burning hazel wood.
The esoteric knowledge of the hazel was concentrated in its sweet nuts. The nine sacred hazels that grew at the mouth of the Boyne and Shannon rivers in Ireland dropped their nuts into the water and were fed upon by the salmon of knowledge which swam there. It is said that the number of spots upon a salmon's back reflects the number of hazelnuts it has eaten.
The belief that otherworldly knowledge was contained in a hazelnut is the source of the term "that is it in a nutshell." Associated with Druids, the hazel was known as the "Bile Ratha," the "venerated tree of the rath" ("bile" is Old Irish for sacred tree, e.g. "Bile Magus" refers to the "plain of the sacred tree").
"Wattles" are a hurdle; fence or wand made of interwoven rods from tree branches or twigs.
The twisted interwoven patterns made by hazel wattles (as well as other trees) are considered by
some to be the origin of the highly decorative Celtic art form of interlocking and plaited knots found in illuminated books and upon standing stones such as Celtic high crosses. Used for fencing, fish weirs and screens, some traditional wattle designs are maintained to this day.
The original Glastonbury church, which tradition tells us was founded on the remains of a Druidic college, was constructed of wattles and eventually built upon to become the Abby that exists today.
The hazel represents the letter "C" in the ogham alphabet and the ninth tree month from August 5 to September 1.
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The vine (Old Irish "Muin," genus Vitis) is often replaced by the blackberry in Celtic mythology. In Ireland, blackberries cannot be gathered after October 31, and are abandoned to the pooka. The vine and the Ivy are both plants that grow spirally.
From this growth pattern comes the belief that the vine and the ivy are plants of reincarnation. The vine is considered a "tree" of rebirth, joy and exhilaration.
The vine represents the letter "M" in the ogham alphabet and the tenth month from September 2 to September 29.
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The Ivy (Old Irish "Gort," genus Hedera) is an evergreen, woody-stemmed perennial which, once established, grows rapidly.
Like the vine, the ivy is considered a tree of reincarnation and eternal life due to the spiraling pattern of its growth. The ivy and vine are often mixed metaphorically. Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and fertility, was represented by the trailing vines of ivy and grape.
The ivy represents the letter "G" in the ogham alphabet and the eleventh tree month from September 30 to October 27.
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The "Dwarf Elder" (Old Irish "Pethboc") is apparently a reed plant, the type of which was and is used to thatch houses. An Irish homestead was not considered established until the roof was completed. The reed is the symbol of sovereignty and power and it represents the letter "P" in the ogham alphabet and the twelfth tree month from October 28 to November 24.
The Elder or Elderberry tree (Old Irish "tromm," genus Sambucus) is a large, scruffy bush that may grow into a small tree of 20 or even 30 feet in height. It has bright green leaves and purple-black fruit, which can be made into jellies and wine.
The elderberry is favoured by the
Heather, especially white heather in bloom, is considered a lucky plant. This ground cover plant can be found throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Heather represents the vowel "U" in the ogham alphabet and the time of the summer solstice. •
The white poplar tree (genus Populus) has cream coloured bark and can grow to 70-feet in height in a moist situation. The poplar tree is considered the tree of old age and the autumnal equinox and may have been used as wood for the "fe" rod, used for measuring of graves and corpses. The white poplar represents the vowel "E" in the ogham alphabet.
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The Yew (Old Irish "Ibar," genus Taxus) can become an enormous tree, reaching 60 feet in height and sometimes living 100 years. The yew carries dark green evergreen needles. It has attractive red-brown, deeply furrowed, flaky bark and fleshy red seeds.
Symbolizing immortality, the yew was commonly planted in churchyards. The yew is found throughout Celtic mythology and the Druids thought as highly of the yew as they did of the oak, preferring the yew for their wands.
Considered a "guardian of mysteries," an old grove of yews almost certainly signals the presence of a sacred location. The remains of an ancient Druidic yew grove are said to be located near the Chalice Well garden in Glastonbury, England.
The yew is also known as the "death tree" due to the highly poisonous alkaloids contained in its foliage and seeds. Interestingly,
this grotto of the River Cherwell, a tributary of the River ft.1^^^^^
Thames, OUtside Oxford, England. Photo: Cynthia Austin relatively scarce Pacific yew tree.
A GNARLED TREE SPIRIT reflects its quiet memories into
Little People and solitary elders were considered to be fairy trees. Because it is considered an otherworldly dwelling place for spirits, an elder is especially potent when grown in a churchyard.
The elder log is considered a token of the underworld hag, Hecate. Burning of the log is thought to summon spirits. As the elder is the tree of the thirteenth month it is considered to be an unlucky tree and is often avoided. The elder represents the letter "R" in the ogham alphabet and represents the period from November 25 to December 22. •
The Silver Fir (Old Irish "Ailm," genus Abis) at its best is a magnificent, noble conifer reaching heights of 50 feet. However its sensitivity to climate and temperature extremes sometimes limit its longevity and performance.
The Fir is sacred to the Moon and is a tree of hope. A fir pole is sometimes used as a Maypole at Beltaine and wands tipped with pinecone carvings can be used in rituals relating to fertility and childbirth.
The fir represents the vowel "A" in the ogham alphabet and it represents the birth of the divine child (the day of the winter solstice).
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Furze (Old Irish "Aiteann" also known as gorse) is a scrubby, thorned bush that flowers a brilliant golden yellow.
Gorse grows commonly throughout the Irish, Scottish and Brit-
ish countryside. At Beltaine and at Imbolg gorse was used ceremonially in torches and wreathes. At Imbolg, the older gorse bush was burned away leaving the new growth for sheep and lambs to feed upon. The bush could be used as winter fodder for cows and also as fuel for the hearth.
The duel of the Holly and Oak Kings is called into play once again as the furze is fundamental in the death scene of that wretched little wren, "the wren, the wren, the king of all birds, on St. Stephen's Day was caught in the furze." Gorse, by virtue of its golden flowers is associated with the sun, which returns at the winter solstice along with the Oak King.
Gorse is the vegetative aspect of Atherne, the poet/god of Ulster who arrived in Eire prior to 2500 BC. The prickly poet Atherne was responsible for causing the Leinstermen to build a ford across the river Liffey thus founding the settlement called "Ath Cliath Cualann" ("ford of wattles") and later, the town of "Linn Dubh" or "Black Pool."
Linn Dubh was located at the mouth of a river that ran into the Liffey. The pool at the mouth of the river was eventually drained to make way for the gardens of Dublin castle and Linn Dubh eventually became known as "Dublin."
Furze represents the vowel "O" in the ogham alphabet and it marks the growing sun at the vernal equinox.
The yew represents the vowel "I" in the ogham alphabet and it rules year's end, the eve of the winter solstice.
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Like the ogham alphabet, another early Celtic work of great antiquity is the Myth of Cad Goddeu or The Battle of the Trees. The poem, apparently composed much earMer, is preserved in the Thirteenth Century Welsh manuscript entitled the Book of Taliesin.
The poem describes a battle between Arawn; King of Annwfn and a ploughman named Amaethon. The hostilities are caused by a theft made by Amaethon. The action of the poem centers on the use of a magical staff that transforms trees into fighting men. The significance of the poem is thought to be an account of the powers ascribed at the time to trees.
Trees are as valuable to modern society as they were in the days when the Myth of Cad Goddeu was first set down.
In most parts of the world trees are no longer venerated as they once were but they are due our respect - trees provide us with the very oxygen that we breath, they are indeed "trees of life." Knock on wood, may these woody spirits favour us for eons to come.
"Beloved, gaze in thine own heart. The holy tree is growing there: From joy the holy branches start. And all the trembling flowers they bear." - The Two Trees, W. B. Yeats.