Aicme of Beith
Beith - Birch
24th December - 20th January
Letter : B
Animal : Cow, Pheasant
Color : White
Flower: Daisy
Lore and Legend
The Birch tree is often associated with light, especially moon-and starlight, that shimmers and reflect in its silver bark.
The twigs of the birch are used as witches’s besoms, to ritually cleanse a space, which leads us to the association that birch brings clarity and chases away stagnant energy and shadows within and without.
It has a very strong connection to beginnings, because the birch is self-sowing and it creates its own groves. Also it is one of the first trees to naturally establish in cleared forests.
If a community wanted to create a fresh start and wanted to remove negative influences, they were beating the bounds, to enforce and clear the village boundaries.
The birch is also called the „Lady of the Wood“ as it is believed that it is a very feminine tree.
It is often connected with the festival of Samhain, but it also has a strong association with spring, or Beltane. In Wales, birch was the chosen tree for the maypole, and also it was the fuel for the Beltane fires, which were jumped for blessing, cleansing and fertility.
This tree restores the flow of life force and it encourages flexibility of body, mind and spirit.
Birch is also associated with Bloddeuwedd, the Welsh goddess of flowers and springtime, whose other side is the owl huntress, this illustrates the birch’s dual nature. This goddess can be wild and fierce as well as gentle and loving, same as the birch.
It assists change gently, but when there is resistance, birch has a fierce strength which will see that change occurs regardless.
The Druids associated this wood with the white stag
Also faeries, and the Faery realm are connected to birch trees, as they grow where many worlds meet.
Magical Use
Birch wood is a good choice for carving runes or ogham sigils.
The oil can be used for love spells and also to anoint candles or magical tools.
You can burn birch bark for energetic and physical purification, or you can burn the bark or dried leaves as an incense for love spells or cleansing.
In the old days offerings of birch wraths were made to the water spirits to ask that storms or excessive rain be delayed or averted.
You can use the birch wands to invoke Freya or Thor.
You can use a birch besom to brush out the old year, the morning after Winter Solstice.
As Birch is associated with springtime and fertility you can use birch to decorate a sacred space at Beltane and the Spring equinox.
This tree can also assist you in calling Lugh, and to invoke protection,and the banishment of darkness.
Healing
The best time to gather the leaves is in spring, and the sap is best tapped in April.
The oil can be used as an insect repellant or for treating skin conditions.
When used as a vibrational essence, it brings hope and innovative thinking. It can encourage purification before a breakthrough. It helps you to find the courage to move from stagnant circumstances.
It also helps more introverted people to step out of the crowd.
It brings renewal to the spirit, helps to think clear, and to bring clarity to your purpose. At the same time it provides the energy and confidence to embrace new adventures in your life.
Divination Meaning
Again we have the theme of clearing out the old and to cleanse negative energies or influences.
It helps us to prepare and it supports us during change, but we must respect the renewing energy, we have to acknowledge the now, that means the time between the past and the future.
Birch encourage self-discipline and inner authority, as it asks us to check our motivations and purposes. It is time to leave behind stuck patterns, if you want to achieve a new start.
Rowan - Luis
21st January - 17th February
Letter: L
Animal: Unicorn, Bear, Duck
Color: Red, Gray
Flower: Snowdrop
Lore and Legend
Rowan is one of the seven peasant trees and a member of the rose family. It also get called Lady of the Mountain, because it is able to grow up to 2,500 feet.
Traditionally rowans were an assembly point for warriors.
The name rowan comes from the Gaelic rudha-an which means the red one, and also from the Norse run, from which the word rune comes, meaning secret, spell or charm. The Rowan is more a magical tree than a practical one.
It is ruled by the sun, and so it it also connected to the god Lugh, the Sun God.
Lugh slew is grandfather, the evil Balor, with a spear of rowan, through his cursing evil eye. In this story, but also in other stories, the rowan spear is more a magical weapon than a practical one.
Rowan is sacred to the Celtic goddess Brighid, and again we can see the connection to fire and solar energy. It is said that she has three fiery arrows made of rowan. It is also said that that a tower of flame shot up to heaven from her head, when Brigidh was born, and this alludes the gift of divine inspiration. Brigidh, and thus the gifts of rowan, can be seen as channels for divine knowledge and energy, magical and spiritual insight, prophecy and vision, but also the fiery passionate energy to create change, to work magic, not just understand it.
Brigidh’s three arrows relate to her triple aspects, such as healing, smith work and poetry, or poetry, prophecy, and inspiration. The three combined are sometimes thought to be what is represented in the Awen Symbol. But it is also said, that Awn represents Earth, Sea and Sky, Mind Body Spirit, or the Male, Female and the Balance between.
However, Rowan is also connected to wild men, and the lords of Hunt, Cernunnos, Dagda or Herne.
They are all connected to the animal world, which explains rowan’s title as friend and strength of cattle.
Ancient druids burned the wood of rowan in order to receive otherworldly messages of warning and danger, especially before battle.
It has visionary properties, helps in psychic vision, seership, or scrying for knowledge.
The red berries are considered to be the blood of the gods, but also you can find a tiny pentagram in the berry, which shows again its magical properties.
In Irish and Scandinavian myth, the first woman was born from a rowan tree, and it is considered to have strong female energies.
Furthermore rowan is the chosen wood upon which Norse rune staves were carved, it is also great for carving ogham.
The Rowan tree is also associated with the God of Thunder.
It is also called the „Enchantress of the Woods“, it was believed if a rowan tree grows near your house, its spirit would lend those who live there, protection.
In the Highlands it was a taboo to cut its wood, unless for ritual or magical purpose.
In Wales, the Rowan was planted in graveyards to watch over the dead and to prevent them from walking and was said to protect a cemetery from haunting.
Magical Use
Rowan grants you access to the divine and otherworldly knowledge.
It is a wonderful ally, that lends us assistance and protection as we undertake great magical and spiritual challenges.
If you want to make yourself a charm for protection, you can take twigs from the rowan, to make an equal arm cross. Tie them together with red thread. Carry this charm with you, or hang it over you door to protect your home.
Rowan is also a good helper if we need to set up boundaries, especially if you work on the edges of the spirit world, like with the faeries, then rowan helps you to guard your boundaries and to negotiate relations with otherworldly contacts that are respectful to both parties.
In the older days rowan was also used in milk churns, so the fairies where not able to steal it.
When you use rowan as a walking stick, you are also protected on your journey, which leads us again to the association with Thor, who protects those who travel, especially over sea, and here rowan protects against storms. If you keep it in the house, it is said that it will protect you against lightning strikes.
Rowan wood is also used to make dowsing rods to find metal, or any other magical tool which has anything to do with divining, invocation and communication with the spirit realms. It helps to grow your abilities to communicate and understand communication from the spirit realms or the Otherworld. It will bring meaningful insights, visions and in increase your intuition. Again we see what a fitting wood rowan is to use for your runes or Ogham staves, as it will increase your oracular work. But it is also important to "read" the messages which are constantly passed to us from the spirit realms and to be open to receiving and interpreting these signs in our everyday lives.
If you feel, like you would be under psychic attack, you can gather a piece of rowan wood, and carry it in your pocket, you can smooth the surface with sandpaper if you wish to do so.
Healing
Careful, the seeds of the berries are poisonous to children and dogs, if consumed raw they are laxative. Otherwise you can cook them, make jam or wine of the berries, they are rich in vitamin C.
As a vibrational essence, Rowan teaches us the skill of discernment and gives psychic protection and also aids us in gaining insight. It encourages good judgement and refines our instincts. It assists us to attune to nature, to broaden our perspective, and to make room for a deeper understanding of our place here in the universe. It is also a symbol of the quickening of the life force.
Divination
As an ogham, rowan may warn you of danger, but also tells you that you are also protected as long as you keep your senses together and you do not act foolishly. It gives you courage, greater vision, and imagination to overcome difficulties.
Now is a time to look deeper, and to see what surrounds you with clearer vision.
At this time it is important that you stay grounded and that you use your common sense.
But there may also be a need for you to move into greater spiritual awareness and to explore your magical abilities. Progress always means challenges as well as rewards, and the rowan counsels you to seek the knowledge and protection you need to move forward successfully and in balance.
Alder - Fearn
March 18th - April 14th
Letter F / V
Animal : Red Fox, Ram, Stallion, Gull
Color : Crimson
Flower : Broom
Lore and Legend
Alder is one of the seven peasant trees. It likes to grow at the edges of forests, but its most significant position is by the riverbank.
Alder is an excellent wood for building bridges, and posts trackways over boggy land, as such it has a reputation for reclaiming the land from water, moving forward with confidence and creating human-made environments out of the wilderness. (Betwixt and Between)
The name alder may come from the Old German word elawer, which means „reddish“. When you cut the alder, the white wood inside turns red, the color of sanctity in the Celtic tradition.
Red is the color of fire, the sun and of course blood; the color of life. Therefore it was thought that when you cut the alder it bleeds. That’s why the alder was a favored wood for making shields for Celtic warriors, the alder spirit magically bled in their stead, thus conferring magical protection as a kind of spiritual exchange. In Irish mythology, these shields were often given names and believed to have magical powers.
Also, in Irish myth, the first man was born from an alder tree, as the rowan birthed the first woman.
In Celtic culture, alder wood was also used to make palisades to keep prisoners confined and to protect from invasion. Often these palisades were topped with the heads of their slain enemies.
The alder tree is associated with the Celtic God, the giant Bran the Blessed, whose name means raven. His sister Branwen; which means white raven, has a son with the King of Ireland, Matholwch, who is called Gwern, Brythonic for „alder“. Matholwch mistreats Branwen, and she is rescued by Bran and his men invading Ireland. None but seven men return, and Bran is fatally wounded, after that attack. He instructs his men to decapitate him, and his severed head continues to utter prophecy and song long after his death. Bran and his men dwell in the otherworld in this way, entertained by „the singing head“ before returning to Britain, where they install his head at Tower Hill in London as a protector of the land, where it looked out towards France before being removed by King Arthur. Bran’s Totems, the ravens, are still kept at the Tower of London to this day, and a prophecy tells that the land will fail should they leave.
Many heads feature in Celtic myths as voices of the otherworld, or the ancestors, and many gods were represented by large stone heads in temple complexes known as nemetons.
Thanks to its usage in the Celtic cult of the head, we can see the alder holding a position as a tree of prophecy and sacrifice, closely connected with warriorhood.
Bran’s „singing head“ utters prophecy and recounts lore to entertain and soothe his men after their struggles in Ireland, and thus they are healed of their sorrows. These prophecies here are not fortune-telling, they are utterances from the otherworld or underworld, from the Source, the heart of the earth. These utterances can be seen as tales and songs, but can also be understood as currents of energy, life force, divine vivification, threads of the great web upon which we all travel from womb to tomb. And like the Alder tree, we rise from the birth waters to reach out boldly into the world.
Bran is also an ally of Arawn, the god of the underworld Annwn. Annwn is not a place to fear, but a land of rest and renewal, a place of transformation in the womb of the goddess.
Alder has also an association with divination, drawn from the movement of the top branches of the trees in the wind and the sound of its rustling leaves, which will utter prophecy for those able to hear it, so just become still and listen carefully. Alder’s position by the river is another link to its association with divination, as ancient druids would seek prophecy by sleeping next to rivers in order to hear the words of the spirits in their murmuring during the quiet of the night.
In this way , alder can be seen magically as a tree of confident progress. It is a wise adviser that assists in facing obstacles or issues that need attention. It aids in developing stability, which comes from the firm foundations that alder creates.
Magical Use
We see the alder wood used in shamanic work, by making spirit shields, which keeps the shaman’s journey clear and on track, allowing effective progression. As a wood for shield making, alder brings to mind the balance that must be maintained by any warrior, when to use the sword and when to use the shield. Alder teaches the wisdom and appropriateness of timely defense.
To defend oneself is about protection and preservation. This is about empowerment and assertiveness as well as the end result of physical and practical acts. To not defend ourselves when our boundaries are invaded is to give away our power, thus we are defeated before we even begin.
It is possible to work with the alder magically in many ways, but all work must begin with relating to the the alder spirit first and attaining its assistance as an ally.
Alder is effective when starting new projects or when defending yourself becomes necessary. It also helps to overcome periods of inaction, weakness, lack of direction and victimhood, and when you feel stuck in a rut. Alder will lend strength and endurance, especially to cope with sorrow or grief, and help you find a way forward you had not envisioned before.
Seeking inspiration or divination beneath alder trees is very effective.
It also has been used in becoming eloquent, charming, and in supporting stable relationships.
An alder leaf placed against the heart will help to shield you from emotional harm, and it will attract loving relations.
Alder wood should be used for magicks that need to balance action with emotion.
The magic of the Fearn is that it spans the space between earth and water, with its roots in the two elements, that faery space of betwixt and between.
So it has a connection to faery and the wood is seen as a gateway to the realm of Fae.
Because it is a tree that allows access to the faerie realms, it is not good fortune to cut one down, as it is a charm against malevolent fairies. Water sprites are said to protect the tree, so again, be wary of cutting it down.
You can also use alder cones for protection spells, or to make charms that give courage to move forward.
Healing
Alder leaves used to be placed on the soles of the feet or in shoes to ease weary aching feet.
Beds of alder leaves used to be made to ease aches and pains, today you could stuff a cushion cover with fresh leaves.
The fresh rubbed leaves also make a good insect repellent.
As a vibrational essence, alder lend a steadying influence and helps to ground and process overly strong emotions. It helps moving forward and encourages strength and endurance and the ability to clear the way ahead if necessary.
Divination
Alder encourages you to move ahead with confidence and courage, because it could indicate that a certain amount of defense is required by the seeker. It will help build up the defenses but at the same time also allow nourishment and sustenance into your being. And then when its task is done it will take you back into the ever-flowing waters of life. It tells you to get grounded and practical, ensuring your own safety in physical realms but also aiding in psychic protection where a grounded present attitude ensures you to remain self-possessed and empowered.
It is an excellent ally in aiding and teaching you how to defend yourself emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually.
As it is closely associated with warrior hood, it encourages you to seek honorable behavior and the right use of power.
It helps to understand when to use the shield and when to use the sword.
Again we see that a need for balance is indicated.
Saille - Willow
April 15th - May 12th
Letter : S
Animal : Hare, Cat, Hawk
Color : Bright, Haze
Flower : Primerose
Lore and Legend
The willow used in the ogham is not the famous weeping willow, but the pussy willow (Salix caprea), but they have similar energies.
Willow is a peasant tree.
The willow trees are associated with the moon and with water. Willows thrives near water and their position by riverbanks naturally connects them to the alder.
Their connection with water reminds us of the associations with the otherworld in the Celtic mind, be it Faery, the underworld of the ancestors, or the realm of the gods.
Sacred to the moon, the feminine qualities of flow and flexibility, and the wisdom of the instincts and emotions are all present in the willow tree’s energy. Its position, so often near water, yet actually preserving the dry land, illustrates its lesson of holding these qualities in balance with the demands of our often more solar daily lives.
The moon has associations with the feminine cycle, and also with intuition, imagination, and instinct, that hidden thread of knowing that defies logic and the rational mind. The moon is the unseen and indefinable, the yet to be, the becoming. To see by the light of the moon is literally to see things in a „new light“, where some details will gain greater significance, while others will become more obscure. The moon has bee worshipped as a goddess for a long time, and the willow is a special tree to help understand her ways, her wisdom.
The willow is sacred to the Welsh goddess Cerridwen for this reason, who rules over the moon. Her cauldron of transformation bestows poetic vision, otherwise known as psychic ability or prophecy.
Psychic vision, often known as „seership“ in the Celtic lands, was a gift that was highly respected and valued. Seers were able to glimpse through the veil into the heart of events, perceive the spirit world, and give prophecy and advice.
The willow has always been associated with seers, with divination, clairvoyance, and magic, as well as emotional sensitivity and empathy. Like the willow at the water’s edge, it supports people who stand between to realms, the mortal world and that of Spirit.
Willows were often used by the Celts for the making of baskets, fences, and coracles boats; there are many tales of travelers, shamans, and transgressors being sent „over the ninth wave“ on vessels made of willow, to travel to shores unknown.
Willow is also connected with bees as messengers between the mortal world and the gods and honey, which was often used to describe the gift of prophecy upon the tongue.
The bards of old were powerful magical practitioners, able to weave spells and transformations with their poetry and song, or inflict terrible curses upon those they satirized. The willow was a powerful ally to bards, and harps were traditionally made of willow, not only because it was excellent for their construction, but because the spirit of the willow would magically support their work, increasing the flow to and from the otherworld.
Another Goddess associated with the Willow is Hecate, she is usually depicted carrying a torch, and whilst today she is usually considered a crone goddess, originally she had three faces of equal age. She has rulership over earth, sky, and sea, and she is a light bringer. However, her triple nature also connects her with the three phases of the moon, hence here connection to all plants under its rulership, especially the willow. Hecate ruled over all liminal places, especially gateways and the wilderness. And again we see the connection with willow as a tree linking the waters of the otherworld with the land and mortal realm. Hecate is also associated with ghosts, demons, and the dead. She was closely related to witchcraft and sorcery, and offerings at three way crossroads were made at the full moon to seek her protection from evil spirits. She was also said to be able to create or hold back storms and rain.
The connection with weather magic can also be seen with the Celtic Goddess Brigidh, who is said to bring the spring after defeating the old woman of Winter. At Brigidh’s special festival, Imbolc, she is said to carry a white willow wand tipped with an acorn that she uses to control do wheather. We see again the willow functioning as a mediator and moderator of liminal spaces, in this instance the boundaries between winter and spring, another clue to the willow’s energy and magic. It is one of the few trees which can regenerate and make a new tree with a single branch or twig planted in soil.
The willow also has another facet, the comforter. The chemical salicin, present in all willow species, has great pain-killing properties which have been used since ancient times and are still used in modern medicine today. The energy of the willow, assists in easing the difficult feelings that arise from periods of change and the sense of loss that often follows. It can be seen as having an affinity with motherly and crone energies for this reason, soothing the pain of sacrifice and the bitterness of letting go.
The willow has a reputation for being associated with grief, sadness, and healing of sorrow, again related to its connections with water and emotions. It can help ease these sorrows by coming to terms with their ebb and flow, and making peace with the emotional, intuitive, and subconscious sides of life.
Magical Use
You can use willow wands for protection and guidance for otherworld and underworld journeys, and as a tool to help anchor someone with psychological or emotional distress. It can also be used for weather magic, healing and fertility spells. Or you can also sleep with the wand to have more vivid dreams.
When you tip the wand with an acorn, it becomes the phallic life-giving wand that impregnates all it touches with new life and vigor.
Willow is also good for all sorts of moon magic, and willow whips or cord are good for binding spells.
You can use willow to make talismans for love and healing spells, and to align yourself closer to the lunar goddess. When you carry a piece of wood it will give bravery and help you to overcome fear of death. If one needs to get something off their chest or to share a secret, confess to a willow and your secret will be trapped.
Magical Brooms, witch's brooms are traditionally bound with a willow's branch.
Willow branches are said to be the best for divining Water, channelling Earth energy and to find lost objects.
You can use willow leaves in mixtures, or carry them in a pouch to attract love.
If you want to conjure spirits, mix crushed willow bark with sandalwood and burn this mix at the waning moon outdoors.
For a wish to be granted, ask permission of the willow, explaining your desire. Select a pliable shoot and tie a loose knot in it while expressing what you want. When the wish is fulfilled. return and untie the knot. Remember to thank the willow and leave a gift, I like to offer her moon water.
Healing
As a herbal medicine it has pain killing uses and it is also good to lower fevers.
As a vibrational essence it is used as a remedy for bitterness and resentment; people who are stuck in a position of blaming others (or circumstances) for their problems, who have an experience of being a victim or being treated unfairly by life, would benefit from this essence. The willow teaches us to surrender completely to our emotions from time to time in order to gain deeper understanding of ourselves and our hidden motives and any secret fears and desires, as well as to help us release suppressed emotions that cause stress and illness. Willow helps to restore flow and harmony within ourselves and in the world around us. It also helps to come to terms with intuition and repressed feminine aspects in both sexes.
Divination
Willow suggests harmony and balance, being in tune with feeling and wisdom that comes from the otherworld sources and dreams. It encourages flexibility, especially emotionally and practically, to help expand awareness and knowledge of the otherworld as well as altered states of consciousness. It encourages healing and a gentle, forgiving attitude. It also reminds you of the healing virtue of tears. Now is the time to tune in to you heart and to move forward aligned with the heart’s wisdom.
You can access otherworldly magic and insights. Remember the otherworld is not a place of sorrow but of ease and refreshment.
When willow comes up it reveals your feminine side which, when combined equally with male energy, gives balance to life. There may be an indication to pay attention to your feminine nature, showing a spiritual imbalance or conflict. This may be the beginning of a period of unfolding and growth of psychic or clairvoyant powers and includes the gift of cunning which is, in actuality, the skillful use of mental powers. There is an indication toward intuition, imagination and, occasionally, self-deception. Usually the appearance of Willow means the awakening of dormant abilities and heralds a time of enchantment. New currents are flowing under the surface; you need the flexibility to adapt to the coming changes. Remember that the loss of intuition can create rigidity.You may be asked to use your intuition, your hunches, instead of logic in order to get a clear view of events.
Ash - Nuin
February 18th - March 17th
Letter N
Animal : Snake, Snipe
Color : Green, White, pale blue)
Flower : Wood Anemone
Lore and Legend
Ash is one of the seven chieftain trees.
It has been a tree of spiritual importance all over Europe for thousands of years and still is to this day. In Scandinavian myth, the World Tree Yggdrasil was a giant ash tree connecting all the realms of existence. But just a quick side note here; there are also different tress that are considered as the World Tree, such as Yew for example; but let us just assume it would be the ash tree. It is also sacred to Odin, whom hung himself upon an ash tree in search of wisdom.
Yggdrasil is not only a tree, but also the steed of the god Odin, or Woden, on which he travels to all realms. Odin rides Sleipnir up and down Yggdrasil’s trunk and through its branches on his frequent journeys throughout the Nine Worlds. Yggdrasil is the structure and substance of the universe and the tool to traverse it.
Both, the tree and Odin are essentially shamanic spirit beings; they are givers of knowledge, the vehicle, and the receiver.
Yggdrasil contains also the concepts of microcosmos and macrocosmos, universal patterns that reflect each other from the very small to the very large, repeating through the seeming chaos of creation. It was this chaos Odin pierced in order to understand the workings of the universe, in turn manifesting into creation as the runes.
Yggdrasil was protected by the Norns, the three goddesses who were the keepers of destiny. These were known as Urdr (fate), Verdandi (being), and Skuld ( necessity). They attended the tree by watering it and covering its bark with clay to protect and preserve it.
They shape destiny by carving runes into the trunk of the tree, or, in some sagas and poems, by weaving destiny like a web or tapestry.
I want to share one of the poems from the Poetic Edda, Völuspá or “The Insight of the Seeress“ :
There stands an ash called Yggdrasil,
A mighty tree showered in white hail.
From there come the dews that fall in the valleys.
It stands evergreen above Urd’s Well.
From there come maidens, very wise,
Three from the lake that stands beneath the pole.
One is called Urd, another Verdandi,
Skuld the third; they carve into the tree
The lives and destinies of children.
A common misconception is that the destiny woven or carved by the Norns is final, as in the Greek concept of fate. The Norse/Germanic model of destiny, however, is far more dynamic and changeable than this, and leaves enough room for individual agency in the shaping of destiny. While there may be only three Norns with a capital “N,” there are countless norns with a lowercase“n” – norn is an Old Norse word for a generic practitioner of magic.
There are also many associations with the greek pantheon, but as always I will stay more in the Celtic and Northern tradition in order to keep this as concise as possible.
The ash is often associated with lightning, as its height appears to attract it with startling regularity, hence the old saying : „ avoid an ash, for it courts a flash.“ Wood that has been struck by lightning is always considered to be especially powerful, as it was touched by the divine.
Thor, the god of lightning, had a spear made of ash. The Celts also made spear shafts of ash wood. These spears were often carefully engraved and many were named, considered treasures handed down through generations.
Ash is also held as sacred to the god Lugh for its masculine, solar energy, as well as its associations with justice, as Lugh was also considered to be the god of law and order in addition to his solar qualities. In other myths ash is seen as feminine, a counterpart to the masculine Oak tree.
The ash had also a special significance in Ireland, perhaps due to its connections with Vikings via their successful invasions. There were five sacred, special living trees in Ireland that were understood and maybe even functioned ceremonially as World Trees. Three of these were ash trees. These trees were felled as Christianity swept over Ireland, taken as symbols of victory over Pagan druids.
And just as a last side note, for fans of Lord of the Rings, the Wizard Gandalf is said also to bear an Ash staff.
Magical Uses
Ash wood can be used to make a spear, in order to direct energy. The spear symbolises the direction and application of power and skill, and it can be used magically to break all forms of inertia as well to reach an intended target. Ash was also a wood that was used for the maypole.
Ash is also used for divination fires, as it is associated with flight and its connection with destiny and magical power. Ash „keys“ are effective fertility and love charms, that lend their power of direction to open up opportunities. Carry some of those keys that have been charged and blessed in a green or gold pouch, remembering to always gather with the trees permission. You can also place them under your pillow before sleeping.
The ash teaches important lessons about the right use of strength, and the gaining of skill to make the strength effective. It encourages self-control, courage, durability, and respect.
Old folk songs refer to the oak, ash, and thorn as a sacred trio; the oak is masculine energy representing the god, the thorn (hawthorn) is the feminine energy representing the goddess, and the ash as the world tree and druid’s staff is the phallic link between the two; the transmitter of the energy as well as the product of the interchange. Keep this in mind when you want to work with the ash tree in your spell crafting. Equal armed crosses were carried by sailors as protection at sea. The Vikings used oak for their ships and ash to kit them out with magical protection. For our time you could use the wood or leaves to put in your car to afford the same protection in transit.
I personally have oak leaves in my car, to get that protection, as always do whatever speaks most to you. You can also use ash leaves for dream spells, put them under your pillow, especially if they have been gathered at full moon, and it will lend you magical and prophetic dreams. You can also scatter the leaves about the magical circle to assist you in invocations, and they will help you to balance all four elements within a working as well as within yourself.
Ash was the favorite wood to use as the Yule log at the winter solstice. The log was decorated with ribbons and given libations of wine or mead before being burnt upon the fire, signifying the returning sun.
Ash bark shavings, burned in an incense will bring prophetic dreams in meditation.
Sleep with the ash leaves in a bowl of water next to your bed to prevent illness.
Ensure that there are an even number of leaves for best results.
Ash is the key to healing the loneliness of the human spirit, forming a link between the gods, humans, and the dead in the spirit world. Ash holds the key to Universal Truth and Cosmic Wisdom, and it takes on the important role as a Tree of Initiation.
Use this wood to remove mental blockages and aid in the promotion of word use and understanding. It promotes spiritual love and health. Protects against unwanted change. Brings balance to the mind. Ash is also used for protection, enhances skills of arts and crafts, justice, weather magick, and for working with the magick of cave and wells.
Healing
Ash key were considered to be highly aphrodisiac, and decaying ash wood was an ingredient for aphrodisiac powders and spells. Ash keys will keep all year if you gather them when they are ripe.
As a vibrational essence, ash encourages strength and endurance, helping us endure the harshest circumstances. It lends the strength to protect family, land, and all that is important in a person’s life. It will help you to operate from a sense of rootedness and inner balance. Ash also stresses the importance of inner resources, feelings, and motivation. It encourages good connections with tribe, family, or community.
It encourages considered judgement in times of inner conflict, calms antagonistic thoughts, and also confusion about one’s sense of identity, especially for those who have too great a need to please others. In this process, it is very easy to lose track of themselves. Ash helps strengthen each individual’s sense of self; and diminishes the place of ego that leads to control.
Know yourself and you know the world.
It also helps individuals discover for themselves the difference between control and self-control. It may also be useful in sorting out the difference between religious dogma and spirituality.
Divination
Ash may tell you something about your ability to combine your energy with someone else's.
It also suggests strength, uprightness, and correct focus. It is a symbol of the newly matured, and hardened warrior. It refers to the direct application, the pursuit of wisdom, and the value of getting to the heart of the matter. It encourages the solar qualities of courage and determination as well as vitality. It shows the value and pleasure of being fully alive and being yourself, even under difficult circumstances. It helps to balance the concepts of „being“ and „doing“ as well as giving and receiving energy and resources in equal measure. Therefore it encourages the rebalancing of any excess in behavior, and it helps your coming into greater balance with the world around you. Ash may be understood as being akin to the lighting flash, the point of union between the mortals and the gods. Prepare for the touch of fate, the spirit world, or magical insight to descend on you.
The key-like fruit of the ash signifies the unlocking of doors to new knowledge that are hidden within you, so when the going gets tough, look inside for the answers and solutions you seek. Stand firm in your beliefs and stay in the eye of the storm rather than being drawn in to the conflicts of others.
Sources :
Book : Celtic Tree Magic by Danu Forest,
Online : www.druidry.org, www.thegoddesstree.com, www.thriveonnews.com