In 2011 my family suffered tragedy while celebrating love. We were at my stepson’s wedding in one state while my father died suddenly in another.
 
On top of the staggering grief of losing him, and the guilt of not being with him, I also mourned that he left before we could say everything that needed to be said between us. Luckily, we had already shored up our relationship. But there were still so many unanswered questions. There just wasn’t enough time.
 
It’s a common lament. After a decade, I still think of things we didn’t discuss. How proud he would be of his grandson. I’d like to ask him how he trained all of his dogs to freeze in place with one short command, when I can’t stop my Australian Sheppard from running across the street to jump on the neighbor. And we barely got started putting together the Wright and Campbell family trees.
 
 It’s too late for me to ask my parents those questions. My husband’s father died much, much earlier than mine. The questions Paul has could fill a book, despite his mother’s attempts to fill in a lot of the blanks.
 
But it’s not too late to talk with our own sons, and Father’s Day seems the perfect time.
 
We have to approach the youngest one gingerly, testing the waters with the barest hint of parental guidance. He is, after all, not yet thirty, but a new father himself, still in the early stages of pushing away, separating and individuating, casting off our advice with an irritated exhale and a monosyllabic reply. But with a five-year-old and a second son on the way, he’s gonna need us, whether he wants us or not.
 
That’s okay. At some point soon in his life, maybe when this second baby of his is born in just a few months, he will have questions for my husband and me.
And someday, when one or both of his parents are dead, and all those nit-picky but long-lasting questions begin to crop up,  he will find, along with our legal papers and will, all of my journals, which I started when he was in high school, and have added to each year since.  
 
In the meantime, here are some things I’d like to share with my two new fathers, bless their pea-picking little hearts:
 

1. Don’t worry.

It’s a waste of energy, time and emotion. It will tie you up in knots so you can’t sleep. Make you cranky with the people you care about. Worry is fear about the future, but it does nothing to actually change it. Instead of worrying, make the best decisions you can right now. Then let the universe plot your best course.

1. Examination your foundation carefully.

Look deeply at your worldview, what you value, and your personal compass. Then live by it. It will affect every decision you make. Life has a way of uprooting you and tossing you around. Be sure you nail the landing.

1. Choose your friends, don’t just fall in with them.

Your friends will give shape to your life. They will either stunt your growth or urge you on. When you find good friends, treasure them and invest time and effort into keeping them. Be the kind of friend you want to have.

1. Remain a Student.

Look, listen, read, learn. Never stop. Be enthusiastic and curious about a wide range of topics. Find a mentor, a teacher, a spiritual guide. Be open to new ideas and viewpoints for all of your years. Never stagnate.

1. Develop good habits.

Don’t wait until tomorrow to exercise, eat healthy, get up on time, do your best work.  And don’t wait until it’s more convenient to fall in love, save money, or take the time to really listen.   

1. Heal your wounds. No one wants to experience pain, but it’s gonna happen. Acknowledge. Heal.  And don’t fool yourself into thinking the trauma of your childhood has been left in the past. Those shadows grow under the surface, and then, from a random trigger incident, roil up suddenly to engulf you. If you need help with healing, don’t be afraid or ashamed to ask for help, including professional counseling. Every painful trial is like an oyster, and there is a precious pearl—a personal benefit—in every one; every single one. Repeat that thought like a mantra.
2. Realize that not everything is about you.

So much of our disappointment and frustration with people, jobs--basically with life in general—occurs because we presume that life should go our way. Often, the way people treat you is about them, not you.

1. Be patient.

Our society is programmed to get things instantly and on demand. But life doesn’t always work that way. Push gently on a lot of doors, and believe that the universe has a plan for you. You can’t know what you’re good at or what you most enjoy without sampling a large number of situations. Learn what you want first, then patiently and methodically work at clearing the road blocks in your path.

1.  Be excited for other people’s success.

Remember it’s not all about you, right?  Sincere support of others will get you ahead faster than stepping on everyone else’s fingers to climb the success ladder. Take time to hear what people really want, what they really think. You will never be called a jerk for listening too much.

1.  Don’t be afraid to follow your instincts.

If you think she may not be the right girl, she probably isn’t. Same goes for the right job, the right moral decision. Of all the voices you hear, your own may be the wisest, but hardest to listen to. Pay attention to that knot in your gut when something is a bit off, and also to the pure joy when it’s just right.

1.  Take risks.

Go boldly into the unknown if that’s where your instincts and a bit of reason send you. It may be out of your comfort zone. So what? As a wise friend once said, “Do what you won’t regret. It’s more satisfying than regretting what you didn’t do.”

1. Take sin seriously.

I am a firm believer in Karma. Every act has a reaction. There is no such thing as “getting away with it.” Even if you don’t get caught. Though forgiveness is divine, sin leaves a stain. And that spot is permanent, even if you ignore it and fake like it isn’t there. Karma, child, is the ultimate bitch slap.

1.  Make time to rest and recharge

When you are young, you think you can abuse yourself continually and still recover. So you fill your days and nights to overflowing. But what you do now will eventually take its toll on you physically and mentally. Develop good sleep habits now. Learn to say “no” when you’re over-extended. Learn to meditate. Get your nose out of your laptop and your phone and walk in nature. To learn pure joy, take a dog with you.

1.  Keep your tribe intact.

As you get older, get a full-time job, get married, have children, it becomes harder to make time for anything outside of your tiny personal bubble. But extended family truly is your foundation, and that foundation includes those who came before, as well as those who will follow you. Cherish your own babies, and the babies of those you love. I am constantly dismayed by people who tell me they’ve drifted away from their children, or their parents. Do your best to preserve your familial ties. Treat your parents as tribal elders. Ask them questions: What do they regret not asking their parents? Is there anything that they wish was different between you—or that they would still like to change? How do they want to approach older age, and eventually death, and is there anything you can do to help them? What music do they want played at their funeral? Do they want a “green” burial?

1.  Honor those you love.  

Honor goes hand in glove with love, a verb whose very definition is doing worthwhile things for someone who is valuable to us. Love them, yes, but more than that, give them the gift of your respect. And not just when they're on their best behavior. Dig deeper, really know them. Respect their core. You will love yourself for doing it.
 
Happy Father’s Day. To my dad. To Paul. And to my boys, who are both fathers now, too.
Blessed Be.      

For more than 5,000 years, humans have built sacred cairns surrounded by one or more concentric circles, with spokes or stone lines radiating outward. Based on the number four (representing the cardinal directions and thought to be situated at energy vortexes), sacred circles were used all over the world for ceremonies, as places of worship and to communicate. Just think about the Native American medicine wheels in North America, the mandalas of the East, the Neolithic stone circles of Europe, and the South American Mayan and Aztec circles to name a few. 

lant a current-day medicine wheel garden, we still begin with the circle—the natural shape symbolic of the interconnections of all life. The round designs feature a central focus and four or more paths that carve the garden into pie-shaped beds.

The wheel can be planted with perennial and annual herbs, or feature only medicinal herbs. Or it can encompass a wide variety of culinary, tea, heirloom or healing herbs, grasses, shrubs and cacti. Medicine wheel gardens are intensely personal, and one’s choice of plants, materials and symbolic ornaments reflects the inner garden of the spirit. Start with selections to suit the soil and climate of your site.

I’m going to plant a mix of perennial flowers and herbs whose color at some stage of development coordinates with the colors symbolic of the related cardinal direction. (See the list at the end of this blog). I’m also going to make this a Mother Goose garden to please my 5-year-old grandson. Remember the Simon and Garfunkel song ‘Scarborough Fair’? The refrain “Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme” gave me the idea to include those classic Mediterranean herbs for both color and fragrance. Since my Medicine Wheel will be located next to Paul’s vegetable garden, I’m hoping he will help Alex pick herbs for cooking. Considering how kids love to touch and sniff, I figure growing gardens and growing children are natural complements, right?

Location and Size
Medicine wheels are sometimes built big enough to walk around in. Some are built with a fire pit, an animal skull, or a peace pole in the center. Some are built with animal totems, others with items that hold particular meaning.  Some mark their quadrants with colored flags, depictions of the four Archangels, or stones of personal meaning or from places of power.  Nothing you choose is right or wrong, just make it a depiction of your life. Here are some guidelines that might help in the beginning:

*Put the wheel in an area that is readily accessible but won’t be disturbed. You want to be able to use it, but not have it be a distraction to other activities.

*Put it in a sacred space. Most of the plants I’ve selected require full sunlight, but you may decide the land under your favorite tree is perfect and select shade-loving plants.

*It’s important to ask the nature spirits to give permission for use of the plot of land you have chosen and to bless it. As you build your communication within this space, your creativity will take on a special quality. With sacred intent at work in your space, all your energies will reap greater reward. 

Gather five marker stakes, a hammer, measuring tape, compass and either string or line for marking. Drive a stake into the ground to mark the center of the garden. Attach string to the central stake and using the compass, locate the four cardinal directions (N, W, E and S). Using your string, find them on the circumference and mark them with a stake. The distance from the central stake to the cardinal stakes will decide the circumference of the garden, which is entirely up to you. The only criteria that should be adhered to be a circle cordoned off into four sections.

 I’m making my own outdoor circle 8’ diameter so it will be big enough to walk around and through in any direction, but small enough that it won’t encroach on the dog’s grassy area. So I will measure my rope length at 4’ and pace the perimeter, marking each direction, and placing a fist-sided stone or another anchor stake every few feet in my path.

Depending on the size of your circle, you will need quite a few stones to mark the entire rim, a central circle and the interior lines connecting the east-west and north-south points on the outer circle, so keep the temporary center pole in place until your medicine wheel architecture is in place.

Once your outer stone circle is in place, you can mark the cardinal directions. Stand at the center of your medicine wheel and find north on the compass. Holding the compass steady so the needle moves as little as possible, walk a straight northward line to your stone circle. Set a temporary pole at this point. Repeat the same procedure to find south and place another temporary pole. Now tie the cord you used before one of these two poles and carry it across the circle to the other one. When you stretch the cord taut, you know you’ve done things right if it passes across the center of the medicine wheel. Place marking stones along the path of the cord as a guide for making the giant interior cross, which will divide your medicine wheel garden into quadrants. Take the same steps for finding east and west on the outer circle.

Clear out the interior of the circular garden by removing any sod or rocks. Rake it smooth. If need be, amend the soil with compost and a small amount of bone meal. Any other soil needs will depend on the plants and herbs you choose. In general, soil should be well-draining and slightly alkaline.

Lay plastic or landscape cloth from each outer stake to the center to form paths and then spread your gravel, rocks, wood chips or other material over the paths. Replace the four directional stakes with large rocks. These represent the spirit keepers of each direction and may be adorned with drawings or artifacts.

Use bricks, wood, smaller stones, or even seashells to edge the bisection paths and outline the circle.

​Now it’s time to break ground, make your plant choices and buy your batches. I am planting four of each species in a simple natural clump to encourage healthy growth. My plant choices are listed below by cardinal directions.

 ​But before you begin planting, light a small dish or wand of sage or cedar or lavender stems and smudge the whole area and yourself. Walk around the whole outer circle of your medicine wheel with this fragrant smudge, while thinking how you project will beautify the area. Establish a new balance here with love and gratitude for the land and all the creatures it supports. 

Medicine Wheel Symbols & Plants

Center –The center of the medicine wheel, the Creator, stands alone. The object depicting the Creator force can be a large stone of any sort, a buffalo or steer skull, or an object of deep significance to you. Some ideas for Center: a small contained fire pit or fire orb; buffalo or steer skull; unusual wood piece; large stone or crystal cluster. The Creator is the beginning of life and its ending, the great mystery within all things. Because the Creator is within everything there are no totems associated with this position.

In my design, the heart of the medicine wheel garden will be the tall decorated peace pole I’m planting at the very center. Here I will offer pinches of sacred tobacco and cornmeal, and offer prayers.

Every person who comes into this garden will be invited to bring a small stone to place at the base of the pole with the thoughts, “I lay here my prayers for peace and understanding.” Soon this central area will become a prayer cairn around the peace pole.

North -Represents Earth, a time of hibernation, the place for mental growth and wisdom. North is the direction of night, and actualization of intentions.  It is the resting place of our ancestors and the gateway to what is coming next. It’s the direction for mental growth and wisdom.

For North I’m using a large piece of white alabaster stone with a raven totem painted on it. Raven is my personal totem, so I’m breaking Native tradition by using her instead of white buffalo. Yes, we get to make those choices for our own wheel. The plantings in the North quarter will be WHITE:  sweet alyssum, asteraceae, and Shasta daisy. With them I’m mixing in the herbs Echinacea (purple coneflower), lemon verbena, garlic chive, bearberry and sweet grass if I can get it to grow.

 East (Totem- eagle) – Represents Air for new beginnings and creativity, finding your voice. It is the spiritual direction. The gifts of this direction include spontaneity, playfulness, inquisitiveness and truth saying.

For East I’m placing a large yellow stone and a smoking pipe made of catlinite (pipestone) Plantings will be YELLOW: Daffodil, Butterfly weed, evening primrose, prickly pear cactus, sunflower, and meadowsweet. To bring in the air element, some butterfly herbs: rosemary, milkweed, tobacco or uva ursi, and verbena. Because the sacred plant for the east is tobacco, the pipe seems appropriate.

South (Totem- Coyote) – Represents Fire, growth and self-assurance and enthusiasm. It is the place to meditate on matters of the heart. Growth here is directed exploration. This is the place to seek your visions and ask Creator to point you in the direction you should go—and then follow it rapidly and with vigor
For South I’m using a serpentine stone and a coyote totem.  Plantings will be predominantly RED: bee balm, lobelia cardinalis, Salvia, borage, begonia, and nasturtium. Herbs will include calendula, white sage and yarrow.

West (Totem-Bear) – Represents Water, emotional growth and experience. It is the direction of emotions. Some believe healing comes from this direction.

For West I’m using a large soapstone and a small bear totem .Flowers will be BLUE and PURPLE: Lavender, larkspur, iris, hollyhock, bellflower and verbena. For herbs I’ll add purple chili pepper, skullcap, chamomile, mint and sage. Also some mugwort for dreaming, and some type of wilderness water feature like this one.
Additional details can be added to a medicine wheel garden to personalize it even more. Things like statuary, orbs, crystals, or other garden art will truly make the space into your own sacred space.

Next week I share some reflections on Father’s Day and Summer Solstice.
Until then, work on those gardens! 
Blessed Be. 

 Night owls in the Western states are in for a treat tonight as the moon enters Earth’s shadow and turs a blood red color during a total lunar eclipse, the first in more than two years visible from the United States.
 
This is actually a super blood moon because the moon will also line up in its closest approach to our planet, and event called a supermoon.
 
Tonight’s event will be visible from Australia, East Asia, Pacific Island and the Western Americas. People on the West Coast of the United States, from Southern California up through Washington State, can expect the action to commence around 1:47 a.m. Pacific time tonight, May 26.
 
In the beginning, the moon will enter only the Earth’s outer shadow, called the penumbra. Any changes to the lunar surface will be subtle at first.
 
Over the next few hours, the moon will travel deeper into the shadow and begin to look like something took a bite out of it. During this phase, it will begin turning reddish. This will start around 2:45 a.m. Pacific time.
 
At 4:11 a.m., the moon will fall completely within the Earth’s inner umbral shadow and its full face will become a deep, dark red. The actual total eclipse will be relatively short, lasting approximately 14 minutes and ending by 4:25 a.m. Pacific time.
 
But the eclipse isn’t over and sky watchers can enjoy watching the process reverse itself as the moon passes out of Earth’s umbra and penumbra, gradually returning to its normal self until sunrise, when it will sink below the horizon for West Coasters.
 
If you’d like to harness the cosmic energy of this super blood moon for yourself, here is some spell working you can do during our lunar show.
 
 Items needed for ritual:

1. A stone or crystal of your choosing
2. Full moon water
3. A drawing of a forked path. This can be a simple sketch, as long as your drawing has a choice of two paths or more.
4. A red or purple ink pen
5. A place where you can view the moon’s eclipse.

 
During a lunar eclipse, we experience a “micro month”. Within one night, we can experience energy similar to a complete cycle of full, waning, dark, waxing and full again.
It’s the perfect time to “eclipse” something you wish to eliminate from your life, and then refill that void with more positive energy.
That’s the magic we will perform tonight: Eliminate the negative as the moon disappears, and add positives to our lives as the moon re-appears.
 
#1 Working – “Eclipse” and Eliminate (During Penumbra thru Full Eclipse)
 
Before the moon begins to be eaten away, invest in it the essence of something you want to be rid of. 
 
Be sure you are not harming anyone else or infringing on their free will by eliminating this.
 
Some ideas to consider:
Personal appearance
Bad habit
Negative thought track
Mountain of bills
Job or a partner you’ve outgrown
Toxic family relationships
“Mother wounds” (or father)
Effects of tribalism, nationalism or tradition
Anything that plagues you and does not serve your highest self
 
Use your mind to invest the problem in the moon by feeling all the dislike or hatred you have toward the problem, and then mentally project it upward toward the moon’s surface, while you say:
 
 “O wondrous Blood Moon Light
I ask your help now, this night.
Help us release unhealthy things
To which we stubbornly cling.
Old notions and ideas,
Things we know are harmful.
Clear them all away
And fortify our lives today.”
 
Stop projecting when you see the first sign of the shadow of the earth falling across the moon’s surface.
 
Watch as the moon, and your problems, are consumed by the great wolf of the heavens. Literally feel them being eaten out of your life.
  
Part 2 working: “A Leap of Faith (In Yourself)”
 
 Now is the time to ponder who you are as opposed to who you appear to be.
 
A leap of faith really means choosing from the soul, not from the ego. Soul choices bring us to the unknown light, where we can learn and thrive.
Ego choices keep us in the familiar shadows.
 
It’s time now to leap fearlessly into the light, even though we may not yet know what challenges it may hold for us.”
 
Get out the stone or crystal you brought with you for this spellwork. Wash the crystal in your Full Moon water and hold it up to the moon as you say:
 
“Stone of brightest blood eclipse moon sheen,
With your power, help me glean
The joys that change can bring to life,
In spite of its initial strife.
Help me learn to stretch and flex,
And understand how life connects.
 
To my growth and to my goals.
Help me accept my many roles
Help me finally to embrace
My soul’s destined highest place.
Open my heart, so I can see.
As I will it, so mote it be.”
 
Hold and rub the stone while you look at the picture of the road that forks in many directions, each leading to your potential future. Examine each path, and visualize where each path might end.
 
When you are ready, ask the Eclipse moon to help you make your selection, by saying:
 “Blood Moon Mother in the sky,
Light my journey from on high.
Guide me with your strengthening glow
So the proper path I’ll know.
The path of true accomplishment;
The path for which my dreams are meant.
And with your guidance, please allow
That I may manifest it now.
And bring it to reality.
As I will it, so mote it be.”
 
Select a path. Write your goal along that route in red or purple pen.
 
As the blood moon eclipse wanes, and the moon begins to return see yourself traveling directly down the correct path to attaining your goal. Keep the map in the moonlight until the eclipse is complete.
 
When you leave ritual tonight, put this map on your altar in plain sight, and keep it there until the next full moon.
 
But first, to seal in the magic of your working, please hold your path paper up to the moon, while you chant until we feel your manifestation is firmly set:
 
 “The proper path I’ve chosen and marked.
I manifest it now, as my new reality!
As I will it, so mote it be!

Will you be joining me for a night of magic? Drop me a message and let me know what manifests for you.
Blessed be.

I was blessed to be able to transform my online Creosote Moon group into on in-person Beltane celebration last weekend. It’s been 16 months since I’ve participated with any of my pagan groups “live” – such a magical change!
​
We made flower head wreaths, feasted and danced the Maypole. 

Every person in our group was able to attend, including two who fly in from Florida. All had completed vaccinations except for the 4 kids, so we felt relatively safe. What a relief to achieve this bit of normalcy after such a turbulent year.
​
This week as I walked the back yard picking vegetables and discovering new blooms (our cactus has two BIG flowers that sprouted seemingly overnight!), I realized that this year is going to be doubly blessed. We planted two full veggie gardens here in the valley…and then we’re transporting tomatoes and any other plants we can, up to the cabin to plant gardens there in two weeks! Yes, it’s a gigantic amount of work. But it’s worth it for this gardening family to be able to remain surrounded by Mother Nature’s bounty for a long, extended growing season. 

We’ve been making trips to the cabin to get it ready for the move. We raked close to 30 bags of pine needles and cones, as part of our forest neighborhood’s fire safety clean up.

​Thank you to the Pinewood Fire Department from supplying collection bags!

In addition to the two vegetable gardens, I will be planting my Druid’s poison garden. I’ve blogged on several of the plants for that garden. Here is my complete planting list:

Black hollyhock (if I can find it)
Belladonna
Datura (D. Wrightii)
Delphinium
Foxglove (digitalis)
Henbane
Mandrake
Mugwort
Tobacco, Azteca (Nicotiana)
Wormwood

We’re also replenishing our pots of lemon grass. The dogs ate this winter’s big pot down to its last inch. 

I never knew animals love lemon grass, did you?

The neighbor also likes to snip it to use in his Thai chicken soup, so we planted an extra pot for Bob, and I’m sure he will have us over for a Thai meal this summer. 

​

The last project will be to expand my gnome garden to also include plants for the fae.

I’ll tell you more about THAT next week.

t’s going to be a really busy planting year! In fact, it will probably take us two seasons, but the plans are all in place.
​
Sparkly garden magic to you! 

​I confess, I’m fascinated by the plant world’s criminal elements. There’s something so cold about poison. It seems exotic and foreign, yet many of these dark villains are growing in our own back yards, pastures and roadsides, or included in everyday remedies. 

 “Root of the hemlock, digged in the dark” ~ from the 3 witches of Shakespeare’s Macbeth

Hemlock (Conium maculatum)
Let me back into this one and talk about Queen Anne’s Lace first, which everyone has probably seen. It’s also known as Wild Carrot, and is the original carrot from which modern cultivars were developed. It’s edible with a light carrot flavor, and is great in salads.
The problem is, it is closely related to, and looks almost exactly like Poison Hemlock. Hemlock flourishes in ditches and pastures across the country. There have been about a hundred cases of hemlock fatalities in the United States, although experts believe the actual number is probably much higher. The victims usually don’t survive to report what they ate. It also poses a threat to pets and livestock. A single root is toxic enough to kill a sixteen-hundred-pound cow. 

The lacy flowers have unusually thick stems; they’re so large and sturdy that they are sometimes picked as cut flowers, or kids use the hollow stems as whistles or blow darts. These are dangerous ideas; even a small amount of toxic juice on the hands can find its way to your bloodstream.

So, if you’re tempted to pick some Queen Anne’s Lace for a wildflower bouquet, or throw some wild carrot into your salad, here’s how to tell the difference (if you dare): Queen Anne’s Lace has a hairy stem, while the stems of Hemlock are smooth, hairless, and hollow with purple spots.

Magically, Hemlock is last of the poison world’s “Three Sisters” used in witch’s flying ointment. It’s said to have the power to conjure up demons. 

Mandrake (Atropa mandragora)

If you’re interested in a plant that looks like a person, has visible sex organs, is an aphrodisiac of the first order, has mind-altering alkaloids such as hyoscyamine, and has been known to cure depression and insomnia, then Atropa mandragora is the plant for you. But be careful.
Mandrake may not be the worst thug in the nightshade family, but it has a reputation. ​Above-ground it’s an unimposing little plant with a foot-tall rosette of leaves, pale green, white or purplish flowers, and mildly poisonous fruits that resemble unripe tomatoes. While the fruit is attractive and good-tasting, the subterranean part of the plant is where the magic occurs. 

The mandrake has an extraordinary place in the history of plants. It’s medicinal. Herbal. Magical. And folkloric.

It’s medicinal because the root contains an alkaloid that belongs to the atropine group. It’s a powerful narcotic and analgesic, and, in larger doses, an anesthetic.

It’s magical because of the bizarre shape of the root, which looks like a human being, sometimes male, sometimes female. It’s both an aphrodisiac and a strong hallucinogen. Put those two things together to create the most mind-bending sex you’ve ever had. In the book of Genesis, the barren Rachel eats the root and becomes pregnant with Joseph.

Folks love to experiment with the mandrake. The problem, of course, is it’s poisonous in the wrong doses, and people often end up sick or worse. They forget that the mandrake is in the family Solanaceae, same as the deadly nightshade.

 Mandrake’s long pointed root can grow three to four feel long, and forked. The Romans believed mandrake could cure demonic possessions, and the Greeks, thinking it resembled a male sex organ, used it in love potions. It was also widely believed that the mandrake shrieked when it was pulled from the ground—remember Harry Potter? In Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare’s friar gives Juliet a mandrake-laced sleeping potion, making Romeo think she is dead.

Some consider mandrake to be the personification of Aphrodite because of its use as an aphrodisiac. Often depicted holding an apple, Aphrodite may actually have been holding a mandrake fruit, especially in images where she is holding a poppy in one hand and a small fruit in the other (since both the flower and the fruit bring sleep).

It’s also common to ascribe the mandrake to Hecate, perhaps because a black dog, another of her symbols, was often sacrificed in the harvesting of mandrakes.

I haven’t decided whether to grow mandrake in my garden, it’s really difficult and takes more patience than most mortals possess. But if you buy a root and would like to preserve it, read Harold Roth’s book, Witching Herbs. His chapter 15 gives extremely detailed instructions on how to preserve your root for magical uses.

​Henbane (Hyoscyamous Niger)

This is the primary plant of the Goddess Hecate and the God Apollo. It was also one of the most sacred plants of the Germans and Vikings, who used it ritually for divination, in weather magic, and in finding treasure. They also used it as a mead spice. And the Germans used it for toothache by applying a poultice of crushed seeds to their pillow before going to sleep.

Hercules is sometimes depicted wearing a crown of henbane. It’s said he discovered henbane while in Hades capturing Cerberus, the three-headed guard dog of the Underworld. Henbane’s association with the that journey, as well as the herb’s medicinal affinity for bone issues like toothache, tied it to witchcraft, which often had need of working with the Underworld and with bones.

The dead who wandered the Underworld in Greek mythology also wore crowns of henbane. The function of their crowns was to cause them to forget their lives so they would not try to return and haunt the living. Loved ones who remained behind decorated the tombs of the dead with the plant, also to symbolically help them forget.

Henbane in the Garden
Some black henbane seeds produce an annual plant that flowers the first year and then dies; other produce a biennial that forms a rosette of leaves the first year and flowers the second. There’s no way to tell which one a seed will produce.

Germinate by putting the seeds in a small jar and filling it with cold water. Keep it in the refrigerator for 2 weeks, changing the water every day. The plant in a seed medium. They will germinate in 2 weeks at room temperature. Transplant once they plant has true leaves.  Henbane likes a dry soil and on the alkaline side. A full-sun area next to a concrete wall is perfect. It can also grow in pots. With henbane, belladonna and mandrake, top-dressing plants in pots with some chick grit (finely crushed granite) helps produce bigger, healthier plants.

Be prepared for your henbane to grow to 2-3’ tall, and space them 3’ apart. The purple-veined flowers appear in summer and the flowers and pods will continue until hard frost.  Watch for Colorado potato beetles, yellow and black striped beetles, and smash them with your fingers. Also look for their babies, small dark grubs that hang on to the underside of leaves in a row, they will eat the leaves down to nothing. For them, treat with spinosad immediately.

We have now completed the Weird Sister Tour of the Witches’ Flying Ointment plants: Datura, Belladonna, Hemlock, Mandrake and Henbane. Full poisonous circle.  I am planting most of them in my poison garden next month, but don’t take this as a recommendation to follow suit—and certainly not without reading more about each, taking every precaution, and wearing gloves at all times.

Look for photos throughout the summer!

In the meantime, let’s delve into one of my favorite sabbats next week – BELTANE!
Happy gardening, and Blessed Be.

Belladonna (Atropa Belladonna), aka Deadly Nightshade, devil’s cherry)

Professor and plant researcher Henry G. Walters speculated in 1915 that plants were capable of love and that they also had memories, implying that they might also hold a grudge. The deadly nightshade, Atropa Belladonna, he believed, was filled with hatred.

Belladonna or Deadly Nightshade. Both names are so Goth the plants should have kohl-lined eyes and dance at night to loud trance music. The Atropa bit is in homage to Atropos one of the three Fates. Atropos was the one that cut the thread of life. Belladonna, from the Italian for beautiful lady, pays tribute to its use in cosmetics. Atropa Belladonna has always been the gothy siren of the apothecary which explains its presence in medicine, perfume, cosmetics, and folklore for over a millennium.  

Belladonna is an herbaceous perennial found across Europe, Asia and North America. It flourishes in damp, shady spots, growing to three feet tall with pointed, oval-shaped leaves and purplish brown tubular flowers. The flowers form berries in the fall, changing from green to red, and finally dark black. 

Ripe Belladonna berries: beautiful but deadly.

Medicinal Uses–Belladonna has been used for centuries in traditional medicine for ailments ranging from headaches, ulcers and menstrual problems to inflammation and cardiovascular disease. It has antispasmodic, sedative, and diuretic properties, and is most commonly known for its uses in ophthalmology for pupil dilation. The name "belladonna" means "beautiful lady," and belladonna berry juice was used historically in Italy to enlarge the pupils of women, giving them a striking appearance. (I, in fact, recently discovered a natural eye drop in my medicine cabinet that contains belladonna.) 

The Deadly Nightshade performs its dark magic with the help of an alkaloid called atropine, which causes rapid heartbeat, confusion, hallucinations, and seizures. The symptoms are so unpleasant that atropine has been added to potentially addictive painkillers to keep patients from getting hooked. Atropine has also been used as an antidote to poisoning from nerve gas and pesticide exposure.
Though widely regarded as unsafe, belladonna is taken by mouth as a sedative, to stop bronchial spasms in asthma and whooping cough, and as a cold and hay fever remedy. It is also used for Parkinson’s disease, colic, inflammatory bowel disease, and motion sickness.

Poison- Belladonna is part of the Solanaceae family, which includes Datura (last week’s entry), henbane, mandrake, and the spicy Habanera chili pepper. Poison effects include rapid heartbeat, confusion, feeling hot but not sweating, extreme thirst, hallucinations, spasms, mental problems, convulsions, and coma.

And the eerily attractive flowers have a mildly sweet smell. But don’t be tempted. A big whiff of belladonna’s flowers can cause an instant headache.

Each belladonna branch shoots to the opposite side of the stalk in an alternating pattern. At the end of each branch, the plant produces buds that become flowers that will bear fruits. The main stalk, rather than growing straight, bends back and forth. It’s crooked.

Viewed from above, the plant sends out branches in five equidistant directions, forming a five-pointed star. This shape is striking, but you have to look at the plant from above to see it. The same five-pointed star shape is made by the calyx around the berry. Belladonna calyces start out with their five fingers cupping the flower. They gradually fatten, toughen, and pull back into a star shape holding the fruit, gaining a blood-colored speckling in the process.

Magical Uses- Belladonna has a long association with women, witches, herb lore, and murder. It is another ingredient in the infamous Medieval witches’ flying ointment of folklore, which in some iterations contained Belladonna, Datura, Opium Poppies, Monkshood, Wolf’s Bane, and Hemlock.
Belladonna’s history in lore goes back much further, however. It was used in the worship of both Bellona (the Roman goddess of war) and Hecate (the Greek goddess of crossroads, magic, and poisonous plants) to invoke visions and prophecies.

The Deadly Nightshade’s magic is that of a Trickster. She recognizes that ambiguity is the essential nature of the witch, in a culture that craves certainty and imposes limits. She reminds us to accept the danger in life, and to keep an eye out for back-splatter in your magic, even if you strive to ‘harm none.’

Some people view Belladonna as the most problematic herb on the Poison Path that is part of the witch’s way. Even though Datura can be brutal, it does not arise out of meanness as much as from the plant’s ignorance of its own strength. The same cannot be said of belladonna. Not only does it have a lot higher alkaloid content than its weird sisters, it’s highly unpredictable. Material harvested from the same belladonna plant and used in the same quantity by the same person may not have the same effect. That makes it too dangerous to use in pharmacy. My opinion only. In fact, I’m still undecided whether I’ll include it in my garden, at least this first year. I’m posting the planting info for you below, so you can make your own decision.

In the Garden – Soak seeds for two weeks in cold water kelp “tea” in the fridge, changing the water daily. Then sow in typical planning medium, barely covering the seed. Seeds should germinate in 2-4 weeks once they’re in soil. Seeds planted at the same time can be expected to germinate sporadically over several months. Seems to germinate best in a cool environment. 

Pot the seedlings once they have formed true leaves. Then transplant to a shaded area in the spring, once danger of frost has passed. Belladonna like soil that is “sweet”—that is, chalky or calcareous, so you may add some gardening and add plenty of organic matter lime to your soil. Composed leaves are great. Set seedling 18” apart. And ALWAYS wear gloves!

Next week is the last of the three “Weird Sisters,” Henbane, Mandrake, and a few other interesting natural poisons. Then…time to celebrate Beltane!

Until then, be safe and continue to wear your mask as you begin to venture out this spring.

Happy planting!

If you’ve read my first novel, Song of the Ancients, you will recall in the book that Nicholas poisoned Samantha with Aconite, or wolfs bane.

Researching that book launched my interest in poison plants. Since my husband and I have both been gardeners all our lives, this year I’m finally going to take that interest a step further: Plant a poison garden at our forest cabin.
I’ve been thinking about how to decorate the garden. We were gifted a length of black wrought-iron fencing a friend for their dog and no longer needed, which is tall enough to keep out curious critters and pets. 

And I’m collecting beat-up books to bury in the garden plot: old mystery novels that use poison in their plot. 

My Hecate statue will now reside there, along with some mementos of the Goddess Aradia, who is known to poison her enemies.

I’m repurposing some of my apothecary bottles and an old stool, painting it with runes and witchcraft symbols. Wind chimes, of course, at each corner. 

I haven’t decided on what other creatures to have frequent the area, but I’m sure there will be gargoyles and a dragon or two. If you have any suggestions, please let me know!

In other words, creating a poison garden need not be morbid. I’m going to have fun with it.

I’m growing all my plants from seedlings or seeds, starting them indoors under a grow light, and studying them as they mature so I can recognize each plant in its stages of growth.

Please keep in mind that these plants are potentially dangerous. Don’t ever handle them without gloves, keep them away from pets, wildlife and children, and never take them internally.  

In truth, many plants are toxic, and the difference between a poison, a medicine, and a narcotic is often only one of dosage. Digitalis, for example, in proper doses, represents one of our most useful and widely prescribed cardiac medicines. Yet, in higher doses it is a deadly poison. But let’s leave all treatment to the medical professionals. Always treat toxic plants will full respect. 

Because there is so much information on these plants, such varied uses and lore, I’m only going to present one or two plants at a time. So, let’s start with one of the three Weird Sister plants: Datura.

Datura Solanaceae family  (devil’s trumpet, jimsonweed, thornapple)

Datura is a  gothic garden plant with a capital G, part of a trio of plants known as the Weird Sisters of the witch’s garden—Datura, Henbane, Belladonna, with a side of Mandrake. These plants all contain the tropane alkaloids, which is why I’ve grouped them together.

Datura is a lovely flowering plant with large trumpet-shaped blooms that open upwards toward the sun. Color ranges from white to pinkish purple, and more rarely, red or yellow. It is often confused with brugmansia, which is commonly called angel’s trumpet. However the trumpet-shaped blooms of brugmansia hang down, while Datura blooms face up.

Hardy in zones 7-12. Full sun. Herbaceous annual or perennial. Flourishes in disturbed soil and requires little water. The Sacred Datura (Datura wrightii) can sprawl up to 15 feet wide.

Datura is found throughout most of North America and is common in the Southwest. It grows to 2-3’ and in spring produces striking six inch long trumpet-shaped blooms that close at night. The flowers are sweetly fragrant. It uses its scent to attract night-time pollinators like sphinx or hawk moths.

A datura’s fruit is about the size of a small egg, pale green, and covered in thorns.  When they ripen in the fall, these pods turn brown and split open, releasing seeds. The pods can be harvested just before they split, or you can put pantyhose around the seed pod to catch ripe seeds when the pod splits. Seeds are then dried and stored in an envelope or paper bag in a cool dry location until spring planting.

Datura contains several alkaloids classified as tropanes. They can cause symptoms such as headache, vomiting, coma and death if ingested, and all parts of the plant can cause skin irritations at the least.

Wear gloves and use safety precautions at all times, especially when handling the seeds, which contain the highest concentration of alkaloids.

Medical – Although the plant is used in Ayurvedic plant-based medicine, I am recommending against trying this on your own.

Poisonous Effects – Dry mouth, intense thirst, increased heart rate, blurred vision, loss of motor coordination, coma, and death by respiratory failure. Prolonged and repeated psychosis after ingestion.

Magical Uses – Shamanic. Visions, protection, breaking hexes, shape-shifting. Old-time flying ointment. The emptied fruit seed pod can be used as an imprisoning capsule for items related to the target of a binding spell, but stuffing it with hair or bits of thread from clothing.

 Datura is a strong hallucinogen than peyote, psilocybin, or LSD, but it’s also more toxic. What’s unique about the hallucinations caused by tropane alkaloids is that they often have ferocious and sinister content, featuring threatening creatures and frightening scenes, as well as feelings of doom and paranoia. It’s not unusual for people under their influence to believe they are being transformed into animals with claws and fur, which is interesting in the case of Datura, because it is utilized by wolf shamans.

Datura has long been connected to the worship of Shiva, the Indian goddess associated with the creative and destructive aspects of the universe. She is also a plant of Goddess Hecate and God Hades. The plant is often found in the Himalayas on altars to the gods of the mountains. It can also be used as a bridge for approaching some of the darker goddesses, Kali in particular.

It has been employed as a sacred hallucinogen in Mexico and the American Southwest, where it often grows wild on the roadside. The wolf shamans of the Huichol use either Peyote or Datura in their vision quests. Xolotl, the Aztec guide to the Underworld, is manifested as a black dog whose name is the Zapotec word for Datura. One of the symptoms to tropane alkaloids, the dilating of the pupils and subsequent ability to see better at night, is similar to the vision of wolves and coyotes. The Huichol wolf shamans use Datura only once, in a vision quest after a long five-year apprenticeship in shapeshifting to become a werewolf.

Datura is a sacred plant and should be treated as such. It is one of the substances used in traditional witchcraft and shamanic “Flying Ointments,” along with henbane, aconite and hemlock. It is believed that poisonous herbs like the above can sever the soul (the astral body) from the corporal body. Thus, it is able to fly into the astral world behind the world of external appearances.

Please do not buy these plants and concoct your own recipe without extensive study. Datura is incredibly powerful, magically speaking, and has a strong will. Some say she’s a plant that behaves exactly like a woman. She does what she wants when she wants. If you handle her with the utmost respect and care, and learn everything you can about her, she can become a powerful ally.

Next week I’ll introduce another of the three “Weird Sisters"—the beautiful Belladonna.

Until then, find a task you love and do it with vigor!
Blessed Be.

Under the blanket of Winter we were nestled, sleeping the sleep of the newborn, the sleep of the seed. All is contained within us—all future possibilities, all growth, all knowing. This is the time after the Great Dark, on the verge of the Bursting Forth.

Light grows. Shadows take form as the darkness recedes. Resting still in the cauldron of birth, we close two eyes and open our third. Our dream vision is active. We have enough light now to see.

Mother awakens! She sends forth shoots and leaves, whispering sweet desire, coaxing forth all who seek release from the bonds of our winter’s night. Like a bird in the eggshell, we’ve swelled to fill the space. Our old world grows tight, cramped. Time to peck our way out and claim the promise of spring.

How? First, notice and name what binds you. Name the prisons of circumstance, disillusionment, environmental crisis. Notice what feels stifled, blocked, and hopeless. Then circle together to turn it around.

Stirring in our seed sleep, we dream sweet dreams of who, what and how we will become. Think! What needs illumination within you? What desire needs only a bit more light to be seen clearly? What quality in you has dimmed and needs brightening?

Emerge from the broken shell of winter. Feel lightened, lifted, determined to leave the old world in shards behind you. Unbound, blessed and surging, retrieve the trust that comes with balance. Thrive in your new light!

Happy Ostara and Spring Equinox. 

I leave you with this poem, 
Words Unwritten

"No one else can speak the words on your lips.
Drench yourself in words unspoken.
Live your life with arms wife open.
Today is where your book begins.
The rest is still unwritten. "
​
  Natasha Bedingfield~

For the conclusion of my blogs on trees, let’s take a look at weird trees, trees that have unusual ways to help mankind, and of course, more of their witchy mythology.
​
Bay Laurel
The bay tree was sacred in Greek myth. The virginal nymph Daphne, pursued by the lustful god Apollo, chose virtue over pleasure and called to her father for help. Hearing her plea, he put her out of harm’s way by turning her into a laurel tree.

Frustrated Apollo decided that if Daphne couldn’t be his wife, he could at least possess the tree that she had become.

Laurel adorned his hair evermore, and since antiquity Apollo has been depicted with a laurel wreath. 

The tree is associated with purification, and returning Greek generals originally wore laurel to purify them of bloodshed. Over time their wreaths, and those of the Romans after them, became linked to victory and achievement. 

Cinchona (Quinine)
Now the national tree of Peru and Ecuador, Cinchona changed the course of world history. Its claim to fame is the effectiveness of its bark for treating malaria.

In the early seventeenth century, when Spanish colonists and Jesuit missionaries in Peru were first introduced to cinchona bark, there was no malaria in South America.

Historians suggest that cinchona was an indigenous medicine used to treat an unrelated fever, and that inspired desperate Europeans to make an incredibly lucky guess. In Europe, malaria was so rampant that it killed more than half of all Europeans who ventured into Africa and Asia. In the British settlement of Virginia, more people died from ’swamp fever’ than at the hands of the Native Americans. When they found that Cinchona bark could both cure and prevent the disease, its use spread quickly. 

The name ‘quinine’ came from the Quechaua language, quina-quina, the ‘bark of all barks.’ We now know that Cinchona bark contains a cocktail of alkaloid drugs that have the capability of making certain components of our blood poisonous to the malaria parasite. 

To disguise the bitter taste, gin, lemon and sugar were added to make it more palatable, resulting in the forerunner of today’s gin and tonic drink. Modern tonic water has more sugar and much less quinine—enough, though, to make it fluoresce pale blue under ultraviolet nightclub light.

Enough also for this author to drink tonic water for my foot and leg cramps.

Cypress
This tree is named after Cyparissus, a mythical figure whose father was friendly with the Greek god Apollo. Cyparissus accidently killed the god’s favorite stag.

Full of remorse, he begged that his grief would endure forever. Apollo transformed him into a cypress, its resinous sap representing his tears.

The cypress became the symbol of the immortal soul and eternal death, and an emblem of the underworld. Cypress is still widely planted in cemeteries. Garlands of cypress were placed about homes to indicate that those within were in mourning, and it was one of the woods traditionally used for funeral pyres and coffins. 

Dragon’s Blood
Endemic to the Yemeni island of Socotra, off the Horn of Africa, dragon’s blood trees have an eerie, prehistoric aspect. Their bizarre shape, like umbrellas blown inside-out, helps them to survive on the arid, thin soil that covers the island’s granite mountains.

Dracaena’s otherworldliness is heightened by the teardrops of translucent blood-red resin that ooze from its wounded limbs. Local residents encourage the flow by carefully incising the bark and returning a year later to collect droplets and small chunks of resin. Heated, dried and formed into small slabs, it has the creepy, powdery quality of dried blood.

The origin of the name came from a Hindu myth, repeated by Pliny the Elder, involving an elephant and a dragon, in which the dragon gulped the elephant’s blood before getting squished, spilling the blood of both animals. The scientific name Dracena derives from the Greek for female dragon, so the resin is called ‘dragon’s blood.’ 

  Pomegranate                        
Well known for her descent into the Underworld, Persephone eats a pomegranate that keeps her tied to Hades. Why does she happily stay and return every year?

Some tellers of the story of Persephone say that eating the pomegranate seeds damned her to be trapped below the Earth. Others say that she gained so much knowledge, that the Underworld was no longer seen as a scary place, but as a provider of balance.

Either way, pomegranates are deliciously magical.  Their fruit is filled with seeds, not just five or six or even ten or twenty, but 840 seeds. Because of this, pomegranate’s fertility magic is about diversity. Pomegranate teaches us to cast our seeds far and wide, to send out many branches, to find strength in a diverse or wide array of creative pursuits. 

And the pomegranate flowers are a sight to behold, bursting forth in spectacular shades of scarlet and crimson.

Pomegranates feature in writing from ancient Egypt and Greece, in the Old Testament and Talmud, and in the Qur’an. They also have many health benefits. Traditional uses for diarrhea, dysentery and intestinal parasites are long established, and the fruit contains antioxidants that are beneficial, including anti-cancer and anti-aging claims.

A fall-winter fruit, pomegranates begin to ripen in September, just in time to adorn High Holiday tables, providing both beautiful decoration and important symbolism. Perhaps this year, you will incorporate the meaningful blessing for magical pomegranates into your fall and winter celebrations.  

Redwood
Native to the foggy hills of the Pacific North West, the colossal coastal redwoods are the world’s highest trees, and among its oldest. Gazing upwards, one might wonder whether there’s any limit to high a tree can grow. Turns out, there is.

Historically, the world’s tallest individual redwoods all reached just a little more than 120 meters (394 feet). And the same is true of the very tallest specimens of other giant tree species. To understand why, we must understand water, and how it reaches a tree’s top.

As with any plant, most of the solid matter of a tree is constructed (synthesized) using two simple ingredients: carbon dioxide and water. It possibly the most important chemical reaction on Earth, and it’s powered by sunlight, hence its name, photosynthesis. Every leaf has hundreds of tiny pores, which allow carbon dioxide from the surrounding air to enter. The only way that trees can draw water up from the roots to the top of the tree is if some of that water evaporates through the leaf pores.

As individual cells near the surface of the leaf dry out, they such water from the next wettest cell below, then the next and the next, until the pull reaches a vein in the leaf and sucks on the tiny tubes, perhaps just a thirtieth of a millimeter across, carrying water all the way of through the woody part of the tree.

The theoretical limit to the height that columns of water inside trees can be lifted is about 120 meters. Any taller and gravity would overpower the cohesion between water molecules and the top of the tree would dehydrate and die. Turns out, trees can’t grow any taller because of fundamental laws of physics.

Sugar Maple
The sugar maple is found in the Midwest states to Vermont and Quebec, Ontario. It’s known for its delectable pancake-smothering syrup; its timber, solid enough for baseball bats; and its gorgeous show of autumn color. With her smooth bark and evenly distributed branches, she makes a perfect tree for climbing. From the canopy above, I would hide in my grandmother’s maple tree overlooking the street, and watch the life flow by her house.

Those glorious orange and red colors are always there, but masked by the tree’s green chlorophyll. In autumn, when the trees begin to slow down, they recycle anything that could be useful the next year. As chlorophyll is broken down and reabsorbed, the leaves’ green coloring disappears, leaves the oranges, reds and yellows unobscured.

Unfortunately, sugar maples has been in decline due to logging. They are slow growing, and faster growing trees, like birch, will often grow in their places after a forest is logged.
As maple was one of the only sources of sugar for the American Native peoples, it was seen as a gift from the Creator. Her sap typically runs between Imbolc and spring equinox, and her leaves brighten between fall equinox and Samhain.

To keep the maples producing sap, the Native Americans held maple ceremonies to ensure a good harvest, with offerings of tobacco. When walking sticks are made of maple, it is said to represent gentleness. Ruled by Jupiter, the maple tree is used for love and wands. I think the fact that the two more prominent events of the Maple occur around the equinoxes is not coincidence, and I see the Maple as a tree of balance, a tree that sits between the worlds.

Fortingall Yew in Glen Lyon is thought to be 4,000 year old
​
Yew
At the approximate center of Scotland grows what is Scotland’s—and possibly Europe’s—oldest tree. Estimates suggest the Fortingall yew in Glen Lyon could be anything from 2,000-9,000 years old. A popular legend relates how Pontius Pilate was born under this tree or played as a child. This suggest that it was already a landmark over 2,000 years ago.

Rings cannot be counted and carbon dating is tough on most yews because their ancient hearts rot and disappear. One of the tree’s mystical qualities is its ability to regenerate, producing fresh shoots from apparently “dead” wood. Drooping branches of old yew trees can root and form new trunks where they touch the ground.

Thus the yew came to symbolize death and resurrection in Celtic culture. Themes of death and resurrection for the yew shows up throughout history. People buried yew shoots with the deceased, and used boughs of yew as “Palms” in church at Easter. Yew wood and branches are laid on graves as a reminder to the departed spirit that death is only a pause in life before rebirth.

In fact, very old specimens of yew trees are now rate outside of church grounds. No other type of ancient tree occurs so frequently around churches and cemeteries.

The Celts were surely familiar with the toxicity of the tree’s needles. And Shakespeare had Macbeth concoct a poisonous brew. The deadly rink included, “slips of yew, silvered in the moon’s eclipse.”

The hard, close-grained wood was used for medieval longbows. Archers used these to devastating effect during the Hundred Years War, as well as at the Scots’ battle at Bannockburn in 1314.

In interpretations of Norse cosmology, the tree Yggdrasil traditionally been interpreted as a giant ash tree. Some scholars now believe that the tree is most likely a European yew.
 
Next week we will discuss ‘baneful’ plants, and my own poison garden planting plans.

Until then, be safe and Blessed Be!

Trees are one of humanity’s most constant and most varied companions. Their stories are romantic, surprising and sometimes very strange indeed. As one who studies the religions of Nature, I’ve spent a lot of time studying and communing with trees.
​
I recently read a book titled “Around the World in 80 Trees” by Jonathan Drori. From seemingly familiar species like the elm and beech, to the sacred Bo and poisonous lacquer, this author opened my eyes to new trees worldwide. 

Because I have so much information to share, I’m starting with the 13 woods of the Ogham Celtic tree calendar.

According to author Robert Graves (The White Goddess), Ogham (OH-am) is an ancient alphabet used to write Old Irish and other Brythonic/Brittonic languages (such as Pictish and Welsh). Each letter is assigned a tree or plant name. Oghams were used by Neopagans as divination tools. The symbols were written on sticks and thrown on the ground, studying the symbolism of where they fell. 

The Wiccan Rede includes these lines:
“Nine woods in the cauldron go,
burn them quick a' burn them slow….”

Where do the nine types of wood come from? They are actually the first nine woods on the Ogham Celtic tree calendar, an ancient pagan calendar that has 13 lunar cycles to it.
So let's take a closer look at these sacred trees: Where they fall on the calendar and why are they important to witches?
​
Find your birth wood on the list and include a small amount of bark, fruit or flower in your incense, charm or healing magic. Keep a little close to you and carry it in time of significance, or add some to the decoration of your home. 

​When a forested area burns, birch is the first tree to grow back, and thus is associated with rebirth and regeneration, as well as healing and protection. Because birch often grows perfectly straight, it was often used as a Maypole at Beltane celebrations. If you happen to find birch bark lying on the forest floor, use it to write on in spellwork. You can also use birch branches to craft your own besom. It’s perfect to use in rituals related to renewal, purification, fresh starts and new beginnings. Birch is an incredibly useful tree—nearly every part of it is edible, and its sap was an important source of sugar to Native Americans. The inner bark provides a pain reliever, and the leaves are used to treat arthritis. Its bark was used from everything from paper to canoe hulls, and axe handles are made from birth.

Trees often develop symbiotic relationships with mycorrhizal fungi, which intermingle with their roots and extend beyond them in a huge web of minutely thin filaments. These networks are especially good at extracting nutrients from the soil, which they pass on in an easily digestible form. Individual tree species cooperate with particular fungi. The Birch’s life partner is Amanita muscaria, the fly agaric, whose fruiting bodies (the parts we see above ground) are scarlet with white sprinkles—the archetypal toadstools of every fairy tale. Fly agarics contain a cocktail of mind-bending hallucinogens around which all manner of shamanistic rituals have evolved, particularly among Siberian tribes and the Saami people of northern Finland and Sweden. The fly agaric’s psychoactive ingredients are not completely broken down in the body, but excreted. This offers possibility of intoxication by drinking the pre-drugged urine of others.
​
Birch is the first month in the Celtic tree calendar, following the Winter Solstice.

ROWAN (luis=l)
21 Jan-17 Feb
​
Rowan is a tree of power, causing life and magic to flower.” ~Wiccan Rede

The Rowan (also called Mountain Ash and ‘Witchwood’) is long known for aid and protection against enchantment. It is reputed to stop the dead from rising, and generally to protect the home. A protector against evil, its red berries are a deterrent from the devil, so it is often planted next to a house (the berries often have the shape of a tiny pentagram on them). 

Place rowan branches around your doors and windows to keep the Fae from intruding. Or craft a protective talisman by tying two rowan twigs together in the shape of an X, wrapping them together at the cross with red thread. This traditional Scottish charm was said to protect not only the person carrying it, but those around them as well.

The Rowan has another protection that could be considered magical. Its unripe berries contain acid, which has antifungal properties, while being harmless to people. Synthetic sorbic acid and its derivatives are widely used in the food industry as preservatives, guarding us from mold and infections.
Rowan is associated with the Celtic hearth goddess Brigid. Walking sticks of rowan as used to protect the user from spirits of the woods. It’s also associated with astral travel, personal power and success. 

In Norse lore, Odin hung from Yggdrasil, the World Tree, for nine days and nights so that he might be granted wisdom. Yggdrasil was an ash tree, and since the time of Odin’s ordeal, the ash has often been associated with divination and knowledge. In some Celtic legends, it is also seen as a tree sacred to the God Lugh, who is celebrated at Lughnasadh.

The Ash tree is surrounded by nine worlds, according to the Norse. It is said to connect the Underworld to Heaven with it branches and roots.

ALDER (fearn=f)
 18 March-14 April

On the surface, there is little to distinguish the alder. But looks are deceiving. Alder loves water and grows best along riverbanks and in sodden places. As timber, alder wood maintains its special relationship with water. In the 12th century.

The Alder, a shrub or tree of the birch family has special implications in Celtic tradition. Alders are especially associated with The Celtic God Bran. At Cat Goddeu, 'The Battle of the Trees', Gwydion guessed Bran's name from the alder twigs in his hand. The answer to an old Taliesin riddle 'Why is the alder purple?' is 'Because Bran wore purple'. Bran's alder may be a symbol of resurrection. 

In Ireland the alder was regarded with awe apparently because when cut the wood turns from white to red. At one time the felling of an alder was punishable, and it is still avoided. The alder was thought to have power of divination, especially in the diagnosing of diseases.
​ Alder might be used in the fé, a rod for measuring corpses and graves in pre-Christian Ireland. The letter F, third consonant in the ogham alphabet, was named after the alder. This wood is lumped together with Birch in the Wiccan Rede, but I separated them for clarification if you’re referencing the Ogham Tree Calendar as we go.

WILLOW  (saille=s) 
15 April-12 May

“Willows at the waterside stand
Ready to help us to the Summerland.” ~Wiccan Rede

A Willow planted near your home will help ward away danger, particularly the type that stems from natural disaster such as flooding or storms. But be careful of your underground pipes, they are extremely invasive growers.

They offer protection, and are often found planted near cemeteries. Baskets and even beehives were constructed with this bendable, flexible wood. Willow is associated with moon magic, enchantment, love and peace. It indicates cycles, rhythms and the ebb and flow of life. The tree bark contains Salicin, which is used in the treatment of rheumatic fever and various damp diseases.

Willow groves are considered so magical that priests, priestesses and all types of artisans sat among these trees to gain inspiration, eloquence and prophecies. For a wish to be granted, as permission of the willow by explaining your desire. Select a pliable shoot and tie a loose knot in it while saying your wish. When the wish is fulfilled, return and untie the knot. Remember to thank the willow and leave a gift.

HAWTHORN (huath=h)
 13 May-9 June

“Hawthorn is burned to purify,
And to draw faerie to your eye.”
~Wiccan Rede

Traditionally, no one cuts the lone Hawthorn tree as this is the meeting place of fairies. Indeed, roads have been diverted to avoid cutting one down. Hawthorn is associated with magic related to masculine power, business decisions, and making professional connections.

This prickly-thorned tree is also associated with fertility and sexuality. Place a thorn under your mattress if you’d like to conceive a child. Or tie a thorn with a red ribbon and use it as a protective amulet under a baby’s crib.

Hawthorn wood provides the hottest fire known and wands with the greatest power. 

OAK (duir=d)
10 June -7 July

“Oak in the forest towers with might,
In the fire it brings the God's insight.” ~Wiccan Rede

The might oak is strong and often towers over its neighbors. The Oak King rules over the summer months. Oak is one of the tree trees sacred to the Druids (Oak, Ash and Thorn). Where all three trees grow together, it is said that fairies live. 

The Celts called this month Duir, which some scholars believe to mean “door,” the root work of “Druid.” In fact, oak has been considered sacred by just about every culture that has encountered the tree, but it was held in particular esteem by the Norse and Celts because of its size, longevity, and nutritious acorns. The tree is associated with Gods of thunder and lightning, probably because this tall tree is often hit by lightning during storms. 

HOLLY (tinne=t)
8 June-4 Aug

There’s something deeply magical and cheerful about the glistening green holly leaves, so perfect for showing off the bright red berries. By the way, holly is dioecious and only the female plant has berries, and both male and female need to be nearby for cross-pollination. To find out the sex of a holly plant you have to wait until the plant begins to flower, around 4-12 years.

Holly’s hard, close-grained wood was used to make chess pieces and tool handle. Folklore suggested that the wood had an affinity for control, especially of horses, and whips for ploughmen and horse-drawn coaches were made from Holly. It was also once one of the traditional woods for Great Highland bagpipes.

The richest traditions are holly’s use in Yule wreaths and decorations. Adopted as a symbol of Christ’s crown of thorns, the crimson berries became a symbol of his blood and the evergreen a metaphor for life after death. In pre-Victorian times, Christmas trees meant holly bushes, and even the original yule log was holly. But the use of holly goes back much further than Christianity. Pagan Druids believed that leaves of holly were sacred and wore it in their hair for protection.

In Celtic mythology, the Holly King was said to rule over half of the year from summer to the Winter Solstice. Then the Oak King defeated the Holly King to rule until the Summer Solstice again.

Holly is known for protection from lightning strikes and so were planted near houses. In European mythology, holly is associated with thunder gods Thor and Taranis. We now know that the spines on holly leaves can act as miniature lightning conductors, protecting the tree and nearby objects. Modern science has caught up with superstitious lore!

HAZEL (coll=c)
 5 Aug-1 Sept

“Hazel - the tree of wisdom and learning
Adds its strength to the bright fire burning.” ~Wiccan Rede

Hazel, the Tree of Immortal Wisdom helps with magic of manifestation, spirit contact, divination, dreams, and inspiration. In Celtic tradition, the Salmon of Knowledge is said to eat the 9 nuts of poetic wisdom dropped into its sacred pool from the hazel tree growing beside it.

In Europe and North America, Hazel is commonly used for ‘water-witching’—the art of dowsing for water using a forked stick. Wands made from this wood symbolize white magic and healing. This tree is a sign that you need to look for your own path, despite the stress, time and energy required. 

Next week, I’ll continue with some other witchy and weird trees around the world, including many more from Drori’s book.