Lore - Trees
Apple
If the sun could be seen shining through the branches of an Apple tree on
December 25th - Christmas Day, then the owner of the tree, if a farmer, would
reap a healthy crop the following summer. If the farmer wanted to ensure that
this would happen he would have put a piece of toast in the fork of the tree, or
the largest Apple tree in the orchard.
Wassailing is a ceremony held in areas where cider was made, such as Somerset
and the West Country of England. Celebrations focused on giving thanks to the
wood spirits and all spirits that safeguarded the crop, culminating in songs and
verses being chanted whilst the remaining cider was thrown over the trees.
Apple twigs make good divining rods (as good as any others that is).
Ash
In Dorset, the number of leaflets on an Ash leaf could be used to predict the
romantic future for girls.
An even Ash leaf in my hand
The first I meet shall be my man
The even Ash leaf in my bosom
The next I meet shall be my husband
Placing ash berries in a cradle prevents the child from being traded for a
changeling.
It is an old belief that tools with handles made of ash enable more work
to be done than by tools with handles made of other kinds of wood.
"Ash courts the flash." Ash trees were believed at attract
lightning. Like the oak, they were used in European fire and rain-making
ceremonies.
It was believed that so much hostility exists between adders and ash trees
that if an adder is placed in a circle of ash leaves broken only by fire, it
would go through the fire to escape.
Irish emigrants to America carried pieces of ash with them because its
wood was a charm against drowning.
In England naked children were passed through cleft pollard ashes before
sunrise as a cure for rupture.
A Yule log of ash is said to ensure the future prosperity of the family.
Aspen
Aspen is known as the "shivering tree" as the leaves are thought
to continuously tremble. There are many legends associated with aspens and how
they came to tremble.
One is that Christ's cross was made from the wood of the Aspen tree, the
tree was so filled with grief and remorse at being connected with the
Crucifixion that it has trembled ever since.
A similar legend from Germany is that the Holy Family were walking in a
forest and all the trees bowed reverently. The only tree that didn't was the
Aspen, the Holy Child cursed the tree, and the leaves began to tremble and does
so to this day.
Traditional Russian Proverb
'There is an accursed tree
which trembles without even a breath of wind.'
The Aspen has also been thought to help cure fevers. You need to take nail
clippings from the sick person and place them in a hole cut in the trunk. The
hole should then be covered again to seal the tree.
Beech
Amongst other light shiny barked trees the beech has always been a favourite of
lovers shown by the many carvings of names or symbols on the bark.
Diviners in search of water hidden underground are known to often use forked
branches taken from the Beech tree traditionally called 'Wishing Rods'
Birch
Birch trees are the favourite trees of mythical creatures which inhabited
Russian Forests known as "Forest Devils" or "Genii of the
Forest".
These beasts were said to view the world from the top of the trees. Able to
transform their shape at will, the same height as trees when in the forest and
as small as the smallest blade of grass when on open land. They may be made to
appear by cutting Birch branches and placing them in a circle with the points
towards the centre.
Placing a branch of the Birch tree above the front entrance to a property was
thought to provide protection from any evil spirits and misfortune.
The bark of the Birch tree was traditionally used in ancient times for writing
as it is extremely durable.
Cherry
Repeat this short rhyme when counting the number of Cherry stones you have
after a meal and you will know if and when you are to marry.
1. 'This year,
2. Next year,
3. Sometime,
4. Never.'...back to 1
The owner of a Cherry tree could be sure of having a rich crop of fruit if
the first cherry to ripen was eaten by a woman who recently gave birth to her
first child.
Elder
It was a British belief that placing a child in an elder-wood cradle could
cause it to be pinched black and blue by fairies.
Serves them right if you ask me, any-one who makes any kind of furniture using
light-weight, brittle, rot-prone elder wood needs something to make them change
their ways.
Elder flowers were feared - Fen people though that if the scent was
inhaled for long, a deep coma and then death would follow.
Branches of elder were buried with the dead to protect them from evil
spirits.
Elder-wood was used for the whip handles of hearse drivers.
The English believed that burning elder logs brought the devil into the
house.
The elder is associated with witches, who are said to sometimes disguise
themselves as elder trees.
It is said to be unlucky to break off an elder twig. One was supposed to
ask permission of the elder tree or bush before pruning it, and to spit three
times before cutting.
Hawthorn
A tree widely seen as one that brings good luck to the owner and
prosperity to the land where it stands.
The 'Glastonbury Thorn' is a type of Hawthorn found in England (UK) and in
some parts of Palestine. The tree is said to have been brought by Joseph
Arimathea on a visit to England. Wherever Joseph traveled spreading the word of
God, he carried a staff which he had acquired in Palestine. Legend tells that he
visited the Isle of Avalon, Somerset (UK), which at one time was surrounded by
water. Tired from traveling he sought rest and sat down upon "Weary-all
Hill" now called "Worral Hill". Joseph stuck the staff into the
ground, and legend says that it took root and a tree grew. A church was erected
on the spot, now the site of 'Glastonbury Abbey'. The tree was seen as sacred
and was reputed to only blossom on Christmas Day.
The flowers were highly prized and at one time exported around the world.
It is believed that the Hawthorn had two trunks, but one was cut down. The
perpetrator was revenged according to legend having one of his eyes taken out by
the thorns in the process.
'He was well serv'd for his blind Zeale, who going to cut doune an ancient white
Hauthorne-tree, which, because she budded before others, might be an occasion of
Superstition, had some of the prickles flew into his eye, and made him
Monocular.'
James Howell, 'Dodona's Grove' 1644
Cuttings are said to have been taken around Britain which still flower at
Christmas. Although Hawthorn Trees can still be found in the abbey these are
said to be cuttings of the tree as it believed to have been cut down during the
English Civil War (the reign of King Charles II).
The flowering of the Hawthorn tree is a sure sign that winter is over and
spring is underway, hence the tree has been viewed as an indicator of changes in
the seasons or a weather omen. It is known simply as "May" in some
parts of England as this is the month that it flowers.
The Hawthorn in ancient mythology was created from lightning.
Germans traditionally used wood of the Hawthorn in funeral pyres as it was
thought to assist the souls of the dead in ascension.
Hazel
Hazel can be used to decorate the hair with individual twigs or by making a
"Wishing Cap". This is custom followed in many countries. If a person
made a wish whilst wearing a wishing cap the wish would be fulfilled.
The seeds of the hazel tree Hazel nuts, were also believed to possess mystical
powers and could be used in divining. The nut is believed to be at its strongest
on Halloween night, which was also called 'Nutcrack Night' in England. Lovers
were recommended to use this to gain foresight into the relationship.
'Two hazel nuts I threw into the flame,
And to each nut I gave a sweetheart's name.
This, with the loudest bounce me sore amazed,
That, with a flame of brightest colour blazed.
As blazed the nut, so may thy passion grow,
For 'twas thy nut that did so brightly glow.'
Gray
Maple
Passing a young child through the branches of this tree has traditionally
thought to encourage good health and a long life for the child.
According to Alsatian folklore, placing branches of the Maple in a house would
ensure protection against bats who would then not dare enter. It would also
ensure that any nesting storks were safe against disturbance or even the chicks
being killed whilst still in their shells.
Oak Trees.
Can any other plant or tree have so many myths and legends surrounding it? not
to mention the very real part that this tree had to play in England's role in
world history. For hundreds of years oaks provided the building material for her
naval warships, the source of England's "Heart of Oak"
Here are a few of the less weird ones.
Because of its deep roots the oak symbolizes a god whose law extends to
heaven, earth, and the underworld.
The oak is said to be sacred to: Allah - Jehovah - Zeus - Jupiter - Thor -
Mars - the Dagda - Hercules - Hou, the oak god of Guernsey - Janicot, the Basque
oak god - El, the Middle Eastern oak god - Jove - Picus - Cernunnos - Herne the
Hunter - Taranis - Teutates - Belenos - Donar / Dunar / Thunar - Perkunas -
Perun - Taraa - Baldur - Viribius - Janus. It is also the tree of the wild
ox-god.
The image of Jupiter at the Capitol in Rome was originally an oak tree.
Mary was worshiped as Our Lady of the Oak in Anjou, France. She appeared
to shepherd children in Portugal as Our Lady of Fatima, crowned in roses and
hovering over an oak tree.
The oak is sacred to all thunder and lightning gods. Hercules attracted
thunderstorms with sympathetic magic, by rattling an oak club in a hollow oak,
or by stirring a pool with an oak branch. Clubs were made of oak in ancient
Europe. Woodpeckers were thought to be knocking for rain when they tapped on oak
trunks. Black animals were sacrificed to the thunder god for rain. Oaks were
believed to court the lightning flash. Old English saying:
Beware of an oak
It draws the stroke.
Rome awarded oak leaves to military heroes.
Europe
Primitive Europeans believed that oak fire strengthened the sun.
Sacrifices were made to sacred oaks in Europe until well into the Middle Ages.
It was a crime to fell an oak tree in pagan Ireland. Kildare, where the
nuns of St. Brigit maintained the sacred fire, means Shrine of the Oak.
In British folklore ancient, hollow trees (called bull oaks in England,
bell oaks in Scotland and Ireland) are trees that stood in old sacred groves.
They were often believed to be the home of spirits, elves, fairies or demons.
You were supposed to turn your coat or cloak inside out to neutralize their
magic:
Turn your cloaks
For fairy folks are in old oaks.
Their spirits were believed to enter houses through the knotholes in oak
timbers.
Druids stood their sacred circles of stones under the shadow of a
spreading oak or in a grove of oak trees. Pliny says that the Druids believed
that anything found growing on an oak tree had been sent from heaven, a sign
that the god had chosen the tree and made it sacred. Mistletoe found on oaks was
held especially sacred. The Druids cut it each year with a golden sickle in a
ritual emasculation of the sacred oak, the royal sun disc. Mistletoe does not
usually grow on oaks, so it is likely that they grafted it. They associated the
oak with heavenly fire. An oak tree had to be more than 30 years old before
Druids would harvest mistletoe from it.
Lithuanians offered sacrifices to oak trees for plentiful crops.
Oak trees in Siberian groves were swathed in cloth and made offerings of
kettles, reindeer hides, spoons and other valuable household articles. Orthodox
Christians in Russia worshiped a holy oak until the 1870's. They fixed candles
to its trunk and branches and prayed: "Holy oak hallelujah, pray for us.
"
Acorns
Acorns were the Celtic symbol for Zeus, the Roman symbol of Jupiter. To
Greeks and Romans the cupped acorn represented the penis glans (ooh err
missus!)
Magic
Toothaches were cured in the 18th century by driving a nail into the tooth
or gum until it bled, then driving the nail into an oak tree.
Rowan
The Welsh have traditionally considered the Rowan to be a sacred tree. It
is planted in churchyards to protect and act as a warning to negative forces and
evil spirits.
Coffins were rested under a Rowan tree on the way to the funeral rather
than leave it open and vulnerable to approaches by such forces.
The mystic properties of the Rowan tree have been feared by
witches.
Ancient Song : 'Laidley Worm of Spindleton's Heuglis'
Their spells were vain, the boys returned
To the Queen in sorrowful mood;
Crying that 'Witches have no power
Where there is Rowan-tree wood.
Yew
Since ancient times the Yew has been viewed as a protector of the dead.
As an evergreen it represents everlasting life and the Yew tree is widely
planted in graveyards across Europe.
Some people even believed that the removal or cutting down of the tree
would result in misfortune and dire consequences.
Like the oak, the Yew has a particular part to play in the history of
Great Britain as its wood was used to make longbows, used in particular by Welsh
archers to end the supremacy of the knight in the middle ages and secure
victories over the French.