HAWTHORN, SACRED TREE

He lives in me, and I live in him. Before I knew it, I already felt it. He lives near the beech forests, where he's happy, where he feels at home. Don't be fooled by his delicate flowers, of short and fleeting life. Don't be fooled by his small fruits, they are as powerful as the fire that runs through his body. Hawthorn, also called May bush or white hawthorn, corresponds to the letter Uath (huathe) of the Ogham alphabet. His botanical name means 'strength, thorn and sharp'. He's a shrub linked to bad luck and witches, in fact there's a legend that says that hawthorns are witches who one day became shrubs. In England, witches and wizards have always danced near a hawthorn tree. Romans placed hawthorn in babies' cradles to protect them. Cardea, the White Goddess, goddess of doors and thresholds, casts spells with hawthorn. In Ireland, the destruction of a hawthorn tree is severely punished. His flowers, fruits and leaves are used as relaxants, sedatives, diuretics and are hypotensive. His wood is as hard as oak and when burning it produces a lot of heat. Since ancient times he has been used to mark boundaries, and if he grows next to an oak and an ash tree the beings of the sidhe are close by. The hawthorn represents fertility, protection, chastity and fishing. The Battle of the Trees says "Strong warlords were the blackthorn with its noxious fruit, the unloved hawthorn of like nature..." His planet is Mars, his element fire, his animal the wolf and his rune Othala. Othala and the wolf...tradition, legacy, fidelity, family and pack.... all is there, before your eyes. The hawthorn tree guards and protects it, now all you have to do is close your eyes and "see."

#hawthorn#othala#wolftotem#wolfsoul#folkmedicine#ancientroots#battleoftrees#whitegoddess#oghamalphabet#plantwisdom#plantwitch#forestwitch#herbalmedicine#healingforest#medicinaherbal#espino#medicinaancestral#ancientmedicine#magicplants#seiðr#völva#tgao6#nwmb