Celtic Trees ~ Hawthorn

Merry Meet,

Part of my Year and a Day schedule is to create Celtic Tree Year entries for my Book of Shadows.  So, here I am sharing my entry for Hawthorn, as I received a Hawthorn wand for Yule and I wanted to have the information at hand to use it.
 

Month of Hawthorn

The Celtic Year

13th May – 9th June

The Latin Names: Over 1,000 species of Crataegus

Crataegus Monogyna    Crataegus Biflora
(Common Hawthorn)    (Glastonbury Thorn)

Crataegus Sanguinea     Crataegus Brachyacantha
(Red Hawthorn)            (Blueberry Hawthorn)

Celtic Names: Sceach
Folk and Common: May Bush, May Tree, Whitethorn, May blossom, Hagthorn, Mayflower, Tree of Chastity
Parts Used: Flowers, Fruit, Wood, Leaves, Bark

Divine Association

Gods: Manannan Mac Lír, Lír, Nechtan, Hera.

Goddess: Áine, Brigit, Grian, Olwen, Cardea.

Symbolism

Gender: Masculine

Element: Fire

Celtic Month: May

Astrology: Mars, Venus

Magical Properties

Fertility:
Hawthorn has long been used to increase fertility. Because of this power it is incorporated into weddings, especially those performed in the spring. Call on the Goddess Áine or the Goddess Brigit while holding a hawthorn branch or wand of hawthorn to increase fertility.

Chastity:
The leaves, curiously enough, are also used to enforce or maintain chastity or celibacy. The leaves are placed beneath the mattress or around the bedroom for this purpose.

Fishing Magic:
Fishermen should carry some hawthorn and call on the Gods Manannan and Lír if fishing at sea, or Nechtan if fishing inland.

Happiness
Worn or carried it promotes happiness in the troubled, depressed, or sad.  Call on the Goddess Grian to bring some sunshine and happiness into your life.

Protection:
Hawthorn protects against lightning, and in the house in which it resides, no evil ghosts may enter. It is also powerful for protecting against damage to the house from storms. In the past, most witches’ gardens contained at least one Hawthorn hedge.
Many hawthorn spells and talismans survived throughout the Middle Ages and beyond, demonstrating how much it’s protective force was valued. Spiritual cleansing, expressed in texts from c.1500BCE, asked the tree to “Pluck any evil, impurity or wrath of the Gods from this initiate, who walks through the gate [of you hedge]”. The reference to the “gate” indicates the use of hawthorn-enclosures in Ancient Anatolia (Modern Turkey).

Purification:
The overall purity that humans struggle for is symbolised in the overflowing abundance of the white blossom flowers (which also explains why the hawthorn is sometimes called the whitethorn).

Herbal Usage

Cardiac, Vasodilator:
The hawthorn is an important remedy for heart disorders, the berries and blossom normalise blood pressure. Hawthorn can strengthen the heart beat white slowing the pulse by increasing blood flow, which also optimises the body’s energy supply. Its traditional use as a quick-acting tonic, to counteract fainting from low bloody pressure, supports recent research showing positive effects on the heart and circulation in less than a minute.

A tea – made from hawthorn blossom - or tincture – of the berries – makes a great daily tonic for the elderly suffering with weak hearts or poor circulation. Hawthorn also affects emotional and spiritual levels of the heart, helping with acceptance and love. The essence of the tree cleanses the heart of negativity and stimulates love and forgiveness.

Cholesterol:

The Hawthorn herb was found in clinical trials to increase the body’s ability to break down and remove cholesterol. Specifically, this herb has the power to cleanse the blood of LDL.

Atherosclerosis:

When fat and plaque build up and harden on artery walls, the arteries can become blocked. This ailment is known as atherosclerosis. The Hawthorn herb has the ability to dissolve and remove plaque build-up in the arteries.

Antioxidants:

The Hawthorn herb has been successful in fighting oxidation and aging because the pigments in the berries and flowers contain tons of Vitamin C.

Arthritis or Gout:

The joint pain caused by arthritis can be alleviated by Hawthorn extracts because the herb helps the body retain more protein and collagen to support joints and allow joints to move with ease. Arthritis or gout causes the inflamed joints to generally lose collagen and protein. Hawthorn has been used to treat gout since the 1300s.

Insomnia:

The Hawthorn Herb is a natural tranquilizer and can help one relax or fall asleep. To treat insomnia, infuse hot water with dried Hawthorn leaves.

Water Retention:

The herb is a diuretic that can rid the body of excess water and even flush out kidney stones.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome:

Many herbalists recommend boiling dried Hawthorne berries in hot water to make a tea that relieves irritable bowels and other digestive problems, like diarrhoea.

Sore Throats:

A little known use of the Hawthorn herb is to drink a tea of Hawthorn leaves and berries to cure sore throats. The tea is an astringent which heals raw and sore areas and stops bleeding.

More Information

Hawthorn trees standing alone should be avoided.  Take parts only from trees that are part of boundary hedges.

The Hawthorn is sacred to the faeries, and is part of the faery-tree triad of Ireland and Britain: 'Oak, Ash and Thorn,' and where all three trees grow together it is said that one may see faeries.

The hawthorn has always been seen as the tree of the White Goddess, the legend of the Welsh Goddess, Olwen, “She of the White Track”, once walked the empty universe and her white track of hawthorn petals became the Milky Way.

On a Hawthorn Tree

Oh! Come to see me, when the soft warm May
Bids all my boughs their gay embroidery wear,
In my bright season's transitory day,
While my young perfume loads the enamoured air.

Oh, come to see me, when the sky is blue,
And backs my spangles with an azure ground.
While the thick ivy bosses clustering through,
See their dark tufts with silvery circlets crowned.

Then be the Spring in all its pomp arrayed,
The lilac's blossom, the laburnum's blaze,
Nature hath reared beyond this Hawthorn glade
No fairer alter to her Maker's praise.

George W.F. Howard
Earl of Carlisle 1802-1864

If you have Hawthorn knowledge, please share!

☮ ❤ & ツ

Blessed Be

SRM

☽✪☾