Celtic Mythology
The hazel might be said to be the quintessential Celtic tree because of its legendary position at the heart of the Otherworld. Here, nine magic hazel-trees hang over the Well of Wisdom and drop their purple nuts into the water. In some accounts, the hazel-nuts cause bubbles of ‘mystic inspiration’ to form on the surface of the streams that flow down from the well; in others, the Salmon of Knowledge and Inspiration eat the nuts and send the husks floating downstream; those that eat the nuts (or the salmon) gain poetic and prophetic powers.
Why choose Druidry?
You might be looking for a course that reflects the teachings of the ancient Druids, you might be searching for a way to develop a deeper and more meaningful relationship with the Spirits of the Land and your ancestors. How about a driving need to open up your inner creativity – to learn to see the world through the eyes of a poet? Or are you being pulled to learn the arts of seership or divination?
The OBOD course takes its inspiration from the ancient Druids, but for it to be of value to us today, Druidry cannot simply be a re-enactment. We need to allow ourselves to look at how the ancient teachings can help us grow and become more at one with the Natural World in our modern age.
Druidry is not a ‘revealed’ religion, and therefore has no dogmatic “thou shalt nots” – instead it is a living, breathing, thriving spirituality that the world needs now, more than ever before.
Ancient Mythology
The hazel’s association with wisdom extends to other cultures of the ancient world. In Norse mythology it was known as the Tree of Knowledge and was sacred to Thor; the Romans held it sacred to Mercury, who – especially in his Greek form, Hermes – was the personification of intelligence. Hermes’ magic rod may have been made from hazel. The English word derives from the Anglo Saxon ‘haesl’ which originally signified a baton of authority.
Country Folklore
You might be looking for a course that reflects the teachings of the ancient Druids, you might be searching for a way to develop a deeper and more meaningful relationship with the Spirits of the Land and your ancestors. How about a driving need to open up your inner creativity – to learn to see the world through the eyes of a poet? Or are you being pulled to learn the arts of seership or divination?
The OBOD course takes its inspiration from the ancient Druids, but for it to be of value to us today, Druidry cannot simply be a re-enactment. We need to allow ourselves to look at how the ancient teachings can help us grow and become more at one with the Natural World in our modern age.
Druidry is not a ‘revealed’ religion, and therefore has no dogmatic “thou shalt nots” – instead it is a living, breathing, thriving spirituality that the world needs now, more than ever before.
Protection Against Evil
Hazel was also used widely throughout the centuries for protection against evil. Finn bore a hazelwood shield that made him invincible in battle. No harm could penetrate a hurdle fence of hazel around a house or a breastband of the wood on a horse. A shipmaster wearing a cap into which hazel had been woven was guaranteed to weather any storm. Cattle driven through Beltaine and Midsummer bonfires had their backs singed with hazel rods for protection against disease and the evil eye, and the scorched rods were used to drive them the rest of the year. In the East of England, cottagers gathered hazel boughs On Palm Sunday, and placed them in pots of water around their windows as protection against thunder and lightning – possibly a sign of Norse influence in that area, the hazels being used homeopathically against the bolts of the Thunder-god. A famous legend tells that the seventh century Saint Mungo was unable to light monastery lamps on a day when it was his duty to do so at cockcrow because some malevolent boys had put out the fire. He walked out of the monastery in despair, but thought to pluck a hazel switch and when he returned to the church with it, praying for heavenly aid, a fire sprang forth from the branch
When evil became synonymous with witchcraft in the public mind, hazel was widely used for protection against Witches. The Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584) recommends a hazel wand cut ‘upon the Sabbath daie before rising’ to use as a charm against witches and thieves. The 17th century writer Thomas Pennant in his ‘Tours of Wales’ described how in Merionethshire, corpses were buried with hazel-rods to avert the power of witchcraft. Hazel protected against disease and was a potent magical remedy besides. ln Ireland, a hazel-nut in a pocket worded off rheumatism or lumbago which was thought to be caused by ‘elfshot’, and a double-nut prevented toothache. In the legend of the early Celtic St. Melor, an abbot gathers hazel-nuts and offers them to the saint. On receiving them, his artificial hand becomes flesh and blood. An old charm for curing an adder bite requires a piece of hazelwood in the shape of a cross to be placed upon the wound, and the following lines repeated:
Underneath this hazelin mote,
There’s a braggoty worm with a speckled throat,
Nine double is he,
Now from eight double to seven double
And from seven double to six double
and so on until:
And from one double to no double,
No double hath he
The magical power of the hazel still lives today whenever a water-diviner uses hazel-rods to dowse for water. As the rod bends to reveal the water within the earth, it may be that it is also straining to reconnect with ancestors, the nine sacred trees at the Well of Wisdom deep within the memory of the land.