Trees

At this time of year there is one tree that shouts out its presence and if you are on a high point, looking down on the forest which stretches green to the horizon, pools of purple or pink blossom stand proud of the canopy: the Pau D’ Arco tree…

by Taran ~ ~ FOREWORD ~ First of all I will say all references to months, festivals etc. are all from a Southern Hemisphere point of view, and yes I’m aware that I used the older names of the festivals not the new ones. This piece has been put together by myself using research from…

by Susa Morgan Black ~  To read Susa’s wonderfully indepth article – with botanical, ogham, healing and magical details and information – please click on the Pdf link below.

by Dana Wiyninger ~  Introduction Moving to a new region with completely different plants and climate, and having to manage a neglected forest meant I had to really learn about and examine the trees and plants on our property. (No relying on my previous knowledge of plants on the west coast.) Even with the subtropical…

Furze is closely associated with the sun god Lugh, the Celtic god of light and genius and with the Spring Equinox, at which time it’s one of the only plants in full flower. However, folklore attaches it to festivals throughout the spring and summer months as a symbol of the power of the sun…

by Cláudia Loureiro ~  My name is Cláudia Loureiro, I’m 42 years old, I was born in Angola but I live in Portugal since I was two years old. I lived in Lisbon until I started working as a first grade teacher. (Also) because of that I moved to a wonderful place called Setúbal that is…

It is no wonder why authors have written about forests being enchanted, bewitching, and magical…

One Saturday in August 2013, a group of eight Druids gathered to visit the trees, not in a wild forest but in a local City Park. Why did we choose a park?

Nature often offers metaphors more elegant than any we can manufacture, and Muir Woods is no exception. Redwoods have evolved to turn disaster into opportunity. In these coastal forests, death produces life…

by Stefano Alessi ~  A Druid is his or her Land ~  My land is Tuscany, more precisely the area of Montalbano in Lower Valdarno, near Vinci (Florence); it’s a mountain ridge of about 25 km and covers about 180 kmq of land in the heart of the basin of the river Arno. I have…

So one spring morning when I awoke to a ‘true blue dream of a sky,’ I knew right away that this was the day I should visit the ‘leaping greenly spirit of trees’…

by Kernos Asimina triloba …pickin’ up pawpaws, puttin’ ’em in a basket,way down yonder in the pawpaw patch… I learned that little ditty when I was a little ditty, singing it on the way to school. I didn’t know what pawpaw were then. Most city folks don’t. I didn’t actually find and taste a pawpaw…

by Dave Smith ~ The Ordeal: It was quite simple really. We wanted to plant a ring of Yew trees on the South Downs to mark, and rededicate a new Sacred Site for people to enjoy for thousands of years to come – in fact, for us to enjoy in future incarnations. So, we started…

2014 marks the 50th Anniversary of the Order. Many members are planting Groves to honour this special time. Here is one planted by James and Janet Howell at their home in Cambridge, New Zealand. To view an update and photos of James and Janet’s labour of love, please click on the link below…

An Introduction Aims of the Foundation One of the principle aims of the Foundation is to rediscover the spiritual relationship between mistletoe and Druidic philosophy. Here we may be able to establish an understanding of the hidden mysteries of our tradition and work with the polarities in order to create a true balance within the…

by Vivienne Manouge While studying the oghams the other day, I suddenly noticed that the names of the first twenty original oghams, beith and her five, huath and her five, muinn and her five, and ailm and her five, are suggestively like the names of different branches of ancient Celtic society.  BEITH resembles beth, a…

by Janis Fry It was at the turn of the millennium, on Christmas Day 2002 to be precise, that the  Golden Bough, was discovered growing on an ancient Yew at Defynnog near Brecon in Wales. Several years later in 2017 it still grows on the same tree, like a flame growing larger and brighter with…

by Siusaidh NicNeill Platanus Look through your list of Holy Trees, the Tree Alphabet or the Oracle – I bet you won’t find a Sycamore there. I always considered them to be weeds. They’d grow on the Moon given half the chance and have taken extremely well to cold acid soils of the North Highlands…

by Keith Slater 3 wonders of ancient woodland – Majesty, Mystery and Magic

The majesty of the trees soaring above your head. The mystery of the ageless secrets held.  The magic of a hidden world surrounded by city traffic.

Sheffield still has the reputation of a dirty industrial city. There is still industry, but no longer as…

by Allen Meredith  Ancient stories come to us from many parts of the world. We may never discover the origins of some of these stories, one of which tells us that Adam and Eve were evicted from the Garden of Eden and from that moment on, the human race no longer had ‘dominion over all…

As an American OBOD Ovate, I find the study of Ogham challenging, in part because some of the trees that are so important to me are missing. For the modern druid in a global world, the correspondences must resonate. Determined to add local tree heroes to my Ogham study, I went to my favorite forest…

by Susa Morgan Black AppleBotanical name: Pyrus malus or communisFamily: malus/communisOgham: QuertScots Gaelic: Crann Ubhall, ubhal-fiadhaich, CuirtIrish Gaelic: Crann Úll, AballWelsh: Afallen; pren afalau, AfalFrench: Pomme DescriptionThe Apple tree is the oldest cultivated tree in Europe. (Haganeder, pg. 177) Crab Apple (Malus spp.)The original British apple tree is a Crab Apple – a deciduous tree…

Ash – Nuin – Fraxinus Names: Nion, Nuin, Nin (pron. Nee-uhn Noo-in ) Cosdad Sida, checking of peace, that is nin, ash n: it is the maw of the weaver’s beam as applied to wood: a sign of peace is that. A checking of peace with him is that the ash of the weaver’s beam – Word…

by Hawthorn Beech – Phagos – Fagus Folk LoreBeech groves have been found in and near important places of power; Avebury and Cerne Abbas to name two. They maybe have been used for food as much as their majestic presence. They have been said to have inspired the building of Cathedrals; the high vaulting arches mimic…