July 21st, 2014

The last couple of days have been pure insanity, so allow me to catch you up on some of the Pagan things I've been doing.
On Thursday, my family went to a local Botanic Gardens for the afternoon. Besides lots of pretty flowers, I saw some things relevant to this particular blog:

This, if you can't read the sign, is Artemis Silver Sage. Sage is a wonderful herb of purification, and if you were doing a working with the Goddess Artemis or any of her sacred animals, it might be worth the research to find some at a garden center. Besides its purifying qualities, this particular Sage has the added benefit of having leaves that are positively downy with fuzziness.

There was this depiction of Pan on a dry fountain in the English garden.

Outside the English garden, someone had crafted a statue titled "The Guardian" with these massive Quartz crystals set in the center; the whole matrix was longer than my forearm. Whether or not the artist actually has the crystals empowered to act as a Guardian of the garden, I couldn't say. Nevertheless, one could absolutely use crystals around the home for protection as desired.

The three trunks in the center of this picture belong to an Alder tree. I immediately thought of my blog when I saw it, because for some unfathomable reason, my "Celtic Tree Month: Alder" post is still my most popular, with over 5,200 views at this time. Here's a photo of one such tree I can actually claim to have taken!

There was also a big grove of birch trees which I felt had to be included. Birch is sacred to many deities, and is particularly noted in Wicca as being a tree of the Goddess.

On Friday, I went downtown with a friend to see a showing of A Midsummer Night's Dream (it was brilliantly done), and Saturday was spent at the zoo. Yesterday was occupied primarily by church and work, and now, finally, I have a moment to sit an catch up.

As many of my followers are probably aware, I am off to college next month and have been scrambling to get things ready. On Saturday, I found a marvelous little couch at a garage sale for $20 that will be perfect for my dorm - I'm considering it a Goddess-given miracle. Additionally, I was able to get a bunch of books from the library yesterday, so expect posts in the near future regarding the metaphysical subjects I'm now perusing.

Celtic Tree Month: Birch

The Celtic name for this month is "Beth", pronounced "beh", and celebrates the Birch tree. Birch is a broad-leafed hardwood of the genus Betula, and is in the same family as Alder, Hazel, and Hornbeam (the first two of which are other sacred trees to the Celts). Birch trees and shrubs tend to be of a medium size, with small samara fruit. They are typically found in well-drained, often acidic, soils, and are considered a pioneer species, meaning that they are often the first trees to return after a fire or other disaster.
Folklore surrounding the Birch is plentiful. In Gaelic legend, the Birch is closely associated with Tir na Nog, the Otherworld of the faeries and the Sidhe. To the Celts, brooms, or besoms, made of birch had a purifying quality and were used to drive away evil spirits. During handfasting rituals, the couple would jump over a broom made of Birch; for a long time, the "besom wedding" was legal. Birch were also used in Beltane celebrations as a living maypole - as one of the first trees to grow leaves in the spring, the Birch is an obvious symbol of fertility. The spring goddess Eostre, from whose name comes both "Easter" and "Ostara", was associated with the Birch, as was Frigga, Thor, and Freya from the Norse pantheon. Siberian shamans make their own use of the Birch, notching a Birch twig nine times during an initiation rite to represent the nine steps to heaven. In North America, some Native Americans prized Birch for its practicality in canoe and paper making, and also used the bark to ritually wrap their dead.
Magickally speaking, many cues can be taken from the Birch tree's mythological background - today, wood and leaves from the tree can still be used to make besoms, to ward negativity, and for aid in love. Birch can be burned at Samhain, Beltane, and Yule, and can form the traditional Yule log and Maypole. The wood can likewise be used in dealings with faeries and nature spirits, whether to call the friendly ones or banish the not-so-friendly ones.
Both the leaves and the inner bark of the tree are edible; either can be eaten raw. The inner bark can be added to soup, or can be ground and used as a flour. Made into a tea, it is diuretic, can help cure other minor illnesses, like fever, and makes a good antiseptic. The leaves have similar properties. Birch sap is also edible, and though it is infrequently tapped (it's less sweet than maple sap), it can be turned into a molasses-like syrup or be fermented into beer or vinegar.

Celtic Tree Month: Alder

Today is the first of the Celtic Tree Month of Alder, known as Fearn by the Celts. The Alder tree, in the birch family, is deciduous, with simple serrated leaves. The tree also flowers, with long male catkins and shorter female catkins on the same plant. The trees are mostly pollinated by wind, but bees also act as pollinators. The Alder is particularly noted for its role in nitrogen fixation, having large nodules in the roots, wherein live small bacterium that absorb nitrogen from the air and greatly improve soil quality. For anyone who passed 9th grade biology, the Alder is a pioneer species, meaning that it spreads to new areas and prepares previously barren area for the species that follow it. The timber has been used historically for building bridges and foundations, as the wood is very water-resistant.
According to Welsh legend, the Alder tree was sacred to Bran the god-giant. Like the tree sacred to him, Bran made his body into a bridge in order to invade Ireland and help his sister, Branwen. Unfortunately, Bran's head was cut off, and was buried under the modern-day Tower of London. Supposedly, the ravens living in the tower and Bran's sacred birds. Interestingly, it is also said that the Alder fairy can fly in the form of a raven.
In magick, the Alder is well known for having divinatory properties, and therefore this month is characterized by prophecy and getting in touch with one's own intuition. If you are musically inclined, consider carving a flute out of an Alder shoot, and using it to call spirits of Air. Similarly, the tree has connection to the Fey, and charms made of Alder can be used to contact them.
While the Alder is not poisonous, it's also not known for being particularly tasty. The catkins of some species are edible, but due to a highly bitter flavor are generally left for a means of survival only. On the other hand, the bark was common among the Blackfoot Native Americans as an infusion to cure tuberculosis and lymphatic disorders. Now, I personally do not recommend that if you have tuberculosis you go out and make tea with Alder bark; indeed, unless you are an expert forester and know without question that bark from a specific tree is safe to ingest, I would highly advise against it. However, the Alder was also used by the Native Americans as an ingredient for smoking mixtures, so if you happen to have an Alder tree nearby, you might consider using fallen branches in your spring bonfires.