MYTH AND MAGIC OF HAWTHORN, Emma Eastham
One of the most evocative and widespread native trees heralds spring into summer, the Hawthorn is in its power at the Celtic festival of Beltane. It embodies the qualities of fertility, protection, betrothal and love traditionally celebrated in this season. The many folk names for the tree, fruits and flowers; Bread and Cheese, Whitethorn, Quickthorn, Haegdorn, May, Pixie Pears, Cuckoo's Beads and Chucky Cheese reflect the myriad blessings that this small hedgerow tree gifts the common folk. This is one of the most nourishing and benevolent trees of our sacred land of old.
The Hawthorn can oftentimes be found growing as guardians next to natural springs and wells. Traditionally blessings were given and branches were decorated with garlands and ribbons in a ritual known as ‘bawming the thorn’. And when you come across a gathering of Oak, Ash and Thorn, be sure, you are at the gateway to the Faerie realm.
Hallowed to the spring maiden aspect of the goddess, connections are found to Olwen, daughter of Yspaddaden Pencawr (Giant Hawthorn), otherwise known as ‘She of the White Tracks’; and Bloddeuwedd, the bride magically created from nine flowers including Oak, Broom and Meadowsweet, for the Welsh sun god Llew Llaw Gywffes. These Spring goddesses represent the May Queen married to the Forest King or Green Man who symbolises Summer and wild nature. The deeper meaning is the hero’s initiation into kingship by fulfilling mystical challenges to marry the goddess of the land who resides in the Hawthorn tree, or to give her proper title, Sovereignty. Thus the king becomes the guardian of the land and all its inhabitants, to serve and protect the ancient and sacred ways.
The Icelandic name of Svefnthorn, meaning sleep thorn, reflects another aspect of Hawthorn’s magic. A thorn used by Odin to lull the giantess Brunhilde into a magical sleep, Nimue the sorceress enchanted Merlin into a Hawthorn tree until his re-awakening in another age, and Thomas Rhymer lured to a Hawthorn by the call of a cuckoo (another herald of spring) where he sleeps and visits the Otherworld. These tales, and more, have a common thread of magical sleep in which the sleeper does not grow older, symbolising their hearts are kept young and vital by the sacred Thorn.
The essence of Hawthorn resides in its ability on the subtle level to open the heart to spiritual growth and love. It restores the bodily, emotional and spiritual heart to its exalted role as primary organ of perception. When we perceive deeply and with our heart, we are more able to align with our true nature and all of Nature and to follow our soul path with passion and compassion.
Hawthorn is under the dominion of Venus in Aries, thus the celestial influences of Hawthorn can be found in the relationship between Venus and Mars. The thorns of protection are male Mars energy and the flowers of beauty and sexuality - the fragrant blossoms considered the erotic scent of a woman – are female Venus energy. United in one plant is the divine marriage of the dual energies of the creative cosmic force.
Emma Eastham has 10 years experience as a Western Medical Herbalist. She has worked at festivals herbal first aid, held workshops and led Wild Food, Wild Medicine walks around East Anglia. In addition she designs and co-creates sustainable and sacred gardens utilising beneficial earth energies and biodynamic principles.
LIVING THE WHEEL OF THE YEAR, Sarah Partridge
Are you looking for a way to ‘awaken’ your connection with yourself, with Nature and her annual growth cycle? Take some time out from your ordinary life to mark Beltane – the third and most vibrant Celtic Festival of the year.
Sarah Partridge writes – ‘Arriving at Orchard Barn, I step back in time – to an era when the pace of life was at walking or dancing speed, a time when the continuation of human kind was dependent on the fertility of the earth, careful observation of the seasons, and, of course, appropriate weather. A successful harvest was realised by community working collectively. There was no choice, people worked with the annual growth cycle.
Engrained in their ancestral awareness was the knowledge that without the fecundity of the earth and the animals, life would come to an abrupt and hungry end. Today, we take for granted that the shops will stock exactly what we want to buy 24/7/52. Collectively, we have become divorced from the annual cycle of life, believing that we can do anything, anytime, anywhere. The cost of this modern belief is devastating to our environment. Whilst it is impossible to turn back time, it is helpful and healing to become more aware of, and give thanks for the support we receive from the Earth. In this way, some of the destruction of our planet can begin to be reversed.
I am sure that you good readers of Inspirations are aware of the earth’s annual cycle. Many of you already mark the Celtic Festivals, but just in case you are newer to the Wheel of the Year, here are the names of the eight festivals our ancestors celebrated.
The best known are Winter and Summer Solstice, and Autumn and Spring Equinox. Then there are the four festivals in-between the Solstices and Equinoxes – Imbolc, Beltane, Lammas and Samhain. Yes, they have other names, such as Candlemas, Mayday, Lughnasa and All Hallow’s Eve. In Inspirations, I will be writing more about the festivals and offering suggestions as to how you could mark and celebrate them.
The festival of Beltane is marked at the beginning of May. Nature is alive and vibrant, so too our human celebrations. Outside in a beautiful meadow, we dance round a magnificent Maypole, weaving together ribbons that symbolise the union of the lord and lady of the greenwood. The fertility of the land is thus acknowledged and blessed. We ask that our collective harvest be delivered safely, so that life (in all forms) can continue. We leap between twin fires as a way of cleansing ourselves of any impurities left over from the previous year. (This has the added benefit of raising your energy level.) Couples jump together to renew and revitalise their union. Individuals leap to energise their intention for the year.
YES! It can be a raucous affair, awakening to the upward flow of earth energy. Are you ready to experience that aspect of yourself? You don’t have to join an organised celebration. Next time you are outside, pause, consciously feel the breeze on your skin, breathe new life deeply into the depths of your lungs, savour the scent of the spring flowers, enjoy the expectancy of the buds on the trees, feel into the upward pulse of life surrounding you and within you. Engage with your skin and your senses, and actively lift your energy level. YES, Beltane is about celebrating aliveness, and in doing so we perpetuate a time-honoured tradition of honouring the annual growth cycle of the earth. Marking the festivals gives us the time and focus to step out of ordinary time, stop being mindless consumers, and become one with the greater scheme of LIFE unfolding.
If you would like to mark Beltane with like-minded others, there is a celebration on the evening of Thursday 8th May in north Suffolk – traditional Maypole dancing, twin fires and shared supper. (Yes, I know that the 8th is a little late – but life is full to brimming.) Dance your way into greater aliveness and greater connection to this wonderful earth on which we live. For more information, visit my website www.livingthewheeloftheyear.co.uk’
During the 80s, Sarah Partridge made a small living as an organic smallholder in West Suffolk. Since 1993, she has been teaching a gentle and accessible form of Yoga. Her life has been strongly influenced by marking and celebrating the Celtic Festivals. She writes about and facilitates Living The Wheel of the Year workshops.