Heart Healing Hawthorn

 

The ancient Celts created the first alphabet in Europe which is called the Ogham script.  Each letter is associated with a tree or an important plant.  The alphabet was used as a mnemonic device to encode knowledge, the Celtic song of the universe, Ceolta na Cruinne (Diana Beresford-Kroeger).  The thirteen months of the year (pre-Gregorian calendar) were each represented by a particular tree.  The new year began on Nov. 1^st with Birch, followed by Rowan in December, Alder in January, Willow in February and Ash in March.  The tree associated with April is Hawthorn

“The ancient Celts understood the hawthorn as a purveyor of power,” writes Diana Beresford-Kroeger (p. 225).  Although it is a small tree (5 – 14 m) that prefers the full sun of open spaces instead of the forest, Hawthorn’s ability to provide protection, medicine and a connection to the Otherworld made it a sacred tree.

Hawthorn is a member of the Rosaceae or Rose family. Therefore it’s flowers have five petals which can be white or pink depending on the species of which there are a thousand worldwide. The plant is hermaphrodite so it can pollinate itself or other trees.  The fruit that develops is a red haw which looks like a berry even though it is a pome (like an apple).  The haws of some species have one seed while others have two to three.   The branches are quite dense, twisted and armed with sharp thorns that can be 1-3 cm in length.  The simple leaves which open at the same time as the flowers, contain a growth hormone for caterpillars which therefore increases the number of butterflies available for pollinating future blossoms.  The young leaves are edible and can be added to salads or nibbled on while hiking.  Hawthorn does not have a large root system.

You can see the thorns on this Hawthorn in March along a trail in southern Ontario

Hawthorn provides a medicine that acts as a vasodilator, specifically on the left coronary artery that supplies blood to the heart muscle.  The extract from Hawthorn is used to treat “hypertension associated with myocardial weakness, arteriosclerosis, tachycardia and angina pectoris” (Beresford-Kroeger, p. 227).  The haws are used to make jellies, juices, wine, and other drinks.

The dense branches and thorns led to Hawthorn being used for hedgerows for thousands of years in Britain and from whence comes the name “haegthorn” in Anglo-Saxon.  It is also called Whitethorn as its grey bark is contrasted with the black bark of Blackthorn, Maytree, Quickthorn, Thornapple, Hagthorn, ske (Old Irish), awes, asogs, boojuns and arzygarzies.  It is native in the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere south of the Boreal forest. 

Pollen counts have shown that Hawthorn was found in megalithic tombs (before 6000 BC). The wood is hard and tough and was used for veneer, cabinet work, boxes, tool handles, mill-wheel teeth, mallets and the ribs of small boats as well as for firewood and charcoal since Hawthorn wood burns very hot.  The bark was used to dye wool black. Hawthorn provides food and shelter for many species of birds, insects and mammals.  Thrushes and waxwings like the haws. 

According to Diana Beresford-Kroeger, the Druidic scholars had a belief system that included the concept of the soul or anam and spiritual guidance or anamcara that arose from everywhere.  They believed that soul filled the living world including water, mountains, plants, animals and insects and that this soul connected all of life.  The ancient Celts believed that Hawthorn “provided entry into the world of fairies or the “people of good deeds, the si” (p.225).   Hawthorn was often a guardian of sacred springs such as the one in Madron in Cornwall, UK.

The Celts divided the year into a dark and a light half.  The new year on Nov. 1^st was the beginning of the dark time and the Beltane or Mayday on May 1^st started the light part.   In the Ogham knowledge system, Hawthorn was the Queen of the May that could only ever wed the Oak King (the tree of May).  And thus, Hawthorn blossoms and sprigs were used to create the wreaths that were worn by young women as they danced around the Maypole on May Day, an important celebration of fertility.  Hawthorn also decorated the May Pole and people’s homes.

As a sacred tree that connected people with the Otherworld and the si, Hawthorns were also known as rag trees because people would write invocation on strips of cloth and tie them to the trees as a part of wishing or healing rituals.

In ancient times there were many goddesses for whom the Hawthorn was sacred.  It was associated with fertility. In Hawthorn you can see the two opposing paradigms of Celtic and Christian worldviews.  Chaucer writes:

Mark the fair blooming of the Hawthorn Tree

Who finely clothed in a robe of white,

Fills full the wanton eye with May’s delight.

 For the Church, the spring became a time of chastity and fasting for Lent as a way of superseding the old religion.  As the Church fought to diminish the Old Ways, Hawthorn was seen as being under the power of the devil. 

However, as people reclaim the knowledge of the ancients, Hawthorn is now understood to represent the law that says that sacredness demands respect.  According to Glennie Kindred, Hawthorn represents love, the heart, cleansing, releasing blocked energy, protection and preparation for spiritual growth.  Hawthorn helps to let go of fear and to liberate heart energy.

So, if you come across a Hawthorn at the edge of a field or forest, stop a moment and feel the tips of the thorns.  Look into the dense branches and see how it could protect birds and small animals.  If the flowers are in bloom, breath the scent in deeply and know that chemicals are speaking to your heart to increase its supply of blood to its muscle.  Feel your heart grow strong and know that anamcara surrounds you.

Last August, I posted a story based on Hawthorn here.  It is a part of the collection of Anna Stories.  

 Some Species: English Hawthorn (Crataegus laevigata)   Common Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna).  In Ontario, the more common species include Downy Hawthorn (C. mollis), Cockspur Hawthorn (C. crus-galli), Dotted Hawthorn (C. punctata) and the most northern species Fleshy Hawthorn (C. succulenta).   Also Canadian Hawthron (C. canadensis) which has very long thorns.  My quest this summer will be to learn how to identify the Hawthorns that I come across, once the leaves are out.

This is a compilation of information taken from the following sources:

Diana Beresford-Kroeger (2019) To Speak for the Trees. Random House: Canada.

Danu Forest (2014) Celtic Tree Magic: Ogham Lore and Druid Mysteries. Llewellyn Worldwide: Woodbury, Minnesota.

Glennie Kindred, (1997) The Tree Ogham. Glennie Kindred: UK.

Liz and Colin Murray (1988) The Celtic Tree Oracle. Connections Book Publishing: London, UK.

Jacqueline Memory Peterson (1996) Tree Wisdom: The definitive guidebook to the myth, folklore and healing power of Trees. Thorsons: London.

Elen Sentier (2014) Trees of the Goddess. Moon Books: Winchester, UK.