From LearnReligions.com

As the year comes to a close and Samhain approaches, the Ivy moon rolls in at the end of the harvest season. Ivy often lives on after its host plant has died — a reminder to us that life goes on, in the endless cycle of life, death and rebirth. The Celts called this month Gort, pronounced go-ert. This is a time to banish the negative from your life. Do workings related to improving yourself, and placing a barricade between you and the things that are toxic to you. Ivy can be used in magic performed for healing, protection, cooperation, and to bind lovers together.

From Ireland-Calling.com

Ivy has many superstitions and beliefs attached to it.

Because it had the ability to form dense thickets in woodland, grow where other plants could not and block out the light from even the mighty oak, ivy was believed to be very powerful by the Druids, more powerful than its enemy, the vine and quite sinister.

The ivy and the vine have been seen as enemies since ancient times. This seems odd since the same Greek and Roman gods are associated with each.

Bacchus, god of wine

In Greek mythology ivy was sacred to Osiris and also associated with Dionysus. In Roman mythology Ivy was connected to Bacchus, the god of wine as it grew over his home land.

Bacchus is often portrayed wearing an ivy crown, perhaps because this was once thought to prevent intoxication. The poisonous berries of the ivy, when ground into a powder were also once believed to be a hangover cure.

The link between Bacchus and ivy was taken over to England where old English Taverns would display ivy above their doors indicating the high quality of their drinks.

The proverb ‘Good wine needs no bush’, meaning good wine speaks for itself, comes from this practice.

Gort, G –

Ivy, a symbol of strength and determination to the Druids, is the twelfth letter of the ogham alphabet, gort, and the eleventh month in the Celtic tree calendar, representing September 30th to October 27th.

Protection from evil

In old Ireland ivy was thought to provide protection from evil when growing on or near to a dwelling.

However, if it should die or fall down then misfortune would fall upon those therein.

Ivy was often carried by young women for good luck and fertility. Used at weddings intertwined with holly, the ivy would symbolise fidelity and at Yule-tide, would bring peace to the household.

Vine – the tree of joy

From Ireland-Calling.com

Vines, or grape vines, didn’t reach the shores of Ireland until the Romans introduced wine around 2000 years ago.

The bramble, however, is native to the cool climate of Northern Europe, shares the winding characteristics and bares sweet fruit like the vine. This is why the ogham muin could represent either the vine or the bramble.

Since the introduction of wine to Ireland, the country has had a long love affair with both the plant and the drink, believed to loosen the tongue, release inhibitions and consumed by seers to stimulate prophecy.

Wine

During the 9th century, Viking traders who had already settled in the Loire Valley would bring wine to Ireland and it later became used as a tribute to the king; one ton of wine for each day in the year.

Wine was a big part of the feast culture of the old chieftains and, in later years it was Irish emigrants escaping English rule, known now as ‘Winegeese’ who were responsible for introducing vineyards to many countries throughout the world.

In mythology the vine is sacred to the Greek gods Dionysus and Osiris and the Roman God Bacchus. The vine is known as the tree of joy, exhilaration and wrath and is believed to be one of the sacred woods burned on the Beltane fires in Britain and Ireland representing joy and happiness.

Romans and Greeks celebrated the vine tree

The Romans and Greeks also had a festival involving the vine called Vinalia Rostica which celebrated and gave thanks the first harvest.

In the Celtic tree calendar the vine represents harvest time and the beginning of Autumn. The Autumn Equinox and festival of Mabon falls within the vine month, a festival of thanksgiving and learning.

In Christian belief, wine was the drink shared by Christ at the last supper and is still consumed in churches for this reason. It was the monasteries who cultivated the vine in Ireland and the British Isles for it could not grow in the wild as brambles could.

The bramble bush…

Christians had a very different story involving the Bramble. It was that when the devil was thrown out of heaven he landed on a bramble bush. This made him so angry that he cursed the plant and spat upon it.

Because of this, it was wrong to eat the fruit of the bramble after Michaelmas, September 29th, because the devil enters them.

This belief had a few variations. In Celtic Brittany it was said to be because of the fairies, and, in Wales, simply because they were poisonous by that time.

This is not actually the case, however certain insects do begin to lay their eggs on the ripened fruit during October which could well have been the cause of some stomach upsets.

Bramble wood was used in basket weaving and to make beehives, in a similar way to willow and bramble was often planted with hawthorn, sometimes known as the fairy tree, in hedgerows in order to bind a hedge.

Perhaps the close association to these very pagan trees and old ways is what made the Christians link the Bramble to a story about the devil.

Muin, M – The vine represents the eleventh letter in the ogham alphabet, muin, and the tenth month in the Celtic tree calendar.

Vine Moon: September 2 – September 29

From LearnReligions.com

The Vine month is a time of great harvest — from the grapes of the Mediterranean to the fruits of the northern regions, the Vine produces fruits we can use to make that most wondrous concoction called wine. The Celts called this month Muin. The Vine is a symbol of both happiness and wrath — passionate emotions, both of them. Do magical workings this month connected to the Autumn Equinox, or Mabon, and celebrate garden magic, joy and exhilaration, wrath and rage, and the darker aspect of the mother goddess. Use the leaves of the Vines to enhance your own ambition and goals. during this month. The month of Vine is also a good time to get balanced, as there are equal hours of darkness and light.