Tag: Fraxinus

Ash (Feb 18 – Mar 17)

ASH LORE

  • 3rd Moon of the Celtic Year – (Feb 18 – March 17)
  • Latin name: White Ash – fraxinus americana; European Ash – fraxinus excelsior; Flowering Ash – fraxinus ornus.
  • Celtic name: Nion (pronounced: knee un)
  • Folk or Common names: Ash, Common Ash, Unicorn Tree, Guardian Tree
  • Parts Used: Leaves, wood, bark, twigs, sap, flowers
  • Herbal usage: Ash leaves and the tender tops can be used in the spring to make a fasting tea that is a diuretic and can be used as a help for weight  loss. Ash bark is known as a liver and spleen cleanser and can make the immune system stronger. The flowering Ash has sap that contains a sugary exudate  called ‘manna’, which can be used as a laxative.
  • Magical History & Associations: The bird associated with this month is the snipe, the color is half clear & half deep blue, and the gemstone is  sea-green beryl. The Ash, a masculine herb, is associated with the element of water, the sun and Jupiter; and is sacred to Thor, Woden, Mars, Uranus and  Gwydion. Ash is also sacred to Odin since the Ash is often known as the Yggdrassil (or the ‘Ash Yggdrasil’) amongst the Scandinavian nations. In  Norse mythology, the Yggdrassil supports the Universe, has three main branches and is believed to have sprung from the beginning of time out of primordial  slime and ashes. The Ash is also the tree of the sea God Poseidon, because of its watery power. Frennett (frenetic chaos), a substance used by berserkers,  may have been made from Ash bark. The Ash was supposed to be serpent repellent – Pliny held that there is such an antipathy between an adder and an Ash-tree,  “that if an adder be encompassed round with Ash-tree leaves, she will sooner run through the fire than through the leaves”. The ceremonial Yule log  is often made of Ash – this log is kindled each Yule with a piece from last years fire and allowed to smolder for 12 days before it is ceremonially put out.  The Ash tree is famous, although anonymous, since it’s the tree from which the Hanged Man is suspended in tarot decks
  • Magickal usage: The Ash was one of the sacred Druidic three: ‘Oak, Ash & Thorn’, and the month of Ash is a good time to do magick designed to  learn your inner self. The Ash has applications in magick done for sea power, ocean rituals, karmic laws, magical potency, healing, protection from drowning,  love, rain making, women’s mysteries, prophetic dreams, general protection, Prosperity, and health. Ash is often used for making both mundane and magical  tools – it’s said that tools with handles of Ash are more productive than tools with handles of other wood. Witches brooms often have the staff made from  Ash, and Ash wood was used for spears and shields since it was known as a protective wood. Placing Ash berries in a cradle prevents the child from being  traded for a changeling by an evil faery – and Ash talismans can be worn as protective amulets. Ash is known to keep away serpents and to protect against  their bite. If there are no snakes to be found, Ash can be used instead to keep away nasty people who are bitchy, quick to criticize, impatient, or psychic  vampires. Special guardian spirits reside in the Ash; This makes it excellent for absorbing sickness. The spirally carved Druidic wand was made of Ash for  this healing purpose. In years gone by, weak-limbed children were passed through split ash trees which were then bound up. If the tree grew straight, the  child would as well. Ash can be used in medicine pouches or can be used in magick for wart remover: the wart is stuck with a pin that has first been thrust  into an Ash, while these words are said:”Ashen tree, Ashen tree, pray these warts off of me.”

    The pins are then stuck back in the tree and left. The druids attributed special    powers over water to the ash tree. They used its wood to make it rain or to ward off water’s destructive power. The Ash is the tree of sea power, or of    the power resident in water. Ash leaves placed under the pillow will induce prophetic dreams, and carrying an Ash leaf will attract the love of the    opposite sex. The Ash is often called The Unicorn Tree, because unicorns are supposed to be fond of the tree. To catch a glimpse of a unicorn, carry Ash    wood or leaves. Whenever you need to harvest a piece or part of an Ash tree, remember to ask the tree if it will allow you to take a branch or other part    and be sure to leave the tree an offering of thanks when you are done. A nice offering would be a bit of mane from a unicorn (eg).

TO GAIN A PROPHETIC DREAM OF ONE’S FUTURE LOVE

TO GAIN A PROPHETIC DREAM OF ONE’S FUTURE LOVE


Recite the following magical incantation as you pluck a sprig of the mystical ash tree:
“Ashen Tree, Ashen Tree, I pluck thee.
This night my true love for to see”
Place the sprig under your pillow when the moon is full and your future
lover or spouse will appear before you in a dream.

Ash Tree Magic and Folklore

Ash Moon: February 18 – March 17

In Norse lore, Odin hung from Yggdrasil, the World Tree, for nine days and nights so that he might be granted wisdom. Yggdrasil was an ash tree, and since the time of Odin’s ordeal, the ash has often been associated with divination and knowledge. In some Celtic legends, it is also seen as a tree sacred to the god Lugh, who is celebrated at Lughnasadh. Because of its close association not only with the Divine but with knowledge, Ash can be worked with for any number of spells, rituals, and other workings.

  • Some traditions of magic hold that the leaf of an Ash tree will bring you good fortune. Carry one in your pocket – those with an even number of leaflets on it are especially lucky.
  • In some folk magic traditions, the ash leaf could be used to remove skin disorders such as warts or boils. As an alternate practice, one could wear a needle in their clothing or carry a pin in their pocket for three days, and then drive the pin into the bark of an ash tree – the skin disorder will appear as a knob on the tree and disappear from the person who had it.
  • The spear of Odin was made from an Ash tree, according to the Norse poetic eddas.
  • Newborn babies in the British Isles were sometimes given a spoonful of Ash sap before leaving their mother’s bed for the first time. It was believed this would prevent disease and infant mortality.
  • Five trees stood guard over Ireland, in mythology, and three were Ash. The Ash is often found growing near holy wells and sacred springs. Interestingly, it was also believed that crops that grew in the shadow of an Ash tree would be of an inferior quality.
  • In some European folklore, the Ash tree is seen as protective but at the same time malevolent. Anyone who does harm to an Ash can find themselves the victim of unpleasant supernatural circumstances.
  • In northern England, it was believed that if a maiden placed ash leaves under her pillow, she would have prophetic dreams of her future lover.
  • In some Druidic traditions, it is customary to use a branch of Ash to make a magical staff. The staff becomes, in essence, a portable version of a World Tree, connecting the user to the realms of earth and sky.
  • If you place Ash berries in a cradle, it protects the child from being taken away as a changeling by mischievous Fae.
  • The Celtic tree month of Ash, or Nion, falls from February 18 to March 17. It’s a good time for magical workings related to the inner self.

 

The Wicca Book of Days for Feb. 18th – Mighty Ash

The Wicca Book of Days for February 18th

Mighty Ash

The Celtic tree month of the Ash begins today, and will last until the Alder takes over on March 18th. Yggdrasil, the Norse world tree, was envisaged as a mighty Ash, and this is just one of the reasons why the Ash was considered to supply stability and strength (another is that its hard-wearing wood was favored for spear shafts and tool handles). The ancient Greeks believed that serpents fled from the Ash tree, so that it also had protective powers, that is, unless you sheltered under it during a thunderstorm, for according to an old English rhyme, “And shun the Ash/It courts the flash.”

 

“A Heavenly View”

Take inspiration from U. S. astronomer Clyde W. Tombaugh, who discovered the planet Pluto on February 18, 1930, to do some stargazing of your own this evening, perhaps after wrapping up warmly and venturing out in the dead of night. Communing with the heavens will be time wonderfully spent.