Folklore of Trees: The Hawthorn - The Green in the Storm
I write a lot of stuff about folklore, I know, and in part it is because I am something of a nerd. I always have been, preferring to nose through old and forgotten books as well as newer tomes than watching TV or any other distraction of the modern world. But there’s also something else that folklore offers and in a way that is lost to the modern world. It’s the stories of our ancestors, passed from generation to generation and the knowledge of them. It’s the history of the people as opposed to the history of the politicians and the controllers of the world. It’s a shared knowledge of the world around us both physical and spiritual. Folklore is more than just old stories, so much more.
There’s a lull in the stormy weather and I embrace my chance to get out to the woods. Many pagans talk about going out in the storm and taking its energy or something else, poetic words to drum up romantic images. And I do step outside the comfort of my own home and into the garden as storms rage if only to acknowledge the power of nature, but make no mistake, nature cares not, is a cold hearted life giver and to go out in storms is not romantic. It’s painful and hard! And so with my little black dog, we head into the woods where the strong winds have loosened the weakest trees from the earth and the ground is sodden with puddles of mud making some ways impassable. But I know these woods and find my way around.
For the most part winter still reigns supreme and most trees are still bare but for the hawthorn. It’s always the first tree to come into leaf, the bright green splashes against the dullness of late winter, a charming surprise hinting at the closeness of spring, it’s no wonder this tree is often viewed as a tree that acts as a gate between worlds...
Folklore, Myth & Legend
Much of the lore surrounding the hawthorn is mixed, either good or bad depending on a variety of factors. For example May was often associated with love, young love and courtship in particular and an old country rhyme tells how a young maid might get herself her heart’s desire:
‘The fair maid who, the first of May,
Goes to the fields at break of day
And washes in dew from the hawthorn tree,
Will ever after handsome be.’
It is perhaps no surprise that the hawthorn is associated with love and lust seeing as how Beltane, celebrated in May and other traditions including the May Pole dance (the pole being phallic symbol) and the choosing of a May queen are all said to be old fertility rites and celebrations.The hawthorn is also associated with marriage and was used in ancient Greece where the wood was used as the wedding torch, and the bride would wear a crown of may flowers.
However, the hawthorn tree is not always associated with things so lovely as romance. Whilst it may indeed make a beautiful outdoor decoration, it is unlucky to bring hawthorn or it’s flowers into the house and to do so, if the folklore is to be believed, is to bring death to your mother. It is said that witches made their brooms from hawthorn and that when teamed with elder was considered particularly evil.
Perhaps many of these superstitions stem from the trees association with the fae, for the fair folk are held in something of a fearful awe. The fae have the good and the bad, the dark and the light, the Seelie and Unseelie, and in parts of the British Isles, especially Ireland, wherever a may tree grows there will be a portal or entrance into their realm nearby.
And there is a Christian related myth of the magical tree that is the hawthorn. It is said a disciple of Jesus, Joseph of Arimathea, came to Britain, visiting Glastonbury Tor and bringing with him a vessel containing the blood and sweat of Christ. It is said that he thrust his staff into the ground and up sprung a hawthorn tree.However this species of hawthorn is special because it is the only one that blooms twice a year; in May and again at Christmas. Descendants of this tree still grow around glastonbury today and the queen is sent a sprig each Christmas morning.
Hawthorn Uses and Folk Magic
Hawthorn makes a good early foraging tree. The young leaves are tender and are sometimes called ‘bread and cheese’ despite having a somewhat nutty taste. Use them fresh in a salad or shredded on boiled potatoes. Add to soups, stews and stocks. The berries will be ready to harvest around late summer and these can be eaten as a nibble straight from the tree (they taste like apples but not so sweet) and can be used to make jellies and jams.
Medicinally, the leaves and berries are good to use in health workings as they are packed with vitamins and minerals with healing properties. They may help menstrual, menopausal and hormonal issues and they are also good for skin conditions such as acne. The leaves and berries are astringent and can be made into a tonic useful for healing a sore throat and coughs. Making tea with either dried or fresh leaves and berries is an excellent way to utilise the health benefits of the tree.
Magically, petition the fae for protection on a night of the waxing or full moon and leave an offering of bread, milk and honey. Alternatively you can collect some thorns from a hawthorn tree. On a piece of paper write the person’s name or the situation you need protecting from, bind it with read thread and the thorns from the tree and bury it in the ground close by.
You can also make a protection charm with the thorns from a hawthorn tree. Take a number of thorns, between two and four and cross them over one another. Use red thread to bind the thorns together tightly. Keep this charm on your person as you go about your day to day business.
Or alternatively, take yourself out now and keep your eye out for the emerald green on a grey late winter’s day or later on in the year when the sun warms the skin and the heady scent of the may flower delights as you sit beneath the boughs of a hawthorn. Meditate, relax, read tarot or simply watch the world pass by, though if legend is to be believed, whatever you do, do not fall asleep...
EMMA KATHRYN
My name is Emma Kathryn, my path is a mixture of traditional European witchcraft, vodou and obeah, a mixture representing my heritage. I live in the sticks with my family where I read tarot, practice witchcraft and drink copious amounts of coffee.
