Syrbal's Site - Trees
What's New Here
Here is what's new for the Tree section of the site in the last couple of months:
September 2006: Added ogham characters on this page, and more information about the ogham. Added a section on Burning Wood, below. Also added a bibliography, and crossreferenced back to it on each page. Added extra information to the following pages: The Ash tree, the Elder .
A tree calendar that follows the Beth-Luis-Nuin, the Celtic tree calendar. Here is one interpretation of the dates for the months for a year
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This is just one of several possible schemes. It does seem that there is much disagreement about exact dates. I tend to the idea that the tree month should end with the new moon, and Samhain falls on the new moon nearest the mid-point between the autumn equinox and Yule (winter solstice). This is just a personal opinion, however.
I shall make available tree information that I have from time to time as part of my ovate studies with OBOD. The menu bars will take you to the tree pages.
See also every ogham thing on the web.
This is the full ogham with its tree connection:
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You will notice there are a number of variations. First, there are two variations of the ogham called beth-luis-nion and beth-luis-fearn depending on whether alder or ash is put in the third place, and the other in the fifth of the first set.
The second variation is in the last set which was added to the ogham much later. There is some debate about exactly what these ogham represent, with only the spindle tree reaching any sort of agreement, and that beech has to be in there somewhere. Interestingly, it is thought that beech was not introduced into Ireland until the 17th or 18th century.
Burning Wood
This is an extract from the Irish poem Fergus mac Leda and the Wee Folk about the woods to burn or not burn:
Burn not the sweet apple-tree of drooping branches, of the white blossoms, to whose gracious head each man puts forth his hand.
Burn not the noble willow, the unfailing ornament of poems; bees drink from its blossoms, all delight in the graceful tent.
The delicate, airy tree of the Druids, the rowan with its berries, this burn; but avoid the weak tree, burn not the slender hazel.
The ash-tree of the black buds burn not – timber that speeds the wheel, that yields the rider his switch; the ashen spear is the scale-beam of battle.
However, regarding that last line, see the entry in the Ash tree. Also see the entry in Elder about burning that wood.
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Bibliography
[1] Observers Trees – Herbert L. Edlin, Bloomsbury Books, ISBN 1-8547-1073-7
[2] A Photographic Guide to Trees of Britain and Europe – Paul Sterry and Bob Press, Connaught, ISBN 1-84517-039-3
[3] Kingfisher Concise Field Guide to Animals & Plants of Britain and Europe – edited by Michael Chinery, Dolphin Publications, ISBN 0-86272-835-5
[4] The White Goddess – Robert Graves, Faber Paperbacks 1961, ISBN 0-571-06961-4
[5] The Celtic Tree Oracle, A System of Divination – Liz and Colin Murray, Connections Book Publishing 1988, ISBN 1-85906-013-7
[6] Culpeper's Complete Herbal – Wordsworth Reference 1995, ISBN 1-85326-345-1
[7] The Enchanted Forest, The Magical Lore of Trees – Yvonne Aburrow, Capall Bann Publishing 1993, ISBN 1-898307-08-3
[8] A Dictionary of Plant Lore – Roy Vickery, Oxford University Press 1995, ISBN 0-19-866183-5
[9] Tree Wisdom – Jacqueline Memory Paterson, Thorsons 1996, ISBN 0-7225-3408-6
[10] The Spirit of Trees – Fred Hageneder, Floris Books 2000, ISBN 0-86315-326-7
[11] The Heritage of Trees – Fred Hageneder, Floris Books 2001, ISBN 0-86315-359-3
[13] Leaves of Yggdrasil – Freya Aswynn, Llewellyn Publications 1990, ISBN 0-87542-024-9
Various web sites, cross-referenced directly in the articles.
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This page last updated: 17 September 2006
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