The best time to harvest the tree was during full moon, as the lunantishees would be away during that time. It was said to be protected by the lunantishees or moon fairies who, at the best of time, were no friends to humans and would curse anyone foolish enough to cut down a blackthorn on the 11th of November (the original All Hallow’s Eve) or on the 11th of May (Original May Day). You would think that this would make it quite a bad wood to carry around, but this is actually the opposite.īlackthorn was considered as a protection against the fairies as they regarded it very highly. While Hawthorn is mostly associated with Spring, fertility and many positive things, blackthorn is associated with war and winter. In fact, they are often referred to as sisters. Blackthorn, or Draighean, is in many ways the yin to the hawthorn’s yang. But better stay on the good side of the little people!Īlright, let’s get to our old friend. Which is too bad, as there are many where I live, but no blackthorns. It would appear it was a taboo wood, no matter its inherent qualities. You hear of blackthorn, oak, holly, ash, even crabapple, but hawthorn? Never. In 1999, a highway in County Clare was diverted to avoid cutting down a sacred hawthorne tree, and you can find many other instances of this.įor all these reasons – and many, many more – hawthorn is never once mentioned as a suitable wood to make shillelaghs. The company had another planted with all due ceremony, which solved… well not much. In 1982, workers at the De Lorean factory in Northern Ireland thought that the problems the company was having was because a lone tree had been felled during construction. Even in recent times, the hawthorne was treated with particular respect. People would plant them around the house to ward off evil witches, and they were also esteemed for influencing fertility. Yet, the tree also had protective powers. If a stick was brought into the house, trouble would stay until it was removed. Probably even more interesting to bataireacht, in places such as West Cork it was considered wrong to hit anyone with a stick of hawthorn as there was « temper » in the tree. It was commonly believed that Christ was crucified on a hawthorn, and that the crown of thorns was also made from that tree. The flower is considered especially unlucky, with death resulting from bringing some in a home. People getting sick or unlucky after uprooting a tree, or bringing some of it home, or having mischief done to them. Stories abound on the misfortune of those who dared disturb a hawthorn, especially the fabled « lone tree », which is often associated with holy wells and doorways to the otherworld. The May tree, as the name implies, is a symbol of springtime and is associated with magical powers and the little people.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |