The Hawthorn - May Tree Lore

The Hawthorn Tree is one of the Sacred trees of Wicca/Witchcraft, associated with the Spring Celebrations. The main Spring celebration is that of Beltane or May Day, honouring the Sun God Belenus. His festival commenced on the first day the Hawthorn blossoms opened, but nowadays it is celebrated on the 1st of May.

Britain provides home to two main types; the English Hawthorn and Common Hawthorn. In Germany it is known as Hagedorn, meaning Hedgethorn, which suggests to us that from a very early period, the Germans divided their land into plots with hedges. The word "haw" is also an old word for hedge.

The tree will grow thirty feet in height and lives to a great age... sometimes exceeding four hundred years. It possesses a single, bulbous seed-vessel to each blossom producing a separate fruit, which when ripe is a prominent red. This, in miniature, is a stony apple and in some districts, the names Pixie Pears, Cuckoo's Beads and Chucky Cheese are given to these mealy red fruits.

The Hawthorn's wood was used for making small articles, as it has a fine grain and takes a beautiful polish. The root-wood was used for making boxes and combs. It also makes excellent fuel, providing the hottest wood-fire known, and it used to be considered more desirable than Oak for oven-heating; it's charcoal having been said to melt pig-iron without the aid of a blast.

Folklore and Myths

In Irish folklore, the Hawthorn, or Whitethorn may also be referred to as the Faery Bush, and it was considered bad luck to cut it in fear of offending the faeries that inhabited it. However, during the Beltane celebrations the collecting of the sprigs and flowers was allowed for use in the festivities, after which they were place in the home to banish all evil influences. In Teutonic lore, the Hawthorn had an entirely different meaning. They considered the tree to be a symbol of death and its wood was used for funeral pyres.

In Ancient Greece, wedding couples wore crowns of Hawthorn blossoms, and the wedding party all carried burning Hawthorn torches. The Roman goddess Cardea, who presided over marriage and childbirth, was associated with the Hawthorn. She was also known as the White Goddess and was the mistress of Janus who guarded all doorways and portals, as such Cardea became known as the 'hinge of the door of the year'. Her primary symbol was the Hawthorn branch and her Festival was celebrated in May. In Italian iconography she is depicted carrying a bough of Hawthorn as a protective emblem. This led to the practice of placing Hawthorn leaves in the cradles of newborn children for protection.

The Hawthorn is often referred to in verse by the phrase "by oak, ash, and thorn". The "thorn" refers to that of the Hawthorn tree and is used as a blessing during ritual, or to affirm a charge of power in spellcraft. In folklore, the Oak, Ash, and Thorn have all been associated with portals into the Realm of the Faeries. In this regard, the Hawthorn, in its connection with Cardea as the 'hinge on the door' into the Faery Realm, became the guardian and protector of the entrances to the Oak and Ash portals. Unless the Hawthorn allowed access to the doorways, the Faery Realm remained unseen. Of old, it was practice to plant Hawthorn around Oak and Ash Tree Groves in order to protect them from damage by storms or grazing cattle.

Medicinal uses

The Hawthorn contains Amyddalin; its bark, the alkaloid Crataegin, which is isolated in gray-white crystals that are bitter in taste and soluble in water.

The Hawthorn has been used as a sedative, an anti-spasmodic and a diuretic, and is a natural regulator of arterial blood pressure. Known as "Valerian of the Heart", the Hawthorn was most valued as a heart stimulant. As such it was mainly used as a cardiac tonic in functional heart troubles. As a useful diuretic, it was used in dropsy and in kidney troubles.

The flowers and berries are astringent and useful in decoctions to cure sore throats.

The leaves have been used as an adulterant for tea, and an excellent liqueur brandy is made from its berries.

Folk Names

Hawthorn, May, Mayblossom, May Bush, Mayflower, Quick, Thorn, Whitethorn, Haw, Huath, Gazels, Halves, Hagthorn, Ladies' Meat, Bread and Cheese Tree and Tree of Chastity.

Deities

Cardea, Flora and Hyman.

Gender

Masculine.

Planet Ruler

Mars

Associated Element

Fire.

Used to Attract the Powers Needed For

Health, Fertility, Chastity, Weddings, Protection and Death.

Hawthorn People - Born During April

Astrologically, Hawthorn People are stubborn but loving people and tend to be very beautiful in youth. They bring out the worst in their friends... not in a bad way, but more as a way of helping them to root out bad habits and attitudes. They are supportive and protective of all they consider to be family. They can be difficult to work with, having a single-minded attitude, but they do not joke around... they attend only to the business at hand, which makes them very shrewd business people. They are very dependable and stable, and won't go back on their word.