Notes from Diane's Garden
Or The Curious Lore and Magical Property of Plants
By Diane Fenster
Beltaine 1989: Willow
In keeping with the symbolism of the Weeping Willow, this article is dedicated to the memory of Abbie Hoffman, Yippie crazyman who took Chicago and the Stock Exchange by storm and who didn't let go of his ideals even at 52 when his spirit left us to cycle round again. You'll be missed, Abbie, there aren't many left like you.
WILLOW
One of the greatest gifts of the Goddess that comes from healing plants is the preparation made from the bark of the Willow tree, known to the witches as one of the oldest sources of pain relief and still one of the best. It was appropriated by the physicians when they took over the art of curing from the local herb women. We know this preparation as aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid, salic coming from Salix, the Willow).
The bark of the willow is sovereign against rheumatic cramps formerly thought to be caused by witchcraft.
The Goddess's prime orgiastic bird, the wrvneck, or snake bird, or cuckoo's mateła Spring migrant which hisses like a snake, lies flat along a bough, erects its crest when angry, writhes its neck about, lays white eggs, eats ants, and has markings on its feathers like those on the scales of oracular serpents in Ancient Greeceł always nests in willow-trees.
Moreover, the lyknos, or basket-sieve anciently used for winnowing corn, was made from willow; it was in winnowing sieves of this sort, 'riddles', that the North Berwick witches confessed to King James I that they went to sea on their witches' sabbaths.
A famous Greek picture by Polygnotus at Delphi represented Orpheus as receiving the gift of mystic eloquence by touching willow-trees in a grove of Persephone; compare the injunction in The Song of the Forest Trees: 'Burn not the willow, a tree sacred to poets.'
The willow is the tree of enchantment and is the fifth tree of the year; five (V) was the number sacred to the Roman Moon-goddess Minerva. The month extends from April 15th to May l2th, and May Day, famous for its orgiastic revels and its magic dew, falls in the middle. It is possible that the carrying of sallow-willow branches on Palm Sunday, a variable feast which usually falls early in April, is a custom that properly belongs to the beginning of the willow month.
Willow is taken from the Old English words wilig, welige and withig, all which indicate a plant suitable for withes or ties, the twigs of the malleable willow being used in basketwork and wickerwork. Salix is the generic name for the many varieties of Willow. The word is thought to be derived from the Celtic sal and lis meaning near water.
It is interesting to note the contrast that exists amongst the symbolisms of the Willow. First we find as said previously, that the tree is sacred to the month of May, a time of joyous abandon and fertility rituals as the earth clothes herself in green finery. Yet the Willow is the sad and weeping tree, sacred to Circe, Persephone and Hecate. In the Language of Flowers, it symbolizes celibacy and forsaken love, the Weeping Willow symbolizing saddness and mouming. The Jews hung their harps upon the branches of the Willow tree when they were in exile from Jerusalem. "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof" (Psalm 137:1-2).1 think that in this contrast we find an example of the pagan understanding of the bittersweet nature of the wheel of life. Even in the most fertile of times, death lies in wait, and from death comes new life.
Forsaken lovers wear a Willow garland as a symbol of their grief. For those who are in mourning, the Willow would be an appropriate plant to carry, or to place upon the altar. Willow baskets could be used to carry offerings to the dead.
"When once the lover's rose is dead,
Or laid aside forlorn,
Then willow-garlands 'bout the head
Bedewed with tears are worn"
--Herrick
On the side of fertility, Willow water (water that has had willow twigs soaking in it) has amazing growth capabilities. It's well documented that soaking cuttings of plants such as roses in willow water before setting them out to root will greatly increase the chances of the cutting's success. Herbalists also recommend willow water as a hair rinse to treat dandruff.
Children or cows should not be beaten with a Willow stick since the plant decays early. In some parts of England, it is unlucky to bring a branch of Willow into the house, elsewhere a branch of Willow placed by the bedside was thought to have a cooling effect on a person who has a fever.
In Bohemia the superstition says that Judas hanged himself on a willow tree, and the Devil has given the tree an attraction to suicides. Willow is another one of the trees that was used in that magical healing ritual we've encountered of passing a child between the split halves of the tree.
The Prime Mover of the Universe