Notes from Diane's Garden
Or The Curious Lore and Magical Property of Plants
By Diane Fenster
Lammas 1989: Ash
Greetings my pretties, I'm back from vacation and ready to roll once again. Let's take up where we left off in the tree series and weave a tale of the Ash.
ASH
Burn Ashwood green,
Tis fire for a queen;
Burn Ashwood sear,
'Twill make a man swear.
--Old English rhyme
Known as Fraxinus excelsior from the
Latin frango, meaning I break. This refers to the bark, which is easily split. It is ruled by the Sun.
It is sacred to Poseidon, and as Yggdrasil, the World Tree, sacred to Odin, and before either of them, to the triple Goddess as represented by the three Norns of Scandinavian mythology, who dispensed justice under its branches.
Yggdrasil, the World Ash Tree had three roots. One stretched to the realm of the Norns, or Fates, one went to the well of Mimir in the land of the Frost Giants. This well was a source of wisdom and Odin sacrificed the sight of one of his eyes to obtain a drink of the water. In Cornwall, it was said that one could summon Odin by holding branches of Ash, oak and thorn. A secret phrase was uttered. This could only be taught by a woman to a man or a man to a woman.
The third root traveled to the realm of the Goddess Hel, ruler of Niflheim, the underworld. The magic of the runes was one of the secrets that she guarded. In the druidic tree alphabet, N or Nion, the Ash, meant knowledge.
Odin, in his shamanic aspect, hung from the World Tree Yggdrasil for nine nights as a sacrifice to himself. During this time, he gained wisdom and was transformed into a master of magic. Here we can see a relationship to Christ and the cross, the initiatory ordeal bringing about a metamorphosis.
Witches' broomsticks are made of Ash to protect the rider from drowning. But beware if you are separated from your stick. You can be thrown in the water to see if you'll sink or swim.
As we've seen before, our ancestors looked to the growth habits of plants for different types of divination and weather-workings. Here's another rhyme that predicts what the summer weather has in store by which tree leafs out first in the spring;
If the Oak is out before the Ash
'Then you may expect a splash;
But if the Ash is before the Oak,
Then you must beware a soak.
Good luck charms often take the form of plants, like the four leafed clover we all know so well. But Ash leaves are also lucky as the following couplet shows us;
With a four-leaved clover, a double leaved ash,
and a green-topped seave (rush),
You may go before the queen's daughter
without asking leave.
or from Cornwal:
Even Ash I thee do pluck,
Hoping thus to meet good luck;
If no luck I get from thee,
I shall wish thee on a tree.
There are many beliefs and superstitions regarding the Ash. This is an indication of how sacred it is and because of this it is also used for protection. Honey from the Ash tree was the first food given to newborns in some parts of Europe, and in Scotland, a green Ash stick was burnt at one end so that sap oozed out the other. This sap was then given to the newborn. We also find it being used as a protection against snakes and vipers. If a circle was traced around a sleeping viper using a rod of Ash wood, the viper could not move outside the circle. Peasants protected their babies from snakes while working in the fields by hanging their cradles from the branches of the Ash. In Scotland, a sprig of ash is placed over the bed to protect the occupants. The tree was also planted around the home as a safeguard.
There are tales told in several cultures of races of men being made from the wood of the Ash. Zeus made a race of "terrible and pugnacious" men from this wood. The prose Edda tells us that three sons of the giant, Odin being the eldest of the three, made the first man, Askr, from a block of Ash found by the sea. The Vikings came to be known as "Ashmen"; their spear shafts, axe handles and often their ships were made out of Ash as a protection against drowning, just like the witch's broomstick.
These majestic trees inspired great awe in our ancestors. It seems that a great deal of the symbolism and mystery of the Ash stems from the growth habits of the tree itself. The trunk of the tree can become knotted and twisted as it struggles to survive the harsh winters of the northern climates. It can grow on higher ground and more northern latitudes than many other trees. Areas of England that were ancient Saxon strongholds are often marked by a group of knotted old Ash trees.
In Devon and Somerset, the Yule Log, symbol of the returning light after the Winter Solstice, is traditionally made of Ash bound with nine withes and lit from charred twigs from last years' fire.
The Ash figures strongly in old curative rituals and spells. Curing thrush (a mouth disease) required the finding of an Ash growing beside running water. A thread was tied round one of its twigs with thee knots. For two more days, three more knots were tied each day then the string was passed through the child's mouth.
Once again we find a cure involving a split or hole in the tree. A cure for hernia or rickets has a child being passed through a split in an Ash sapling. Whooping cough was treated by pinning a lock of hair to the tree. Warts were cured by the parents by pressing a new pin into the bark of the Ash then into the wart until pain was felt, then back into the tree. A less painful method involved crossing the wart with a new pin three times and chanting
Ashen tree, Ashen tree,
Pray buy this wart off me.
Then the pin is stuck in the tree and the wart is supposed to grow on the tree instead of you. April and May were considered the best months for trying to cure children's warts. Even cattle diseases were treated with the Ash. Mice and shrews were entombed in holes in the tree. When they died, the cattle were cured.
The Prime Mover of the Universe