It’s February, and on the ancient pagan calendar, it is the beginning of spring. Whilst my first picture is from autumn last year, it is of a berried Rowan tree, and the Rowan or as it is sometimes called, the Mountain Ash, is featured in many myths and legends in Celtic and pagan stories. It has many other names: Witch Wiggin Tree; Wizard’s Tree; Rowanberry; Quickbeam.

True grit,
On a mountainside;
A Rowan tree.

The tree is tough and frost resistant and can grow on the lower slopes of mountains up to 1800 m / 5900 ft.  It is light demanding, growing in the margins and clearings, and is tolerant of most soils.  A good tree for small gardens too, as it won’t grow more than 15 m / 50 ft.  With white spring flowers and orange / red berries in autumn, birds and insects love this tree.  The tree also has many associations with lichens and fungi.  The wood is easy to work and has been used to make small items such as spindles and stakes. Whilst it doesn’t grow to be a very old tree it is fast growing and allows other trees to establish. Known as a pioneer tree, it is tenacious, taking root even in inhospitable locations.

Rowan is the 2nd tree in the Celtic Tree Ogham. In Old Gaelic it was called Luis, pronounced LOO-sh, and is believed to signify the letter L. It is the sacred tree of Brigit or Brigid [ 1 ] who is celebrated on the 1st February, heralding the arrival of spring. A black 5 pointed star is conspicuous on the berries which is seen as a sacred mystical symbol, the pentagram, aligning with earth, air, fire, water and spirit. Wands of Rowan have been used to make protective magic circles or for summoning creative energy.

Below is a photo of the script for Rowan which I carved into a piece of Rowan wood:

The Imbolc festival is the mid point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox and also celebrates creativity, divination and the traditions of the arts, especially poetry and song.  Brigid is in fact the patroness of healing, smithcraft and poetry, so, from Mandy Haggith's anthology (see below) I have selected a short piece from the poem Robin's Rowan [ 2 ] by Colin Will:

Your power, enchantress, is in your leafy shield;
A berried blessing, sanguine, steadfast.
Stand so for us, for all your green hands shade.

And here is some more of my artwork to honour the lovely Rowan:

In music I can only recall one song that features the Rowan, it is a traditional Scottish folk song, The Rowan Tree, written by Carolina Oliphont (Lady Nairne) (1766-1845) and it was used in the 2022 movie Living, sung by Lisa Knapp. Here is a link:

If you wish to read the full lyrics of the song, I’ve added a link below [ 3 ]

Have a wonderful spring.

Ashley

Links and resources:

[ 1 ]  Brigit / Brigid:  https://druidry.org/resources/brigid-survival-of-a-goddess

[ 2 ]  Colin Will’s poem, see:  Into The Forest, An Anthology of Tree Poems, edited by Mandy Haggith, published by Saraband

[ 3 ]  Lyrics:  https://www.scottish-country-dancing-dictionary.com/rowan-tree.html

Here are some books for further reading:

• Sacred Earth Celebrations by Glennie Kindred (2023)
• Walking with Trees by Glennie Kindred (2019)
• The Ogham Year Wheel by Yuri Leitch (2017)
• The Spirit of Trees, Science, Symbiosis and Inspiration by Fred Hageneder (2006)
• The New Silva, A Discourse of Forests and Orchard Trees for the 21st Century by Gabriel Hemery and Sarah Simblet; published by Bloomsbury (2014)