Full of vigour,
In garden and field,
Sweet ivy.
Sweet ivy,
Forever weaving,
Rarely enclosed.
Already it’s August and Lammas is upon us; a time when we celebrate the summer and the gathering in of the harvest. There’s work to be done as the wheel of the year turns towards the Autumn Equinox and the darker days of winter.
Ivy, Gort in Irish, is the 12th letter (G) in the Ogham Tree Year. As Yuri Leitch says in his book The Ogham Grove, Ivy is an evergreen and is seen symbolically, as immortal; of the spirit world.
Ivy, Hedera helix, is not actually a tree, but a climber belonging to the Aralia family, Araliaceae. A slow grower it can live for hundreds of years. Its fruits are nutritious to birds like blackbirds and thrushes but they are poisonous to humans if ingested: the berries contain Triterpenoid Saponins and Oxalate Crystals. The leaves were collected as fodder for livestock from ancient times up until the 16th century.
In ancient Egypt, Ivy was dedicated to Osiris, the lord of vegetation. Along with the vine, it was concocted to use in ceremonies to honour the Greek vegetation god Dionysos, called Bacchus by the Romans.
A tough wood, it has been used to make tool handles.
Ashley
Books I’ve used as references:
The Ogham Grove by Yuri Leitch ISBN 9781517653637
The Spirit of Trees by Fred Hageneder ISBN 0-86315-557-X
A Different View 
Nice artwork and hokku verses, Ash! I enjoyed reading the natural history of the ivy plant, and that’s a great looking Ogham stick! Happy Autumn, Ashleaf! Get out and celebrate!! Hey to Carol! Hope you two are doing well! https://www.flickr.com/photos/140386565@N02/55434244962/in/dateposted-public/
Edvard, the monk without a religion.
Thanks, Edo-san, I nearly didn’t finish this one! I’ll write to explain. I need to write anyway to respond to your last message with photos! Lovely. 👍🙇♂️
I like your art work and verse. I’d not heard of Lammas before, so thank you for the information about it and ivy. I also hadn’t realized that ivy could produce wood big enough to use as tool handles. I’ve only seen thinner stalks of it.
Thank you Katelon, for your lovely comments. Lammas lies halfway between the summer solstice and the autumn equinox, one of the eight Celtic festivals. 🤗💐🙇♂️
Love your poem and illustration, Ashley. I wasn’t aware that the vines of the English Ivy could grow so thick. I’ve now learned that it’s also an invasive plant that should be avoided in one’s garden. Best wishes to you and your wife ❤
Dear Rosaliene, thank you for your lovely comments and good wishes. My wife’s recovery has been slow but sure, even with some setbacks. 🤗🌺🙇♂️
That’s good news about your wife 🙂 Healing is so much harder as we age. I will keep her in my prayers ❤
We had Ivy in the yard where I was growing up. It doesn’t grow, or at least I haven’t seen it at all, in Hawaii. Probably too warm.
Though I had no idea it developed wood hard enough to carve! Very cool! 🌺♥️🌏
Many thanks Bela. Yes, it was only when having to lay a new piece of hedge that I discovered how vigourous ivy can be. It felt like I was actually fighting it off! 😉🤗🙇♂️
Thank you Ashley,
Your art is mesmerising , I love the way the colours weave their way around like ivy does too. I didn’t know about ivy growing for so long and growing slowly. It was refreshing and informative as in South Africa we have a problem with ivy taking over everything and so it is considered a pest.
PS I forgot to say that I enjoyed your poem too🌹🙋
Dear Morag, thank you for you wonderful comments. Indeed, here too, ivy is often thought of as a pest; if it’s allowed to, it will take over. 🤗💐🙇♂️
🤗🦋
Interesting. Indeed time flies quickly – already August. If you get some rain you could send it over to London please ♥♥♥
Hello Ute, if we get rain! It has been sooo dry here recently but at least we haven’t had your exceedingly hot sun. Fingers crossed we all have some rain soon! Perhaps a rain dance? 🤗🌺🙇♂️
Oh we did try the rain dance…..maybe a Sundance backwards ??? Anything for a bit of water. 🙏🙏🙏
I cannot believe how quickly this year is speeding by.
We have ivy hanging down over our shed from the garden that backs onto our yard. We were ( or Wil was!) going to cut it back, but seems to have had birds galore in it all year and some nests. Will have to wait longer!
I’m never sure that time goes quickly because we’re busy! How come I feel like I haven’t done much this year? Winter’s a good time to cut the ivy back, when plants are dormant. It’ll grow quickly again!
love your images and words.. it’s amazing how fast it goes❣️
Dear Cindy, thank you. The older I am the more I wish I could find a way to slow everything down. I could become a hermit but that would be just too much! 🙃🙄
A very late happy lammas/lughnasad. I’ve felt the year beginning to turn this week. There is something in the air, a loss amidst all the harvest. I can’t explain it.
Thank you Ruth. Yes, definitely something in the air. We’ve just had about 15 minutes of heavy rain! Not enough really! 🤗🙇♂️
Lovely composition, Ashley….the art and the verses!
Thank you Indira, for your visit and lovely comments. 🤗🙇♂️