Celtic Tree Month of Reed (Elm)

* 12th Moon of the Celtic Year - (October 28 - November 24)

* Latin name: Latin name: American Elm - ulmus americana; European Elm - ulmus procera; slippery Elm - ulmus fulva.

* Celtic name: Negetal (pronounced: nyettle).

* Folk or Common names: In Britain where the Reed tree is the dwarf elm, it is called the Water-Elder, Whitten, or Rose Petal. Since I use the immature Elm tree in place of the Reed tree, the Elm is usually known as Elm, and sometimes Piss-Elm (due to the smell it makes while being burned as a green wood).

* Parts Used: Bark, leaves, wood.

* Herbal usage: The Elm has many medicinal uses. Slippery Elm bark can be powdered and made into a milk for babies that can't tolerate cow's milk. In fact, Slippery Elm bark is good for many purposes. In tea, it can ease insomnia and sooth an upset tummy. It is also useful for enemas and makes good poultice material. This type of poultice can be used on wounds, infections, ulcers, burns, and poison ivy.

* Magical History & Associations: The birds associated with the month of Reed are the owl and goose, the color is grass green, and the gemstone is clear green jasper.

Symbols of this Celtic month are The White Hound, The Stone, the Planet Pluto (Pwyll), The Fire Feast of Samhain Dis, Pwyll, and Arawn. Identified with the submerged or hidden dryad, The Month of Reed represents the mysteries of death. In fact the Fire Feast of Samhain celebrates the dead and on Samhain, the boundary between the Otherworld and this world dissolve. It is a night of great divination. Or in another fashion, it represents the hidden roots to all life.

The Month of Reed is associated with being both a savior and custodian. Pwyll, the Celtic ruler of the Otherworld was given "The Stone" , one of four treasures given to him for safekeeping. The Stone represents the right of the kings and queen to have divine power. Thus the Reed is also the symbol of Royalty. The White Hounds represent the dogs that guard the lunar mysteries. The Elm tree is a tree of Saturn and is associated with the element of earth. It is sacred to Odin, Hoenin and Lodr. The elm is also associated with the day of Tuesday.

* Magickal usage: The month of Elm / Reed is a good month for using music in magic, especially music made by bagpipes and flutes, and also for doing divination.

Elm is sometimes said to symbolize the dark side of the psyche and so can be used in psychic workings. The Elm is commonly known as "the elf friend". If you desire to have contact with wood elves, pick a grove of Elm trees and sit under them and sing. Around about dawn, the elves will have gotten over their initial shyness and come out to join in the singing.

Elm trees are also thought to provide a channel for the communication with divas. To get an Elm tree to help you in this quest, offerings can be brought to a favorite tree and left. The best offerings are wine, mead, tobacco, coins and sage. Tiny twigs of Elm can be worn in a bag around a child's neck as a charm to produce eloquent speech in later life. Elm wood may be bound with a yellow cord and burned to prevent gossip.

The Elm represents primordial female powers and therefore the Elm is a tree with great protective qualities. The wood from the Elm can be made into talismans and charms that can be worn for protection. The Elm also has the qualities of regeneration, boldness and fidelity, and so added to its protective qualities, it is excellent when given as a good luck token to departing friends. Using Elm is spellwork adds stability to the spell.

According to Edain McCoy in her article, "Willow for Love, Oak for strength" (1997 Llewellyn Magickal Almanac), a tea can be made for the month of Reed that includes a pinch of slippery Elm:

REED MOON TEA - Fertility, love, protection.

1 part red clover
1 part hyssop
1 part boneset
pinch of slippery elm

**Note: Please be very, VERY careful when taking this tea! These are powerful herbs, meant to be used by more or less experienced herbalists and witches. Boneset is toxic in large doses or if taken over long period of time. To use, put in a tea ball and steep for 5 or 6 minutes.

(from Sarah Nunn, aka Sarah the Swamp Witch.)

This resonated.

If there is to be peace in the world,
there must be peace in the nations.

If there is to be peace in the nations,
there must be peace in the cities.

If there is to be peace in the cities,
there must be peace between neighbours.

If there is to be peace between neighbours,
there must be peace in the home.

If there is to be peace in the home,
there must be peace in the heart.

– Lao Tzu (570-490 BC)

Celtic Tree Month of Ivy

* 11th Moon of the Celtic Year - (Sept 30 - Oct 27)

* Latin name: Osirian Ivy - hedera helix

* Celtic name: Gort (pronounced: goert).

* Folk or Common names: Ivy.

* Parts Used: leaves, bark, berries. Caution: Some types of Ivy are poisonous.

* Herbal usage: The leaves of Ivy can be used to make a douche for treating female infections. Ivy leaves can also be used externally for poultices to heal nerves, sinews, ulcers and infections. Tender ivy twigs can be simmered in salves to heal sunburn.

* Magical History & Associations: Ivy is the symbol of resurrection. Ivy is an herb of Jupiter and the sun, and is associated with positive ego strength. The bird associated with this month is the mute swan, the color is blue, and the gemstone is yellow serpentine.

Ivy is sacred to Osiris and Saturn. It is also connected with the god Dionysus. When Zeus's wife Hera, discovered that Zeus had bedded Semele, the daughter of Cadmus, King of Thebes, Hera suggested to Semele that she should ask Zeus to unveil himself to her. When he did so, his divine flames consumed her and almost killed her unborn child, Dionysus, but for a sudden growth of ivy. In still another story of the deities, Kissos is the name given to a nymph who dances so furiously at a Dionysian feast that she collapses and dies of exhaustion. Dionysus, grieving her untimely death, changes her into ivy. Most Ivies have five-pointed leaves which are sacred to the Goddess.

* Magickal usage: The month of Ivy is a good time to do magick for rebirth and tenaciousness. Ivy has attributes of restraint of fear and dealing with Emotions. Ivy grows in a sacred spiral, which symbolizes reincarnation, from lifetime to lifetime, and from minute to minute, day to day. Ivy travels everywhere - it spreads happily and thrives in many places where no other greenery could survive - its determination to reach through obstacles toward light and food is well known, and therefore Ivy symbolizes strength.

Ivy has many uses in Magick done for healing, protection, cooperation, and exorcism, and is very useful in fertility magick. Ivy is also equated with fidelity and can be used in charms to bind love, luck and fidelity to a person. A talisman made of Ivy would be good to give a friend since it will help ensure eternal friendship. Ivy provides protection against evil when growing on or near a house but should it fall off and die, misfortune was said to be on the way.

Ivy was sometimes used in divination: an ivy leaf placed in water on New Year' s Eve that was still be fresh on Twelfth Night foretold that the year ahead would be favorable. Should ivy not grow upon a grave, the soul of the person buried there is said to be restless - and should it grown abundantly on the grave of a young woman, then this meant that she died of a broken heart.

Ivy is also connected with the Winter Solstice and is often used for decorating at Yule-tide. Ivy, intertwined with Holly, is traditionally made into crowns for the bride and groom at weddings/handfastings. Ivy was also used in ancient times for poet's crowns, since Ivy was believed to be a source of divine inspiration. Ivy was also used by the Greeks to make victory crowns for conquering heroes in the games held at Corinth. Holly and Ivy make excellent decorations for altars. An early church council even attempted to ban the use of Ivy in church decorations because of its Pagan associations.

(from Sarah Nunn, aka Sarah the Swamp Witch.

Does your online home need redecorating?

Isabella Snow is having a blog makeover contest. Here are the details, straight from her blog.

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September's Blogbunnie Blog Makeover Contest!
Rules for Isabella Snow's September blog makeover contest! Entering is easy! Just copy and paste this (entire) blurb to your blog (make sure the links still work!) and then email Isabella a link to your blog post. The contest deadline is at midnight GMT September 30. One winner will be selected the following day by a drawing of names; the name will be posted here and the winner will be emailed, as well. A new, totally original blog will be completed within two weeks of winning. One entry per blog. *Blogger.com customization only*, see the Blogbunnie Blog Design portfolio for layout options.
Good luck!
xx Isabella

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And good luck from me, too!

Music is everywhere.

I saw this on Facebook a few minutes ago. So beautiful in its simplicity.

Birds on the Wires from Jarbas Agnelli on Vimeo.

New Moon, New Beginning

Today I began something new. Each morning and evening, I will set aside some "quiet time" to focus on my devotions. Since discovering The Celtic Devotional way back in April, I have been meaning to make it a part of my daily life.

Well, today was Day One. Not only do I read the morning and evening devotions aloud, but I'm keeping a journal as well. Each morning, I write down the almanac details for the day (Celtic tree month, moon's phase, sign, and void of course, et cetera), and then during my "quiet time", I journal my responses to the meditation questions in the book. At the end of the day, I also write in three things for which I am grateful, and if there's room (and I have one I've found), I finish off the day's journal entry with a meaningful quotation.

Taking the time to focus on my spirituality is important to me. I am much happier when I feel connected with the Creator and the Earth. There is a reason they call it "grounded." I am certain that is why I feel so calm when I "talk" with the trees. Feeling their energy in my hands and feeling my energy channel through them deep down into the Earth is a sense of serenity I can barely describe. I need to do it more often.

Just like I need to make my devotions a daily habit. Here's hoping it sticks.

Sharing this with you.

I have recently stumbled across the blog of an artist whose work makes me absolutely pulse with joy. Her name is Jennifer MacNeill-Traylor, and her site is called Gypsy Mare Studios.

Her artwork often combines two of my favourite themes: horses and "all things witchy!" It's incredible.

Having looked at her work, I felt compelled to share. Maybe you will, too.