Celtic Tree Calender

Celtic Tree Calender

A Guide to tree and their symbolism
By Ravenfox
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Trees and moon
There are two types of Celtic Tree Calendars in use today. One is the Beth-Luis which
begins on Winter Solstice and goes from new moon to new moon. The other is the
Beth-Luis-Fearn which begins on Samhain and goes from Full Moon to Full Moon.
The Celtic tree calendar is made up of thirteen months and day. Each month is named for a
tree which signifies particular qualities of that moon during that lunar cycle.
Robert Graves in his book The White Goddess describes how he decoded the tree
calendar from the recorded poetry of the Celtic peoples. He was researching the tree
alphabet used by the druids in Ireland. Each letter in the alphabet stands for a tree or shrub:

B = birch or beth
L =rowan or luis
N =Ash or nion
F =alder or fearn
S =willow or sallie
H =hawthorn or uath
D =oak or duir
T =holly or tinne
C =hazel or coll
M =vine or muin
G =ivy or gort
P =dwarf elder or pethboc
R =elder or ruis

Re: Celtic Tree Calender

Vowels
A =silver fir or ailm
O =furze or onn
U= heather or ur
E =white popular or eadha
I =yew or idho

Graves noticed that the constants (of which there are 13) formed a calendar of seasonal
tree magic. Also the celts used a lunar cycle which consists of the thirteen months which
correlates to the thirteen constants.

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The Song of Amergin
Robert Graves suggest that certain Welsh and Irish poetry contain calendrical themes, the
Song of Amergin is One. It was said to have been chanted when the Milesian set foot upon
Ireland. The Romance of Talesian is one of many other poems that are variations of this
theme.

12/24 to 1/21 I am the stag of seven tines Birch
1/22 to 2/18 I am a wide flood on a plain Rowan
2/19 to 3/18 I am a wind on the deep waters Ash
3/19 to 4/15 I am a shining tear of the sun Alder
4/16 to 5/13 I am a hawk on a cliff Willow
5/14 to 6/10 I am a fair amongst flowers Hawthorn
6/11 to 7/8 I am a god who who sets Oak
the head afire with smoke
7/9 to 8/5 I am the battle-waging spear Holly
8/6 to 9/2 I am a salmon in a pool Hazel
9/3 to 9/30 I am a hill of poetry Vine
10/1 to 10/28 I am a ruthless boar Ivy
10/29 to 11/25 I am a threatening noise from the sea Reed
11/26 to 12/22 I am a wave on the sea Elder
12/23 Who but I knows the secret
of the unhewn dolmen

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Why Base a Calendar on Trees
Trees are one the most potent magic symbols, especial for the celts. Tree formed a bridge
that carries water from the earth up to the sky. They provide food, shelter, water, tools,
warmth and medicine. They also change with the seasons providing a symbolic reminders of
the cyclic rhythms of nature. Also the cycle of life, death and rebirth. Trees live far longer
then humans and their memory can span hundreds of years.
The Celtic Tree Calendar may not be an actual historic calendar used by ancient pagans, but
I think it helps modern pagans put the year into a pagan perspective. It puts one in tune
with the cycle of the natural seasons, unlike the modern calendar in where the season starts
on the solstice, which is the mid-point of the given season. There is the rhythm of the
moon, the White goddess is present in regular even intervals unlike the haphazard months
of the Geogorian Calendar. The year ends after the bounty of the harvest, a time to
commune with ancestral spirits. Most importantly it adds the poetic magic back to life. The
modern world for all it technological wonder has lost the poetic magic that makes life truly
wonderful. Look for the moon in the trees, both are older and wiser then we. Look to them
to life the poetry in life.
Blessed be. Ravenfox

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The Celtic tree calendar is made up of thirteen months and day. Each month is named for a
tree which signifies particular qualities of that moon during that lunar cycle.

Birch: Beth (B) the first letter of the druidic alphabet
and sacred to Cerridwen. The birch represents beginnings
and birth. The whiteness of the tree suggests a connect
to the white moon goddess. She is the birth giver and
death bringer and in crone form the carrion eating sow.
Birch is the Moon of Inception, the Birch symbolizes
protection of children purification and creativity. Month
of inception.

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Rowan: Luis (L) the second letter of the druidic tree
alphabet and sacred to the goddess Brigit. Rowan is
useful for breaking evil enchantments. An irish folk tale
tells of the Rowan of the north that bore the berries of
immortality. Moon of Vision, spirit moon and astral travel
moon, the Rowan symbolizes healing, personal
empowerment and divination. Tree of life.

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Ash: Nion(N) The latin name is fraxinus meaning
firelight and is thought to have meant the light of
knowledge and is traditional for the yule log. Moon of
the Waters,The Ash symbolizes prosperity, protection and
healing. Tree of sea power.

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Alder: Fearn (F) a letter sacred to Bran brother of
branwen Keeper of the Cauldron of Regeneration. The
Alder stood for resurrection. Moon of Unity, Efficacy and
Self Guidance, the Alder symbolizes spiritual teaching
weather magic and mental prowess. Tree of fire.

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Willow: Sallie (S) and that letter was sacred to the goddess Arianhrod. Willow bark is one of the old pain relievers and it is still used today in the form of asprin. Witch's Moon, Moon of Balance, trees symbolize romantic love, healing, protection, fertility magic for women. Tree of strife, tree of self-imposed chastity.

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Hawthorn: Utah (H) sacred to the goddess Maia the goddess of love and death. She is both the ever young virgin giving birth to the god and the grandmother bringing him to the end of the season. The Hawthorn represents the Moon of Restraint, hinderance. The Hawthorn represents fertility, peace, prosperity and binding. The tree is associated with sexuality and destruction. It was thought that sleeping in a house with Hawthorn blossoms would cause great misfortune. Although on May Day the blossoms are placed at the base of the May Pole. The gathering of Hawthorn blossoms was known as "going a maying". In the legends of Cu Chulain a goddess pronounces a curse on him in crow form and flies to a thicket of Hawthorns known as "Hawthorn of the crow".