Sacred Willow tree
Salix
Come dear ones, and follow the beguiling call of a gentle river. As you step wind down the labyrinthine path you emerge on a sunlit bank, with all manner of willows standing sentinel over the waters. Make yourself comfortable; perhaps find a few strands of willow to braid as you rest in the sweet succor of willow’s magic. Willow is valued right across the globe by many magical traditions.....
Often seen to be the first to flush with leaves in the spring and the last to resign to the call of Autumn, willows are steadfast through any season. There is over three hundred different species in the willow genre. The most popular in Western traditions are the white willow Salix Alba and the weeping willow Salix Babylonica.
Identification:
The white willow usually has 1-4 trunks and an irregular but open crown. The leaves range from light green to brown in coluor but all have a pale white underside. The catkins form in the spring, with male and female flowers on different trees and rely upon pollination. Perhaps this is why White Willow traditionally made a popular choice as a honey tree, benefitting both bee and tree alike.
Weeping Willow, Salix Babylonica, is a native to China but traveled along the ancient trade routes and made its way to Europe and then across the oceans. It has ‘pendulous’ long branches that hang in a veritable curtain and there is truly nothing as splendid on a warm summer afternoon than the cooling shelter of a spreading willow along a riverbank. It is a medium to large tree, with a dark bark and long slender green leaves. It also has catkins in the spring and like the white willow relies on pollination as the male and female flowers bloom on separate trees.
Identification:
The white willow usually has 1-4 trunks and an irregular but open crown. The leaves range from light green to brown in coluor but all have a pale white underside. The catkins form in the spring, with male and female flowers on different trees and rely upon pollination. Perhaps this is why White Willow traditionally made a popular choice as a honey tree, benefitting both bee and tree alike.
Weeping Willow, Salix Babylonica, is a native to China but traveled along the ancient trade routes and made its way to Europe and then across the oceans. It has ‘pendulous’ long branches that hang in a veritable curtain and there is truly nothing as splendid on a warm summer afternoon than the cooling shelter of a spreading willow along a riverbank. It is a medium to large tree, with a dark bark and long slender green leaves. It also has catkins in the spring and like the white willow relies on pollination as the male and female flowers bloom on separate trees.
Folklore and Magic
In general, Willows are twinned deeply with both the Moon and the Water element- and although I work with white willow and weeping willow differently, many of their inherent qualities are very similar. Willow is wonderful for divination, Underworld workings and funerary rites, besom making and ritual basket weaving. It is a timeless symbol of the cycle of life, death and rebirth and as such can be very powerful in healing, protection and fertility spells. Willow is also greatly connected to the Goddess and the divine feminine. It is a tree of deep dreaming, intuition, and watery emotions, and is connected deeply to the work of the priestess.
Barbara Walker notes that willow is sacred to several goddesses Belili, who came before Ishtar was also called the Willow Mother and in the Hellenistic pantheon, willow is sacred to Persephone, Circe, Hera, Artemis, Helice and Hecate.
The Seneca, a North American indigenous tribe, has a loving bond with all Trees, calling them The Standing People. They consider the Willow to be a source of gentle humility, charm and grace adding elegance as She touches Her fronds to the Mother Earth, sweeping away fear to nurture peace. Other tribes used willow in basket weaving, house building and medicine.
Beloved also by the early Celts, in the Ogham (tree alphabet), the willow is Saille, which became anglicized to "sally", meaning a sudden outburst of emotion, action, or expression (to "sally forth").
The willow has much to teach us through its association with our feminine aspects. By spending time with willows, using willow wood to make a talisman or wand, or using willow medicinally or as a Bach flower remedy, we can deepen this connection. Spending time with willow trees at the full moon also can increase the potency of the insights and understanding there to be gained. Working with the willow in the spring and early summer, when the willow energy and the Earth's energy are aligned, is also a particularly potent time to explore its aspects.
The willow has always been known as a tree of dreaming and enchantment, and is associated in Celtic legend with poets and with spells of fascination and binding. This is the willow moon energy, which puts us in touch with our feelings and deep emotions, and it is the gift of the willow to help us to express these emotions, let them out, own them, and change them, in fantastical leaps of inspired eloquence and understanding! Our deep, unconscious thoughts speak to us through our dreams. If you have lost touch with your dreams or wish to increase their potency, make yourself a willow wand and sleep with it under your pillow. You will find your dreams will immediately become more vivid and meaningful. Studying your dreams, writing them down, opening your intuition to interpreting them, can lead to the healing of emotional problems and the release of tensions in your life.
Barbara Walker notes that willow is sacred to several goddesses Belili, who came before Ishtar was also called the Willow Mother and in the Hellenistic pantheon, willow is sacred to Persephone, Circe, Hera, Artemis, Helice and Hecate.
The Seneca, a North American indigenous tribe, has a loving bond with all Trees, calling them The Standing People. They consider the Willow to be a source of gentle humility, charm and grace adding elegance as She touches Her fronds to the Mother Earth, sweeping away fear to nurture peace. Other tribes used willow in basket weaving, house building and medicine.
Beloved also by the early Celts, in the Ogham (tree alphabet), the willow is Saille, which became anglicized to "sally", meaning a sudden outburst of emotion, action, or expression (to "sally forth").
The willow has much to teach us through its association with our feminine aspects. By spending time with willows, using willow wood to make a talisman or wand, or using willow medicinally or as a Bach flower remedy, we can deepen this connection. Spending time with willow trees at the full moon also can increase the potency of the insights and understanding there to be gained. Working with the willow in the spring and early summer, when the willow energy and the Earth's energy are aligned, is also a particularly potent time to explore its aspects.
The willow has always been known as a tree of dreaming and enchantment, and is associated in Celtic legend with poets and with spells of fascination and binding. This is the willow moon energy, which puts us in touch with our feelings and deep emotions, and it is the gift of the willow to help us to express these emotions, let them out, own them, and change them, in fantastical leaps of inspired eloquence and understanding! Our deep, unconscious thoughts speak to us through our dreams. If you have lost touch with your dreams or wish to increase their potency, make yourself a willow wand and sleep with it under your pillow. You will find your dreams will immediately become more vivid and meaningful. Studying your dreams, writing them down, opening your intuition to interpreting them, can lead to the healing of emotional problems and the release of tensions in your life.
This movement on the emotional level, the allowing of the emotions to come through to the surface, is the power of the willow's essential energy. Deep emotional pain blocks the energy of the body and can cause many illnesses. Willow may allow a person to move through many levels of sadness, express the pain though tears and grief, and thereby facilitate healing. The Bach flower remedy Willow is to be taken by those who have suffered adversity or misfortune in life and remain embittered by it. Willow may help with movement out of this negative state, to a greater interest and involvement in the present.
When you are over-stimulated by your feelings, or you are cut off from them, connecting with a tree that has a water attunement can greatly help. If you are attracted to a particular tree, then follow this and reach out to the tree with openness and a willingness to accept your intuitive responses. Physical contact with a tree will help balance your body's energy, and as you stand or sit with a tree you might receive some insights and inspirational thoughts. If you feel you have made a deep connection with a tree and want to end that communication, move slowly out of it and focus some love-light around the tree. It has been proven that the plant world is greatly enhanced by this. An attitude of thanks and gratitude for nature is also a sure way of opening up the channels of communication with trees and plants.
Culpeper wrote, in his Complete Herbal, "The moon owns the willow"; willow was known as the witches' tree and the tree of enchantment. Robert Graves suggests that the words "witch", "wicker" and "wicked" are all derived from willow. Willow rods are certainly used for binding magical and sacred objects, and the popular witches' broom is traditionally made with an ash handle and birch twigs bound with willow.
Willow wands are used for any ritual associated with the moon, and as a protection on deep journeys into the Underworld and the unconscious, which is what you have been doing in your priestess work…
One of the goddesses deeply associated with the willow is the goddess Diana/Artemis, who is also known as the goddess of the moon and the hunt, as well as childbirth and priestess work, and as a woman who swore never to marry.
The willow will always enhance inspired leaps of the imagination, and is recommended to be used when seeking to assimilate the teachings of a wise woman or master, because it becomes easier to understand another person's enlightened place. Willow is also useful when seeking to understand ancient ways, as it can help with the assimilation of past levels of information, and allow us to quickly move through the underlying emotions, enabling us to appreciate humankind's patterns and utilize this information for change.
Willow's weeping stance reflects its association with grief. By wearing a piece of willow, (as in the popular song "All around my hat I will wear the green willow") a person will be able to access all the levels of grief connected with a loss, and be able to move through them all, expressing the whole deep emotional experience, and gaining healing and inner strength.
When one of the willow's branches or twigs becomes disconnected, it will easily grow into a new tree if it finds some soil and water, teaching us that, contained within a loss, (or a new direction) is the capacity for growth and healing.
Willow is one of the best water-divining woods, along with hazel and birch.
When you are over-stimulated by your feelings, or you are cut off from them, connecting with a tree that has a water attunement can greatly help. If you are attracted to a particular tree, then follow this and reach out to the tree with openness and a willingness to accept your intuitive responses. Physical contact with a tree will help balance your body's energy, and as you stand or sit with a tree you might receive some insights and inspirational thoughts. If you feel you have made a deep connection with a tree and want to end that communication, move slowly out of it and focus some love-light around the tree. It has been proven that the plant world is greatly enhanced by this. An attitude of thanks and gratitude for nature is also a sure way of opening up the channels of communication with trees and plants.
Culpeper wrote, in his Complete Herbal, "The moon owns the willow"; willow was known as the witches' tree and the tree of enchantment. Robert Graves suggests that the words "witch", "wicker" and "wicked" are all derived from willow. Willow rods are certainly used for binding magical and sacred objects, and the popular witches' broom is traditionally made with an ash handle and birch twigs bound with willow.
Willow wands are used for any ritual associated with the moon, and as a protection on deep journeys into the Underworld and the unconscious, which is what you have been doing in your priestess work…
One of the goddesses deeply associated with the willow is the goddess Diana/Artemis, who is also known as the goddess of the moon and the hunt, as well as childbirth and priestess work, and as a woman who swore never to marry.
The willow will always enhance inspired leaps of the imagination, and is recommended to be used when seeking to assimilate the teachings of a wise woman or master, because it becomes easier to understand another person's enlightened place. Willow is also useful when seeking to understand ancient ways, as it can help with the assimilation of past levels of information, and allow us to quickly move through the underlying emotions, enabling us to appreciate humankind's patterns and utilize this information for change.
Willow's weeping stance reflects its association with grief. By wearing a piece of willow, (as in the popular song "All around my hat I will wear the green willow") a person will be able to access all the levels of grief connected with a loss, and be able to move through them all, expressing the whole deep emotional experience, and gaining healing and inner strength.
When one of the willow's branches or twigs becomes disconnected, it will easily grow into a new tree if it finds some soil and water, teaching us that, contained within a loss, (or a new direction) is the capacity for growth and healing.
Willow is one of the best water-divining woods, along with hazel and birch.
Magic and more:
Homeopathic magic and contagious magic can be combined in the making of wands, talismans and any other objects made for personal or ritual use. Making a wand from willow means that all of the willow's qualities are naturally contained within the wood, although you may want to charge or empower certain aspects for specific use.
Willow wands are used whenever there is a need to connect with intuition, dreams, seership, visions, poetic and inspired writing or images, and whenever there is either an emotional numbness or an emotional excess, or where there are negative emotional feelings which need to be worked through.
Use a piece of fresh willow, cut from the tree with appropriate reverence and ritual, or a newly fallen piece that the tree has recently shed. You may like to take some of all of the bark off and carve it with magical symbols or anything else you wish, to energize your wand. It is easier to carve fresh wood and then let it dry out. Small twigs will dry out quickly without cracking inside a house, but it is better to let larger pieces of wood dry slowly in an outbuilding or shed, or under a hedge. When it is dry, it may be polished with several layers of beeswax to protect the wood, or left natural.
Talismans may be made in the same way, perhaps using the natural shape of the wood to suggest and inspire a carving. Talismans may be worn round the neck or as a brooch, or carried within a pouch and kept close. They may be magically carved with symbols relevant to their use.
{This piece was adapted from an original piece by: Glennie Kindred} I highly recommend getting her book Sacred Celebrations. It is out of print, but you can get it used at Amazon-- Sacred Celebrations.
Willow wands are used whenever there is a need to connect with intuition, dreams, seership, visions, poetic and inspired writing or images, and whenever there is either an emotional numbness or an emotional excess, or where there are negative emotional feelings which need to be worked through.
Use a piece of fresh willow, cut from the tree with appropriate reverence and ritual, or a newly fallen piece that the tree has recently shed. You may like to take some of all of the bark off and carve it with magical symbols or anything else you wish, to energize your wand. It is easier to carve fresh wood and then let it dry out. Small twigs will dry out quickly without cracking inside a house, but it is better to let larger pieces of wood dry slowly in an outbuilding or shed, or under a hedge. When it is dry, it may be polished with several layers of beeswax to protect the wood, or left natural.
Talismans may be made in the same way, perhaps using the natural shape of the wood to suggest and inspire a carving. Talismans may be worn round the neck or as a brooch, or carried within a pouch and kept close. They may be magically carved with symbols relevant to their use.
{This piece was adapted from an original piece by: Glennie Kindred} I highly recommend getting her book Sacred Celebrations. It is out of print, but you can get it used at Amazon-- Sacred Celebrations.
Hedgewalking with Willow:
The willow loves to be offered things made with water such as honey water or mead, or even herbal tea are good things to bring to the willow, although pruning helps the willow as well, one can also bring things such as cornmeal and roses.
The willow is a mystical tree and if you are working through something that requires less of your rational mind a good walk through the hedge with willow will cure that right away.
If you are struggling with writers block and creativity in any way willow can help unlock that and allow for more creative flow.
In Bach remedies they speak about thew willow being good for removing negativity and self pity and if you work across the hedge the willow is also god at imparting wisdom in these areas directly as well, so its always worth it to ask, if this is a struggle you are dealing with.
The willow is a mystical tree and if you are working through something that requires less of your rational mind a good walk through the hedge with willow will cure that right away.
If you are struggling with writers block and creativity in any way willow can help unlock that and allow for more creative flow.
In Bach remedies they speak about thew willow being good for removing negativity and self pity and if you work across the hedge the willow is also god at imparting wisdom in these areas directly as well, so its always worth it to ask, if this is a struggle you are dealing with.
Willow/Saille Ogam:
This is a ogam of deep intuition and inner knowing. If you draw this ogam it is time that you trusted you own inner compass and and the unseen forces supporting you on your destiny walk.
Watch for signs form nature, dreams and feeling for these will all support you.
If you drew this ogam reversed it may be that the watery influences of emotion are very strong within you right now clouding your ability to truly tap into your intuition and perhaps backing away form the situation might help you to have a better perspective on it.
This is a ogam of deep intuition and inner knowing. If you draw this ogam it is time that you trusted you own inner compass and and the unseen forces supporting you on your destiny walk.
Watch for signs form nature, dreams and feeling for these will all support you.
If you drew this ogam reversed it may be that the watery influences of emotion are very strong within you right now clouding your ability to truly tap into your intuition and perhaps backing away form the situation might help you to have a better perspective on it.
The magic of willow--making a dream pillow and besom
Willow Dream Pillow
This pillow can be charged on your altar and held during meditation, moon work and placed near your head or under your bed for dream work.
What You Need:
A small muslin/cotton bag
A piece of string
4 oz Mugwort dried
1 oz Dried White Willow Bark
1 oz Lavender, dried
2 oz Rose Petals dried
2 tsp Orris root dried
7 drops of your favorite dreaming essential oil (we like sandalwood or vetivert)
3 drops of willow flower essence
Pretty fabric
Pillow Stuffing
A needle and thread
How To Make:
Step #1– Choose some beautiful material and cut it into two equal squares about 6 by 12 inches (to form the top and bottom of your scented pillow).
Step #2- With the two pieces of fabric back to back- with the printed/pretty side of the fabric facing each other on the inside, stitch three sides together. Then turn the pocket inside out so the pretty side is now outside. This hides the stitching on the inside of the pillow
Step #3- Now grab your mesh bag and fill it with dried herbs. Add your essential oils & flower essences. Tie close with the string.
Step #4- Slide the herb mesh bag into your pillow and pack the stuffing around it. Be careful not to over-pack the pillow- it works better to have a little breathing room in there. Stitch up the open edge.
Step #5- Refresh the bag with herbs and scents as needed.
This pillow can be charged on your altar and held during meditation, moon work and placed near your head or under your bed for dream work.
What You Need:
A small muslin/cotton bag
A piece of string
4 oz Mugwort dried
1 oz Dried White Willow Bark
1 oz Lavender, dried
2 oz Rose Petals dried
2 tsp Orris root dried
7 drops of your favorite dreaming essential oil (we like sandalwood or vetivert)
3 drops of willow flower essence
Pretty fabric
Pillow Stuffing
A needle and thread
How To Make:
Step #1– Choose some beautiful material and cut it into two equal squares about 6 by 12 inches (to form the top and bottom of your scented pillow).
Step #2- With the two pieces of fabric back to back- with the printed/pretty side of the fabric facing each other on the inside, stitch three sides together. Then turn the pocket inside out so the pretty side is now outside. This hides the stitching on the inside of the pillow
Step #3- Now grab your mesh bag and fill it with dried herbs. Add your essential oils & flower essences. Tie close with the string.
Step #4- Slide the herb mesh bag into your pillow and pack the stuffing around it. Be careful not to over-pack the pillow- it works better to have a little breathing room in there. Stitch up the open edge.
Step #5- Refresh the bag with herbs and scents as needed.
making a Willow Besom:
A Besom is a traditional broom. There are all kids of legends around these sacred objects—the least of which is flying around on one at night. Their main use however is to clean and purify your space.
The basics are this: A big stick for the handle, a layer of brush and sturdy cord or willow binding strips.
Suggestions of Wood & the Meaning:
Oak- Inner Strength, Endurance, Courage, Will
Willow- Intuition, The Moon, Fertility, Visions, Divine Feminine
Birch- New Beginnings, Birth, Initiation, Cleanser, Good Fortune
Apple- Abundance, Gratitude, Cleansing, Generosity
Hazel- Divination, Wisdom, Creativity, Catalyst, Source
Orange- Joy, Prosperity, Home & Hearth Health
The intentions I use for a willow broom are: working with Intuition, The Moon, Fertility, Visions, and Divine Feminine
Steps:
1. Soak your willow overnight to make them flexible. I usually do this in the bathtub and weight the wood down with a heavy pot full of water.
2. Place your ½ your brush materials on the floor and lay the handle on top.
3. Place the other ½ of your bristles on top of the handle.
4. Tie the bristles to the broom, making sure to get the twine wrapped around tight.
5. Now, take the bristles and fold them down over the willow binding or twine. Work in sections folding each bunch of brush down over itself so at this point all your bristles are pointing down. As you tie the final cord in place, knot your intentions into the twine and the broom.
6. Be sure to check out the video tutorial for a good visual!
The basics are this: A big stick for the handle, a layer of brush and sturdy cord or willow binding strips.
Suggestions of Wood & the Meaning:
Oak- Inner Strength, Endurance, Courage, Will
Willow- Intuition, The Moon, Fertility, Visions, Divine Feminine
Birch- New Beginnings, Birth, Initiation, Cleanser, Good Fortune
Apple- Abundance, Gratitude, Cleansing, Generosity
Hazel- Divination, Wisdom, Creativity, Catalyst, Source
Orange- Joy, Prosperity, Home & Hearth Health
The intentions I use for a willow broom are: working with Intuition, The Moon, Fertility, Visions, and Divine Feminine
Steps:
1. Soak your willow overnight to make them flexible. I usually do this in the bathtub and weight the wood down with a heavy pot full of water.
2. Place your ½ your brush materials on the floor and lay the handle on top.
3. Place the other ½ of your bristles on top of the handle.
4. Tie the bristles to the broom, making sure to get the twine wrapped around tight.
5. Now, take the bristles and fold them down over the willow binding or twine. Work in sections folding each bunch of brush down over itself so at this point all your bristles are pointing down. As you tie the final cord in place, knot your intentions into the twine and the broom.
6. Be sure to check out the video tutorial for a good visual!
Besom making tutorial:
Willow
By Jessica Rose
Emergence.
Through the curtains of willow boughs,
Uncoiled my unmade heart.
Her leaves touching the tears on my face,
A gentle gift of communion.
These coursing tendrils of emotions,
The rivers of my waters flowing to my soul.
Willow guides my heart like a current carries a boat.
To the shores of release and then Emergence.
Through the veil of transformation,
I pilot with fluid intuition.
Each point of navigation
a way to make whole this weary heart.
By Jessica Rose
Emergence.
Through the curtains of willow boughs,
Uncoiled my unmade heart.
Her leaves touching the tears on my face,
A gentle gift of communion.
These coursing tendrils of emotions,
The rivers of my waters flowing to my soul.
Willow guides my heart like a current carries a boat.
To the shores of release and then Emergence.
Through the veil of transformation,
I pilot with fluid intuition.
Each point of navigation
a way to make whole this weary heart.
Resources:
Willow Identification drawing, archival botany print creative commons circa 1800.
Glenn Kindred, The Celtic Tree Ogham
Barbara Walker, The Women's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets
Corrine Boyer, Under the Witching Tree
http://www.nativetech.org/willow/willow.htm
https://prairieedge.com/blog/native-american-herb-red-willow-bark/
http://www.pechanga-nsn.gov/index.php/culture/customs-and-traditions/traditional-homes
Besom image from creative commons media search.
All other images from Unsplash.com and personal photos.
Willow Identification drawing, archival botany print creative commons circa 1800.
Glenn Kindred, The Celtic Tree Ogham
Barbara Walker, The Women's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets
Corrine Boyer, Under the Witching Tree
http://www.nativetech.org/willow/willow.htm
https://prairieedge.com/blog/native-american-herb-red-willow-bark/
http://www.pechanga-nsn.gov/index.php/culture/customs-and-traditions/traditional-homes
Besom image from creative commons media search.
All other images from Unsplash.com and personal photos.