THE MONTH OF THE HAWTHORN

It is almost the start of a new month in the Celtic year. On 13th May, we will enter the month of Huath, the Hawthorn. This tree, though in England it is used as hedging and can be more like a shrub, is also known as Maybush, Maytree, Thorn bush. It is one of the important triad of trees, Oak, Ash, and Thorn, and it is said that when those three species grow together if you are quiet and patient you may be able to see the faeries. Also to fall asleep under a blossoming Hawthorn, is a risky thing to do, you may be captured by the faeries and whisked away to their lands never to be seen again.



The Greeks and Romans saw the Hawthorn as a symbol of hope and marriage, yet in later times, Europeans considered it a bush that was associated with witchcraft. These two contradictory sides to the meaning of Hawthorn, mirror the bush itself, with its dangerous thorns and beautiful blossoms. It is unlucky to cut the flowering Hawthorn and bring it into the home before Maytime, but hawthorn has many uses in the home. If it is hung from the rafters it will keep evil spirits away. To hang a branch of Hawthorn on the roof of your house is said to protect your home from lightening. It is also used hanging from the roof of the milking parlous to make sure the cows continue to be happy and give large yields of milk. The wood of Hawthorn also makes one of the hottest fires and it burns well. Beware, though, if wanting to use the wood of Hawthorn you must never cut it while it is flowering. To cut a flowering Hawthorn branch to use or burn the wood, is to upset the fae and they will take their revenge on you. Many Country people plant a Hawthorn bush outside their homes, also as protection, though it has been heard that a witch has the ability to hide in the shape of a Hawthorn. A thorn from the Hawthorn bush can be carried in a pouch to ward off depression, and is also supposed to be good luck when fishing. Hawthorn has an affinity with water and is often planted next to sacred wells, especially in Ireland where you can see rags, and strips of material hanging from the tree where people have asked for favours.

Paul Nash

Herbally, berries, bark, seeds, branches and flowers are used. The berries are a cardiac tonic, but they must be mixed with other herbs to dilute its potency. Please do not try to make this tea if you are inexperienced, it really does depend on the other herbs in it as well. Its leaves and blossoms can be brewed to create a tea to aid anxiety, and poor ciculation. Hawthorn can be used for health, prosperity, protection, love and marriage, purity, cleansing, happiness and to lose old habits and dusty old ideas. John Piper

Village cottages would be decked with Hawthorn on Mayday and the Maypole often had a crown of the same. Some villages would have branches of flowering Hawthorn that they would carry from door to door, bestowing blessings on all the village homes. Kissing balls and Mayday crowns also incorporated Hawthorn, and these crowns would be left at the end of Mayday under Hawthorn trees for the faeries to reclaim.


Our weather has now settled back into its normal pattern of early May, heavy showers and gusts of wind. These wild gusts of wind come from a local wind that blows at this time of year, it is known as the Helm Wind. It is a wind that develops, a curious pbenomenon that occurs along several miles of the local fells. Though we just get the tale end of it in our village.
The helm wind is a strong, blustery easterly wind that descends the western slope of the Cross Fell Range in Cumbria, northern Enlgand. It roars as it gusts and seems to be able to penetrate the smallest gaps and make your house chill. In certain years it has been so strong that it has wrongly been called a hurricane. A predictor of this wind is the helmet or cap of a certain type of cloud that forms above Cross Fell escarpement itself.

Matisse

Even between the showers, when the sun comes out and the clouds scud across the sky, it is too gusty and blowy to chance doing anything in the garden. Luckily none or my plants are large enough to have been damaged, apart from the honeysuckle its wire backing has been partly ripped from the wall. I am hoping for a good weekend to sort that problem out. Today I am determined to sort my desk in my workroom which is an absolute disgrace, and I must get Sweetpea's bedroom put to rights [I have been storing things in there] and after she has been to Jamaica, at the beginning of June, she will be coming to stay for a few days in the middle of June. So the bad weather is the perfect excuse to sort out her room and make it welcoming again. I know when the weather gets better, I will make any excuse to put off doing her room and to spend my time in the garden.


By the way, if anyone wants to take my 'Greedy Juicy Summer' banner and use it as a badge on their sidebar that's fine by me. The painting is a still life by Cezanne and is not copyrighted and the words are mine.