Celtic Tree Magic

SAILLE WILLOW

Willows are magical trees with slender pale silver-green leaves. The
weeping willow originated in China, where it graced cemeteries as a
symbol of immortality, and the tree had spread to the Near East by
Biblical times. As Old Testament reference to the exiled Jews
hanging their harps upon the willows as they wept beside the rivers
of Babylon led to the weeping willow's classification by Linnaeus as
Silax babylonica. In ancient Greece, the goddess Hera was born under
a willow on the island of Samos, where a magnificent temple was
built to honor her. In the underworld kingdom of Pluto and
Persephone, Orpheus touched a willow branch and received the gift of
supernatural eloquence. Willow groves are sacred to Hecate, dark
goddess of witchcraft.

During the Middle Ages, the willow became a traditional motif
adorning tombs. Early 19th-century gravestones throughout New
England were decorated with the willow emblem. An old spell uses
willow to dismiss love and transform passion into friendship.

At Full Moon snip a foot-long tendril from a weeping willow tree and
braid it with equal lengths of bright red and cool green yarn. Tie
three knots in the braid and hang the charm in an airy room until
the Moon is in its last quarter. On three successive nights untie
the knots one by one in privacy and silence while concentrating on
your desire. Before the New Moon rises, burn the red strand to ashes
and throw to the winds. Coil the willow and green wool together and
place in an envelope for safekeeping. The willow of the Druids was
not the weeping willow, but the tree or shrub we know as the p***y
willow. The Irish called the p***y willow one of the "seven noble
trees of the land."

The p***y willow is used in love charms as a guard against evil and
its wands are often employed in divination. Reflecting the ancient
status of the p***y willow, it is the wood to "knock on" and avert
bad luck. Medieval herbalists placed all willows under the rulership
of the moon.

Excerpted From Elizabeth Pepper, The Witches' Almanac, Ltd.