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October 21 through October 27, 2024

Monday’s Gemini Moon will put us in the mood to socialize or do research, as it raises the bar on intellectual pursuits. The highlight of the week is the Sun’s entry into Scorpio, where it will spend the next four weeks turning our thoughts to the mystical and mysterious. Scorpio is also a sign where our intense sides can come out, bringing more flair and drama to our movements as well as communications. Spiritual and metaphysical practices are encouraged as well, as this is one of two times of the year that the veil between our world and the spirit world is the thinnest. Our intuition and emotional well-being will be highlighted on Tuesday and Wednesday under the Cancer Moon, as we indulge ourselves in fantasy, daydreaming, or simply become couch potatoes for a few days. We can expect our most productive days of the week to be Thursday and Friday as the Moon pulses through Leo, energizing and directing us. The weekend unfolds under a Virgo Moon, allowing us to catch up on chores, clear our heads, and reconnect with the people who bring joy to our lives.

Celtic Tree Magic: 6 Ways to Work with Sacred Trees, by Danu Forest

(Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal.)

What is your favorite tree? Ask anyone this question and you'll be surprised by the answers; even the most urbane of us will have a tree we like the best, whether is a beautiful tree in a park or by the roadside, a special tree from childhood, or a favorite species. For me, it's always an oak tree, its branches waving in the wind, its leaves dancing green and gold in dappled sunlight. Close your eyes and imagine yourself deep in a vast forest...imagine the smell of leaf mold and green life; feel the still, strong, numinous presence some trees hold; oaks, yews, and redwoods, the mysterious darkness among the pines, the bright, luminous elven shimmer of silver birches lit by spring sunshine...

All around the world, but especially in the Celtic lore of Ireland and the British Isles, trees hold a special position as totems of spiritual identity, as well as markers of our cultural heritage and qualities. The Welsh yew is a tree of national pride and has been as sign of cultural resistance, as well as the mysteries of Druidry. The English oak, even today, stands for strength, nobility, patience, and guardianship, the ability to endure and hold true to our highest ideals. The oak was the symbol and most honored tree to the Iron age druids for the same reasons, and they took their name from it-"druid" comes from the Proto-Indo-European words "deru weid," which mean "oak knowledge" or "one with the wisdom of the oak." With a root span as deep and far spreading as the branches above, it remains a living symbol of "as above so below," as well as the shamanic journey, the ability to descend or ascend the World Tree to explore the spirit realms. Druids held their ceremonies in oak groves for this same reason. The hawthorn, or faery thorn, is the tree most associated with the festival of Beltane as well as the Sidhe or faery folk, and is sacred to many goddesses. The hazel, beloved of poets, stands for the bardic quest for divine knowledge and spiritual wisdom: Glefiosa, the bright knowledge of illumination and shamanic initiation (in the Celtic sense).

There are many ways to connect with trees on a magical or spiritual level, and in the Celtic Tradition this taps into a whole host of spiritual lore, condensed into the Irish ogham alphabet-a system likely to have been created to help preserve and memorize this ancient knowledge in the face of the cultural changes that came about with the Roman invasion of Britain, the suppression of the druids, and the later spread of Christianity. Taken as a mnemonic device, the ogham can be seen to pack in many levels and layers of meaning, with each tree standing as a signifier of deeper spiritual and magical concepts as well as being "power plants" and powerful spirit allies in their own right. Used as a divinatory tool, it guides the seeker with great depth and insight into the material, emotional, and spiritual realms. Taken as a whole, each tree provides a step on the great spiritual journey through life and incarnation itself into communion with the numinous realm of the infinite-and back again should we desire. Each ogham tree is used quite literally as a branch on the great World Tree, which can be climbed to access the gods.

In my book, Celtic Tree Magic, I explore the significance of each of the twenty-five trees of the ogham and the many ways with which they can be worked for magical, spiritual, and healing benefits, as well as their meanings for ogham divination. However, all trees, wherever they are found around the world, have an indwelling spirit, sometimes known as a deva or dryad, which will have their own resonances and personality; their own practical, magical, and spiritual uses and energies. Every tree is worth exploring and reaching out to for connection and communion.

Here are five simple ways to begin your own exploration of Celtic Tree Magic, that can be applied all over the world, with the trees near you.

1. Tree Meditation
   This practice is key to working with trees. Gaining a slow, steady state of consciousness, just sitting and "being" with a tree of any species has profound effects upon our well being. With regular practice, this can be developed further to fine-tune our senses in order to become more aware of the spirit presence of the tree and its energetic qualities. Try making yourself comfortable on the ground, with your back against a tree trunk, and breathing deeply and steadily for five minutes. With each in breath, let your body awareness rise up into the branches, straightening and stretching your back slightly, and focusing your attention on the branches and air above you. With each out breath, send your awareness down into the earth. Take your time, and if your mind wanders that's fine—just bring your attention gently back to this present moment once again. Use your imagination and be like the tree: still, strong, with deep roots and the ability to reach up high and far out into the world without losing your center.
2. Spirit Allies
   With patience and practice the Tree Mediation may assist you in becoming aware of the tree's spirit presence, its own particular feeling and even its personality. You may get feelings of tingling warmth when you enter the tree's energy field, and you may even have shifts in emotion or fleeting images cross your mind. These are all known to be ways in which tree spirits communicate with humans. In some cases, the tree spirits might appear as humanoid beings. The tree spirit may take on any form, and the images it presents will all be forms of communication, so allow yourself to approach this intuitively, thinking mythically about the spirit contact rather than trying to apply logic or any formal set of rules or symbolism. Make biodegradable offerings to the tree, such as gifts of spring water, and in time you may be able to develop a relationship with your chosen tree spirit, if they are willing, and will find that you can work together in a variety of ways, just as you would with other spirit allies (such as familiars and elementals, etc.)
3. Wands
   When we think of magical wands, we tend to think of them as tools to direct the power of the witch/druid/magician, and often only give a passing thought to the wood used or its magical properties. When working with or choosing a wand, we may feel attracted to a specific kind of wood for a variety of reasons. However, we rarely think of them as objects that are in fact carrying the spirit of the tree from which they came. In many instances, a wand can hold the tree spirit, whilst the tree itself simultaneously remains living and home to the tree spirit as well. Thus, when we work with a wand, we can find ourselves working together as a team, and our magic can thus become far more effective. To do this we need to be suitably aware and have built a good relationship with the tree over time, as well as ideally having cut the wand ourselves, with the tree's permission. There is no substitute for making your own magical tools; however, we can always meditate and use journeying skills as well as invocation to call upon the indwelling tree spirit of a wand that we have bought or have been given, and can build the relationship from there if we apply due care and respect. A wand where the practitioner and the indwelling spirit are allied and aligned is a far more powerful object than the most arcane or beautiful looking of shop bought equivalents.To cut your own wand you will need to use your intuition to guide you to an appropriate tree, and spend time in meditation and communion with it for some time, to get a real relationship with its spirit first. Then, in time, it may grant you permission to use its wood. To work with your wand, remember that it is a spirit ally, and use your intuition and inner vision to work with the spirit of the wood. Direct your will and energy along the wand following its direction of growth-what would have been from the trunk to the tip of the branch when it was growing.
4. Spells, Charms, and Incenses
   Many trees have magical properties that can be used for spell work, or to make charms. In the Celtic Tradition the rowan is highly magical and used to protect against malevolent spirits, whether in spells, as a talisman, or burnt either in a sacred, magical fire or as an incense. Elder is useful for attracting faeries, as is the hawthorn, and can be used in a variety of ways according to intuition or practicality. That said, beware! Hawthorn should never be brought into the house or chaos will ensue, and neither the hawthorn or the elder should ever be cut without the first gaining the tree's permission and making an offering. Aspen is good for calling the ancestors; try scattering the dried leaves around your circle or altar as an offering at Samhain. Acorns are good talismans for strength and to invoke the Green Man and the lords of the forest (such as Cernunnos); carry some in your wallet for luck and prosperity.
5. Herbalism
   Many sacred trees in the Celtic tradition have wonderful herbal properties. Birch sap is traditionally gathered fresh from a plug in the tree in early spring and taken as a tonic by tribal peoples all over the northern hemisphere; it has excellent detoxifying and nutritional properties. These days it's possible to buy birch sap in health stores. Delicious elderflower tea or tisane is excellent for bringing down fevers, and elderberry can be taken as a tincture or a honey elixir for coughs and colds. Hawthorn tea is good for stress and mild heart palpitations caused by emotional upset, and is used in greater doses by qualified herbalists for some heart conditions. Willow bark contains Salicin, used in aspirin and is a great pain reliever. These are but a few. Give thanks to the spirit of the tree and ask for its blessing to add magic to the medicine. With responsible research and sensible application many of these can be used at home with ease, although for serious conditions medical advice and the support of a medical herbalist are always advised.
6. Grow Your Own
   The best way to work with trees magically is to get your hands dirty first: gather nuts, berries, and seeds and sow your own-even a small container on a windowsill can be enough to get a new tree. They'll probably need a period of cold to germinate, so be patient. Tend to these carefully, and with most trees it will take a year or two before they get so big they need to be planted in the ground. If you can, try making your own grove or sacred space encircled by trees you have grown or planted yourself, or have just one "tree ally" in a special place. These powerful spirit beings will respect the care you have put into them, and be valuable magical allies to call upon in need—as well as wonderful spirit friends that will grow with you as the years go by, and for generations to come.

May the blessings of the trees be with you! May your roots grow deep, and hold close to the earth, may your branches reach high into the wide blue sky, and may your dreams be as fruitful as nut, berry, and seed, cast upon the worlds winds to grow new life once again...

Article originally published in The Llewellyn Journal. Copyright Llewellyn Worldwide, 2014. All rights reserved.

My husband and I are in our seventies. We've been together for more than forty years, and we love each other very much. I've long been on a conscious spiritual path, while my husband has no interest in such matters. This wasn't a huge issue until he retired about eight years ago. Since then, he has grown sullen and angry. All he does is sleep, watch TV, and surf the internet. We have some lovely grandchildren, but he takes little joy in them. Like the stereotype of the grumpy old man, he complains constantly and is downright miserable to be around. I have tried everything I can think of to help him heal his emotional pain and anger, but he'll have none of it. I love him but I don't know how much more of this I can take. I don't want to spend the rest of my life like this, but I also don't want to abandon him and disrupt the whole family. I would appreciate any guidance Spirit may have for me.

- Carol

Dreamchaser:

You have been living through this angry, sullen phase for eight years, and now you've come to a crossroads and must face this issue.

First and foremost, you can't help your husband heal his emotional pain or any other pain for that matter. You also can't say or do anything to help him heal his anger - that is something he has to do if and when he is ready to do it.

Until a person can see how angry they really are, they can't truly heal. He doesn't see himself as angry and in pain - he actually defines himself by his anger and pain, so he doesn't know how to be anything else. These energies have become familiar parts of him.

There are times when we have to ask ourselves if love is enough. I know you two have had a very long relationship, and have shared a whole lot of love.

That is commendable, but relationships do change: careers come to an end; children grow up, move out, and start having children of their own; life evolves. Why wouldn't you evolve as well?

You have been growing spiritually for years now, while your husband is still in the same place he was many years ago. It may be sad, but it only makes sense that you two have become estranged.

You are free to live the remaining years of your life however you want to live them. As for your children, you need to show them that they don't have to be slaves to what other people think they should do.

One of the best things you can do for the people you love and care about is show them how to be happy. Your children will be happy when you are happy. You can still be a mother, grandmother, friend, etc. if you make a new choice about how you want to live your life.

You already know what you need to do - you're just afraid. You never, ever thought you would be one of THOSE people. Think of it this way: if you do what your heart is telling you, your husband will actually be happy, because he'll have something new to complain about!

On the other hand, you are free to choose to stay in this relationship and try to find better balance in it. I know that's not the ideal choice, but it's still a choice. No one can tell you what to do - you have to choose on your own. You can try to not allow your husband's misery to affect your own inner world.

You know what your gut is saying, and you know where you are being led. You have these visions of sunsets in deserts and sunrises on snow-covered mountains. You also know we choose our own futures for the most part.

You deserve to wrap this fabulous lifetime up in ways that make you truly happy. I wish you the ability to clearly hear what your own spirit is saying to you.

*****

Astrea:

At your stage of life, it isn't easy to pick up and leave your family and all you've built together over the years. Your generation and mine (which is right behind yours) have faced some serious questions of faith.

Instead of opening up to his own spirituality as you and I have, your husband has denied it throughout his life. He neither wants to acknowledge Spirit nor make the effort to get to know the God within him.

It was easy when he was younger because he was busy. It was much easier for him to think that it didn't matter while he was working to support his family. Anything that seemed silly or unreal to him could be pushed aside as long as he didn't have to sit and think about it.

Now that he's older and he MUST begin to consider the inevitable, he's cross and resentful of anyone who has things like this figured out for themselves.

Instead of facing these heavy questions, he chooses to get lost in the television and be grumpy and cold. He has all sorts of time now to think about things, so when he feels something heavy, he tries to distract himself.

I'm sure he was never a very outwardly emotional person, and the older he gets, the more difficult it becomes for him to transition from being centered in the body to centered in the soul.

Since he's happy to stay parked in front of the television, you might try to expose him to spiritual programs and movies. I'm not suggesting he would tolerate something overt, but there are lots of shows and movies with subtle spiritual elements in them now.

Since he spends so much time watching TV, chances are you have enough channels that you could find something like this a few times a day. If he's surfing the internet, you could show him some of the sites that you visit and see if that gets his interest going.

I'm so sorry that you've spent your life with him, and instead of the companion you believed he'd be, he's now an old grump and a miserable person to be around.

It's fear that makes him this way. Fear of what might happen can be crippling, so he's escaping into the TV and the computer. Some people can live that way and be perfectly content, but obviously he's not one of them.

He doesn't know how to access what you have because he's never really tried to. If he won't talk to you about it, see if he'll speak to someone who can get him to open up, like a counselor or perhaps your family doctor.

Many wives in our generation are living with these sorts of guys, and we can use all the support we can get, so before you tear yourself away from all you have at home, seek help with working all of this out in your community or your church of choice.

Astrea:

Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.

Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!

While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!

I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!

As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.

I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.

You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!

Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.

A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.

You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.