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Saturday 10 January 2015

The Celtic Year - Yew



A tree dedicated to the eve of such a magickal and sacred day is imbued with the properties of the emotions it invokes: all the excitement that Christmas Eve would inspire but transformed into something so much greater, so much more natural, rather than the commercial aspects of Yule’s Christian cousin. The Yew is a tree of ending… I like to think of it as the last breath of the dark days of Winter.

Associations
Polarity:        Feminine
Element:        Water & Earth
Sabbat:       Yule; Winter Solstice, Samhain
Deities:         Banbha, Amalthea (mother of Dionysus), Morrighan, The Erinyes, Cailleach Beara, Berchta, Hekate, Persephone, Astarte, Odin, Crone aspect
Symbols:       Sorcery & Magick, Death, Faerie
Planet:         Saturn, Pluto & Jupiter
Animals:        The Bull, Female Goats, Eaglet, Eagle, Hummingbird
Colour:        White & Silver, Black & Dark Green
Gems:          Olivine
Metal:         Lead

Herbal Uses:
CAUTION: THIS IS A VERY POISONUS PLANT AND SHOULD BE USED CAREFULLY.
·        Needles and branch tips of Yew have been used over the years by various traditions to treat lung diseases and bladder problems.
·        More recently Yew has been employed in the development of a new cancer drug – Taxol. It has been derived from the berries and the bark.

Magickal Uses:
·        As the time of the Yew is known as the time of Death, it is advised to not work magick on this day, the day before Yule. However, this can be countered by practicing rituals concerned with reincarnation.
·        In a ritual space, the Yew becomes a focal point as a ‘World Tree/Yggdrasil’; this is because they live for such a great many years that they link into the concept of immortality or the endurance of the earth and of life.
·        Use Yew for funeral wreaths and memorial plantings.
·        Yew can be burned in death-related rituals, such as at Samhain. The spirits of the those departed from this world are said to be held in the smoke until they are released by the practitioner.
·        As the tree which is caught on the cusp of the season of Life and the season of Death, Yew is a beautiful addition to Yule decorations.
·        As a beautifully textured and coloured wood, it is popular for making runes, ogham staves, frames for scrying mirrors and talking boards. Although this is a wonderful wood for tools, it should NEVER be used for goblets or plates – nothing that will be consumed from.
·        Druids would often use Yew for wand making
·        Yew is said to be lucky for those born under the sun sign of Capricorn and a sprig of Yew placed under the pillow ensures you will meet the person of your dreams and they will keep you safe from harm.
Other Information:
·        Latin name: taxus baccata
·        Folk name: English Yew; Tree of Death; Tree of Resurrection; Tree of Eternity; The Forbidden Tree.
·        The name is Yew is a distortion of the Anglo-Saxon word ‘eow’.
·        Evergreen.
·        Made infamous in the works of Shakespeare both in MacBeth and Hamlet.
·        The Yew grows wonderfully well in the shade of other trees and yet very little will grow in the shade of the Yew.
·        The ‘aril’, which is the fleshy part of the berry is a wonderful treat for much birdlife such as the thrush and the waxwing. The swallow the berry whole – including the highly poisonous seed which is passed in tact to fuel germination.
·        This is the tree which is sacred to Hekate and mythology tells that it is rooted in the mouths of the dead to release their souls and is also known to absorb the odour of death itself.
·        A triad of trees are associated with death and funerals; a long with Yew, Black Poplar and also Alder are planted often in and around graveyards.
·        Norse mythology links the Yew with the rune of Eihwaz. If the Yew is to embody the interpretations of this rune, it can be employed for shapeshifting, telepathic links and magicks for adjustment.
·        The history of the Yew being known as the Forbidden tree originates from its ingestion being used to stimulate abortion.

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