The Magical Properties of Woods

THE CELTIC OGHAM AND DRUID TRADITION identify certain properties with certain sacred trees. The oghams of old are rather enigmatic, to say the least. ("Ogham" is pronounced oh-um and signifies correspondences, that is, the use of runes to symbolize a complex of associations and archetypes, but it might also be translated
as "mysteries." The ogham reconstructed by the poet Robert Graves in his book The White Goddess, has been adopted by many modern druid orders. While some of these properties or characters accord with the Alferic Ogham, there are also differences. In the latter, each wood is linked to a rune which symbolizes the complex of magical
correspondences embracing not only wood, but also stone, bird, animal, color, and time.

I have included here only those types of wood that are currently available for wandmaking. Some are more plentiful than others. I have here indicated their primary Elemental association and connections to the Mellarin (the Creators) and to the solar calendar and principal festivals. Some magical applications are listed for each wood, but it should not be thought that any wand is limited to particular types of magick. Rather, I intend to indicate those powers that are especially suited for each respective wood and best fit the common character of a species.

Woods of Elemental Earth

Rowan (Luis)

Also called the Mountain Ash, and Quickbeam for its powers of bestowing and enhancing life, Rowan is sacred to Capricorn. It especially bears the power of the Dark Goddess, the Crone aspect of Mother Earth, and through her the power of fiery Abban, Vulcan, Lord of craft, mountain, and metalwork. Rowan flowers and bright orange berries are marked by the pentagram, symbol of the five Elements; the
berries, often retained through Winter, symbolize the endurance of Life through the dark of the year.

Also called Witchen or Witchbane Rowan has been considered the enemy of all evil witchery, and protects against one being carried off to Faerie against one's will. A tree of astral vision and protection, particularly good for warding off evil spirits, Rowan traditionally is said to avert storms and lightning, and bring peace. The fondness of songbirds for Rowan berries, gives the tree a link to the bards, and the Goddess Brigid in her role as Muse of poets.

It is a tree associated with serpents and dragons and sacred places, the leylines or dragon-lines of Earth energy. The dragon embodies primal energy, a strong force of creativity and natural flow, which cannot be "slain" or "tamed". Indeed "slaying the dragon" in christian legend is sometimes confused with modern technology's notions of dominion over Nature. Dragon energy is drawn into harmony when we enter into partnership with it through the erection of standing stones at intersections of the dragon lines, or by directing it in a Rowan wand. Rowan's power is doubled by the inclusion of a dragon-scale core when it is fashioned as a wand.

Its Elvish name, Luis, comes from the root lu "time" also found in luras "to judge." Elves frequently hold their judicial assemblies under old Rowans. Especially suited for magick giving form and order, ritual, growth, fertility, protection, women's autonomy, poetry, weaving and spinning, and geomancy or work with ley lines.

Ash (Nuin)

Sacred to Virgo and its ruler Mercury, planet of intellect and reason, Ash is a wood associated with many divinities. The number of its house is nine (thrice three). The Ash appears in Norse myth asYggdrasil, the World-Ash or Tree of Life from which all the worlds spring. In this respect it is the pathway or bridge by means of which
the wizard may travel among the worlds. Mystically, Ash signifies the Astral dimension and its myriad doorways. Beneath the World-Tree, Yggdrasil, the three Norns or Fates dispense judgment over gods and men. A dragon lives in the roots of the World Ash and an eagle in its branches; the goat of Odin feeds upon the leaves and turns that food into Ambrosia, the drink of the gods that provides immortality.

Hanging upsidedown on the Ash tree, Odin drank of the spring of destiny at its roots and the runes were revealed to him. Tradition holds the Ash also to be sacred to Llyr and the Greek Poseidon, Lord of Sea, horses, and metamorphosis. Like the Sea-Goat Capricornus, Ash unites Earth and Water in the primordial energy in which all
potential lies. Poseidon, Odin, and Thor each weilded a spear of Ash, symbolic of an irresistable magical Will and invincible protection.

The Greek goddess Nemesis carried an ash wand as symbol of divine justice. With it, she ensures that fortune (good or ill) is shared among all people and not only by the few. Nemesis is also called "Nemesis of the rain-makng ash" identified as Andrasteia,
daughter of the sea-god Oceanus.

One of the few surviving Druid wands of old, found in an archeological dig, was made of Ash with a sunwise sprial design, symbolizing Ash's links to the Sun. So generally magical is the Ash that it is the wood used for Yule logs and Maypoles, and in some
traditions the brooms of witches.

In the Alferic pantheon Olobaal, the Sea Mother, whose body moves with the moon is a feminine figure. She is the devouring Mother who consumes, swallows, and gives birth to all life. She is goddess of water, sea, and ocean, twin sister of Vashaan, the Wind Lord, as Poseidon is brother of Zeus. She is great and terrible when incited to Tempest by her brother; calm and beautiful when she is embraced by the Sun Obraash; fecund when touched by the Moon. She can take any form and is also a goddess of
war.

In Alferic tradition it is out of ash-wood that Olobaal fashioned her scepter and the haft of her magical harpoon. Thus, it may be seen that Ash is as much attuned to Elemental Water as Earth, and so is the consummate wood of growth and fecundity, mothers and daughters, and female sovereignty. It is a wood of balance and the
marriage of opposites. Well-suited for shamanic magick, protection, and to enhance one's skills at any art or craft, magick of wells and caves, Earth as the vessel of water, finding roots or working with plant roots, magick of horses, oceans, conquest, justice, and weatherworking.

Maple (Shorin)

Sacred to Alban Elued (the Autumnal Equinox) because of its fiery red and orange colors as its leaves turn -- a bold celebration of the season and the cycle of death and rebirth. Poised on the equinox, it is linked to both Libra and Virgo, Hazel and Ash.

Maple's sacred  bird is the Great Horned Owl who is herald of the coming Feast of
Samhuinn with its magick and mystery. The owl is a bird associated with wizards and wisdom, and the bearing of messages in the night. In North America, especially in its northern parts, the Maple is a dominant tree with many varieties, including the sugar maple from which maple syrup was made by the Native Americans. As such it is
associated with the life-giving sap of the trees, providing food and sweetness for those who treat it with respect and care.

Alban Elued is also known as the Feast of Mabon, dedicated to the reborn son-consort of the Great Mother. The Dying God is also the Giant Ymir of Norse myth, from whose body the world was made. Maple is a strongly masculine wood, somewhat rebellious and tough, but with a beautiful smooth grain; hard, yet excellent for carving. Well-suited to spells of sending and communication, binding, transmutations, creation,
revolution, rebirth, healing, beauty, art, and abundance.

Elm (Elma)

One of the tallest ancient forest trees, graceful in its chalice shape, Elm is sacred to the Great Goddess in her form as Wise Grandmother. She is the Qabbalist's Briah, manifest in the planet Saturn. Elm is also called "Elven" for its connection to the Elves
and Faerie mounds, and so to burial mounds, and to death as the doorway eternal life.

In recent times, as many ancient Elms have been killed off by Dutch Elm disease, the tree has come to symbolize and embody the struggle of Nature against humanity's destruction of the old forests through short-sightedness or the transportation of
diseases from other parts of the world. Elm's spirit is majestic and expansive, rooted and wise. Well-suited to magick of Earth and invocation of the Goddess, healing, fertility, gardening, rebirth, destiny, wisdom., passage from one life (or phase of life) to another, metamorphosis, endurance.

Plum (Emrys)

Plum wood is not a wood expressly included in the sacred tree lists of the Elves or the Celts; however, it is a powerful magick wood that combines properties of Hawthorn and Apple. Sacred to Abban, God of Craft and Mountains, it is a fruitwood, and so bears powers of fertility but its thorns evoke powers of great resere and protection,
the setting of boundaries, and the ability to dissolve them. Abban, like the Greek Hephaestos, is a jealous spirit of creative fire, whose devotion to art transcends all other concerns. The wood itself is harder than Apple and the branches are tough and thorny. Thus Plum is a consummate wand wood for the creative artist or anyone
desiringto focus on magick that will enhance skill, overcome barriers, keep
people or disturbance at bay, evoke toughness and persistence, patience, protection, and healing, especially of the blood. Also suited for the divining of precious metals or minerals.

Woods of Elemental Air

Hawthorn (Huathe)

Hawthorn or Whitethorn is sacred to Aquarius and Vashaan, the Windlord, the Thunderer, whom the Elves call Valma. He is the Norse Thor and the Greek Zeus, god of Sky and storm. Hawthorn's number is 2 and its bird the Purple Martin. It is a tree of defense with its twisted branches and sharp thorns, and it holds the power of
lightning. Some loremasters say it can detect the presence of magick because it is a tree in which magical powers enter the manifest world from beyond. Its sacred color is violet and it is especially attuned to this band of the magical spectrum with its focus on powers over other kinds of magick. Well-suited for all protective magick and all
magick aimed at strengthening one's magical powers, spells of control, or warding, sending, detection, concealment, weatherworking, and protection against lightning and evil spirits.

Lilac (Galad)

Sacred to Gemini, the Twins, lilac brings the root energy of expansion and growth, that underlies intellectual and spiritual prosperity. Such energy is the burgeoning of Spring flowers, sacred to the androgynous and quicksilver Mercury, whose domain is writing, speech, song, reason, and travel by sea, air, and star. Lilac is sacred to bards and its intoxicating fragrance bespeaks erotic and creative power. Galad comes from the root gal, meaning "gift" from which other words derive: galian "hospitality," agalla "sexual pleasure," gaellië "delight," melengal "mystic union." All of which suggests the mysteries of gifts and giftedness, talent, and the communication of love through delight. Lilac wood is close-grained, creamy, and smooth, excellent for carving intricate interlace patterns. Well-suited to magick of union, attraction, enhancement of sexual pleasure, intellectual pursuits, imagination, information, mental concentration, travel, illusion, detection, divination.

Hazel (Koll)

Sacred to Libra and the Celtic goddess Arianrhod, called Shava and Ardiana by the Elves - the White Goddess of Stars and the Queen of Heaven. In Roman and Greek myth she is Venus and Aphrodite, goddess of love, but for the Elves she is the goddess not so much of carnal love itself, but of the enchanting power of beauty.  She is named Danu by the Celts, the grandmother, and is called Spider Grandmother
because she created the starry net of the night sky. Her web is manifested in the twining limbs of the forest trees as they reach upwards in worship of her. Hazelnuts feed the Salmon of Wisdom in its deep pool. Its color is midnight blue, its stone lapis lazuli or blue sapphire. Its bird is the crane. Shava is considered the teacher of
enchanters and all worthy wizards and bards are summoned to her table. Sacred to Shava, Hazel wood is imbued with magical power. Its nuts feed the Salmon of Wisdom in its deep pool. The hazelnut is also connected magically to the heart chakra. Well-suited to magick of wisdom, beauty, charm, love, stars, navigation, and creativity.

Cedar (Chakris)

Sacred to the cross-quarter feast of Imbolc, which in the Elvish tradition, is the Feast of Shava, Queen of Stars. Yet it Cedar is also associated with the goddess Sezh or Persephone in her Underworld time, withdrawn from the mundane surface of existence during the season of snows. Evergreen Cedar is sacred, like Juniper, for the
promise of eternal life. Its number is thirty, its color pale yellow, and its bird the goldfinch. Chakris recalls the Cedars of Lebanon, the wood from which the great Jewish Temple of Solomon was built.

Associations with Solomon are, of course, always magical, that great king being legendary for his powers of magick and ability to bind spirits to his service. Cedar is a wood of protection and preservation. Ibolc or Imelc is also, traditionally, the time of the lambing when the milk of the ewes comes, thus the linkage of the festival to milk, as well as to light. Chakris symbolizes and embodies the light in the darkness, and the brilliance of the Star Goddess in the inky blackness of the interstellar void. Cedar is
especially powerful for clearing negativity from an area prior to magical work. The tree is also called Arbor Vitae, Tree of Life.

Especially suited to preservation of sacred places, forests, and groves, dedication of sacred space for worship and magick, brining of light out of darkness, star magick of all kinds, and summoning of helpful spirits.

Apple (Queris)

Sacred to the Feast of Lughnasa and the Celtic Goddess Rhiannon, who is also one of Shava's masks, as Goddess of Stars and also of horses.

Apple harvest comes on and after the feast of Lughnasa (August 1st) and marks one of the major foods of the Elves, often associated with the Faerie realms and the Isle of Avalon. Thus the wood has the power of Avalon and the immortality of the Faerie realms. The Q-rune is also called Quenda, in Elvish Eranor, which is the Rose bush whose bright colors evoke the spirit of light and love in the season of Lugh, or Obraash, Mellar of the Sun. Its sacred number is seventy; its sacred bird the rose-breasted grosbeak. Shamans and ancient poets are often described carrying apple branches as symbols of their office and the famous Silver Bough of Apple provided entry to Faerie.

Especially suited to opening the doorways into Faerie, spells to do with horses or travel, illumination, enhancing any skill, love, harmony, and beauty, harvest, and magick of divine, shamanic madness or visionary experience.

Linden (Ohum)

The Linden, also called Basswood and Lime-tree, is the tree most sacred to the goddess Shava, who may be found in Celtic Arianrhod, and Greek Aphrodite: Queen of Stars and Love. Her nature is as much fiery as airy being the spirit of Divine Light. Linden wood is laden with the power of attraction that underlies not only love,
infatuation, and harmony, but also the very fabric of the material cosmos in such forces as magnetism, adhesion, and gravity. It is a wood of truly cosmic power on every dimension and sphere of the Tree of Life. Linden is a very light, airy, and smooth wood, excellent for carving and capable of supporting fine details. Specially suited to star magick, spells of creation and transmutation, illumination, love, attraction, healing, enhancement of beauty and peace, and acts of enchantment.

Yew (Ioho)

Sacred to Mercury, spirit of intellect, thought, and communication and master of magick, incantations, and runes. He is also the psychopomp, guide of souls from one world to the next. As such, the evergreen Yew bears powers over travel between the worlds. In the Elvish pantheon, Mercury is Islaar, a shape-shifting, androgyne who
is both the great Teacher and the mischievous Trickster. Patron of thieves as well as Poets and Seers, Islaar is a mystic power as well as the divine spirit of thought. As Trickster he is the inspirer of wit and eloquence. The Yew is the tree of the Ovate, the seer and healer in Druid tradition. As such it bridges the worlds and opens
doorways into the Otherworld. Yew is especially suited to spells of transformation and transfiguration, illusion, astral travel, mediumism, necromancy, conjuration of helpful spirits, guides and ancestors, and also spells to bestow knowledge, eloquence, or
persuasion.

Woods of Elemental Fire

Oak (Duir)

The most powerful and sacred of Druid woods, Oak is magically linked to the constellation Leo. It holds power to draw lightning or the bolt of inspiration. The Sun, which rules Leo, is the source of life and light. Psychologically it is the center of the Self. Oak symbolizes all solar heroes, those who venture out from their homelands to achieve great deeds and bring home wondrous treasures.

Oak traditionally provided not only one of the most durable woods for construction and fuel, but also the acorn from which the early tribes fed their pigs throughout the winter. Oak is one of the longest lived trees, thus embodying great wisdom as well as strength. The name Duir is related to dwyn, "door," or "portal," the great door of a manor dwelling. It is also, of course, often linked to drwyd, "druid" or "wizard." As the wizardwood, there is no more magical wood for wandmaking and it is especially noted for enhancing the endurance of spells against time and counterspell.

The acorn is associated magically with a helmeted head and so to the crown chakra. Natural branches of Oak are often twisted and gnarly and have a coarse, dark grain. It is a hard and heavy wood. Especially suited to magick of kingship and wise rule, personal sovereignty, authority, power,protection, sealing or opening doors, endurance, and invocation of wisdom, fertility, and abundance.

Holly (Tinne)

Associated with the Holly King who defeats the Oak King at Midsummer each year and reigns until the Winter Solstice, Holly is one of the most fiery of woods and second only to Oak for its sacred regard by the Druids. The Gaelic "tinne" is thought to mean "fire." It's rune in the Alferic Ogham is the same as the Futhark rune Tyr, and like
that rune is associated with the Spear, one of the magical weapons of the Tuatha de Danaan, and also of Odin. The spear is one of the prototypes of the magical wand, a phallic , yang instrument for projecting will and inseminating matter with life and creative seed-forces. Mars, or in Elvish the god Ambash, rules Holly.

Ambash is also associated with the Wildman of the Forest, the untamable power of the forest depths and its procreative essence. It is associated with Midwinter, but actually reigns over the "dark half" of the year when the solar tide is waning, from Midsummer to Midwinter. Oak rulesthe waxing tide of the sun. It is calendrically associated with
Capricorn as the Constellation presiding at the Winter Solstice; however, the Alferic tradition also associates it with Aries, a constellation ruled traditionally by Mars. Holly has been regarded as a powerful protective wood, good against evil spirits, poisons, angry elementals, and lightning. It is also associated with dream magick and fertility, and is well-suited for any magick dealing with the overthrow of old authorities, success in business or endeavor, or spells seeking progress to a new stage of development. Holly wood is very fine-grained, hard, and smooth, and almost ivory in color if it is not stained. It is a truly exquisite wood for wands.

Redwood/Sequoia (Thor)

The giant redwood is the most magnificent of all conifers and its Elvish name, Thor, draws an association with the Norse god of that name, spirit of thunder, storm, and lightning. As an evergreen, Redwood is the embodiment of life and the assertive phallic striving upward to the sky. Its rune in the Alferic Ogham looks like a
doubling of Tinne (see Holly above), a twin spearhead, barbed perhaps, and also resembling the stately conifer form itself.

It is associated with the constellation Sagittarius, the Archer, and the Centaurs. It is also associated with the Stag-god Orion, who in Greek tradition is the archetypal Hunter. Ambash, the God of Beasts is the Hunter in the Alferic tradition, but his counterpart, from whom he is inseparable, is Orion, the hunted Stag of Summer.

The Stag or White hart is the magical animal of the deep forest whose appearance invariably leads the heroic hunter into some adventure in the Otherworld. Orion is in fact regarded as a spirit most closely linked to the planet Uranus and the Greek Titan Prometheus, bringer of fire and teacher of all arts to humankind, a spirit, as the poet Shelley argued, of rebellion and revolution.

In Celtic tradition, the redwood itself does not appear, but Pine does and is attributed to Dionysus, another iteration of the Wildman. Magically, Redwood is excellent for
drawing down power from Heaven to Earth, spells of religious seeking and discipline, spells of mystical union with nature and wild animals, hunting magick, the martial arts as spiritual discipline, and spells for innovation and sudden revelation. We usually use
milled redwood for wands, which has a very broad and beautiful grain, is quite lightweight and soft, and which has a dark red color without the need of any stain.
The wood tears easily as so is not well-suited to detailed carving.

Hickory (Axara)
Hickory is sacred to Obraash, God of the Sun, who is also Lugh and Apollo. His color is golden yellow, his stones citrine and yellow topaz. His sacred birds are the Phoenix and the peacock. Obraash is one of the principal fire spirits whose domain is kingship, the wise use of power, unification of peoples, and wholeness, both of the
individual personality and of a society.

Hickory is a hard and close-grained wood, with solar energies similar to Oak. Because of its durability, it is traditionally used for making bats, sticks, and clubs -- the primitive prototypes of the magick wand or royal sceptre, signifying power to command. The word axara is rooted to Eranor axalla "majesty" and lex "crown." The hickory nut is linked to the solar plexus chakra. It is especially suited to magick of
abundance, wholeness, power, presence, command, discipline, acquisition, giving of gifts, and the finding of direction.

Cherry (Oadha)

Cherrywood is sacred to Ambash, God of the Hunt, of Beasts, and of War. He is also Ares, Mars, Herne, Teutates, Tyr. Cherry is sacred likewise to female deities of hunt and battle: Artemis, Morrigan.

Cherrywood is red in color and darkens with age and exposure to the sun. Its companion stones are obsidian and sard. Its sacred bird is the Red-tailed hawk. The sound of the rune Oadha carries with it the aspiration of Thor (Redwood) and the vibratory qualities of Duir (Oak). Cherrywood is a superb wood for carving and other woodwork, often aging to a deep reddish-orange color. It carries the energy of
the magical Will through which magical intentions are directed into the outer world of manifestation. Cherrywood is imbued with the power of making and doing, achievement, and self-assertion over obstacles and critics. It is the pure energy of Will and desire. The cherry fruit is magically linked to the root chakra and so to sex and love in all its forms: the life force of attraction and renewal.

Especially suited to invocations and blessings of sacred fires, spells of finding, hunting, conflict, war, competition, communion with animals, unification of groups or tribes, and the amplification of magical will.

Walnut (Yuin)

Sacred to Vashaan the Lord of Winds and Lightning, Walnut partakes of Elemental Air and Fire. It is perhaps the consummate wood for weather magick. The shape of the walnut nut connects it magically to the head, and so to the crown chakra. Its color is turquoise blue, its stones turquoise, blue topaz, and sardonyx. Vashaan's sacred bird is
the Eagle, particularly the Bald Eagle.

The rune Yuin depicts the "First Swirlings" of the universe. It is the centripetal force of outward movement or expansion that complements Shava's powers of attraction. Thus Yuin has power over all magical acts of expansion:  expansion of wealth, horizons, the mind, the feelings. Its scope is limitless and its age unfathomable. The nut of the walnut tree is linked to the Windlord's creation myth, in which his tempests shake the walnut tree so that the nuts fall to earth and are buried by the squirrels. From these nuts spring forth the race of Elves. So the war-helms of the ancient Sarith knights, the Shazarin, are shaped like half of a walnut shell. Vashaan is called by the Elves Valma, and is associated with the gods Zeus, Jupiter, Thor, and Vishnu. Walnut wood ranges from light to very dark and is well-suited to wand carving.

It is especially suited for wind and weather magick, spells of expansion, vortices, enhancement of the powers of breath, spells to cast or avert lightning, teleportation and astral travel, and inspiration.

Woods of Elemental Water

Birch (Beith)

Sacred to the festival of Alban Eiler (Vernal Equinox). Its number is forty and its bird the white egret. In the Celtic Ogham Beith is accorded prestige as the first tree, one of the trees that emerges first t establish a new forest, a harbinger of youth and springtime.

It is often associated with the beginning of the year, and in the Alferic tradition is linked to the beginning of the cycle of growth and renewal in Spring. It is a tree of beginnings in general and of the Bards, as the first grade of the Druid order. The Bards are according first honor as the singers of the Creation epics, those who sang the worlds into existence. Birch is also a wood with great powers to purify and discipline, to create the new forest in service to the great trees that will come after, such as the oak and ash and maple. Birch forest is young and so birch is linked to youth and all
things new. It is especially suited to magick of new beginnings, spells of youth and fresh starts, bardic enchantment, creativity, procreation, renewal and rebirth, purification, and spells for discipline and service.

Willow (Zallis)

Sacred to the Moon, Omulan or Diana, Willow is a wood of the Water Element. It is especially suited to works of the New Moon, magick related to cycles of fertility or creativity, spells of glamour and bewitchment, change, relationship and female rites of passage. It is the perfect wood for the ritual of "Drawing Down the Moon."

Russian-Olive

Russian-Olive is more closely related to Willow than to the Mediterranean Olive tree. It is a smooth, close-grained yellow wood, the color of which links it to Islaar (Mercury) and operations of Yellow Magick: that is, the pursuit of hidden knowledge, insight, inspiration, and spells of communication.

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