Happy Summer Solstice!

Well it is finally here .. the longest day of the year! 🌞 And living up here in Caithness, the northernmost part of Scotland – and indeed the UK – I will be experiencing almost 24hrs of sunlight, (if not actual sunshine).. well 18hrs and 23 minutes to be exact! 😉

The Ogham ‘tree’ associated with this time of the year is the lovely Heather, or Ura as it is known in ancient Irish alphabet. This hardy little shrub starts coming into flower now in the northern hemisphere and was so associated with the old summer celebrations! 🌸

The flowers were, (and still are), used to make honey and beer and the flexible ‘twigs’ were used for thatching roofs and stuffing mattresses .. a ‘bed of heather’ often features in the most romantic Celtic myths! 💕

So Ura represents ‘love, passion and partnership’ .. with some ‘moderation’ called for .. lest you get ‘carried away with the fae’ 😉🧚

For LOTS more info about Heather in Scotland click here and below are some photos I took a few years ago out in the countryside of Caithness of two types of heather growing on the moors .. Common Heather or ‘Ling’ (Calluna vulgaris) and Bell Heather (Erica cinerea) ..