Blogham

Hello and welcome to the 9th (lunar) month of the year on our ‘Celtic Tree Calendar’ .. which begins tomorrow (August 5th) and takes us through to September 1st .. 🙂

As promised in my last blog post I have just re- published an ‘alternative Ogham’ which I compiled back in 2011 for followers in Australia – the full version can now be found here 😉

So here is my Australian choice for this month’s tree – Hazel ..

Coll – Macadamia

Photo courtesy of Kowloonese

Macadamia integrifolia – just one of the seven species of Macadamia native to Australia, this is the one that grows in Queensland – Common names: Bauple Nut, Queensland Nut and Nut Oak.

The trees are small to large evergreens, which can grow up to 12 metres in height – some Indigenous Australian names are gyndl, jindilli and boombera.

The nuts are a valuable food product with the highest amount of beneficial monounsaturated fat of any known nut, the oil is also highly prized in the cosmetics and skincare industry.

Wishing you all a truly wonderful month ahead! 😉

Hello and welcome to the 8th (lunar) month of the year on our ‘Celtic Tree Calendar’ .. which commenced yesterday (July 8th) and takes us through to August 4th .. 🙂

Back in 2011 I compiled an ‘alternative Ogham’ for the followers in Australia, this I named ‘An Antipodean Ogham’ which I intend to publish again on this new website in the very near future.

When selecting which trees to include I first searched for the Australian ‘equivalents’ and found a fair few…and though some of them are related ‘in name only’ they have obviously been named so for their close resemblance to their northern hemispherical counterparts.

For those remaining I searched for species within the same families and again found more ‘equivalents’  such as ‘Native Grape’ and ‘Gorse Bitter Pea’. For Luis (Rowan) I could only choose another member of the Rosaceae family.

Hawthorn and Hazel proved more difficult to match-make and so I did a little research on ‘Australian thorn bushes’ and ‘Australian nut trees’ – see my post for Hawthorn back in May 😉

Below is my Australian choice for this month’s tree – Holly ..

Holly-Leaved Banksia

Banksia ilicifolia – Endemic to southwest Western Australia this tree with its green prickly foliage and yellow and red tinged spiky flowers can reach 10 metres in height.

Unlike its close relatives this particular species can regenerate after bush fires by re-sprouting from epicormic buds under its bark.

The yellow flowers in particular are very attractive to several species of birds and insects including honeyeaters, wattlebirds, bees, beetles and ants – they are also a source of nectar for the honey possum.

Photo courtesy of Cas Liber

Wishing you ALL a very happy month ahead! 🙂

According to Robert Grave’s Celtic Tree calendar, June is the month of the Oak or ‘Duir’ (pronounced ‘DOO-r’) in old Irish gaelic. 

‘Duir’ derives from the indo-european root ‘deru’ of which sprouts some very interesting shoots indeed – including, as you might expect ‘door’ but also the words ’tree’, ‘true’ and ’trust’.

From Wikipedia ..

‘Proto-IE *deru-, a cognate to English tree, is the word for “oak”, though the root has a wider array of meanings related to “to be firm, solid, steadfast” (whence e.g. English true).’

In Old English the words ‘true’ and ‘tree’ looked and sounded very alike – ‘true’ was ‘treowe’ and ‘tree’ was ‘treow’ – which in turn derived from the Germanic adjective ‘treuwaz’ and the noun ‘trewam’  .. both which again came from the Indo-European ’deru’ meaning ‘solid’ and ‘steadfast’, qualities that can as easily apply to truth as to trees 🙂

 We’ve also been given the words ‘durable’, ‘duress’, ‘duration’ and ‘endurance’ from the same root – all again relating to solidity or firmness and/or steadfastness – ‘trust’ can also be thought of in these terms.

‘Druid’ also derives from ‘deru’ and can be translated as ‘oak knower’ or ‘truth seer’ – the Oak tree being the most sacred tree of the Druids who would make their wands from its wood. 

This brings us back to ‘door’ as the Oak was thought to exist in the Celtic ‘Otherworld’ as well as this one so in essence a portal to another realm.

So it’s easy to see how the Oak is associated with the qualities of nobility, strength and protection 🙂

 The Oak

Live thy Life,
Young and old,
Like yon oak,
Bright in spring,
Living gold;

Summer-rich
Then; and then
Autumn-changed
Soberer-hued
Gold again.

All his leaves
Fall’n at length,
Look, he stands,
Trunk and bough
Naked strength.

Alfred Lord Tennyson 1809-1892

Have a very Happy June!  🙂

Featured Image above by Wouterhagens

Hello and welcome to the 6th (lunar) month of the year on our ‘Celtic Tree Calendar’ .. which actually began on Saturday 13th of this month and ends on June 9th .. my apologies for being a few days late.. 😉

Back in 2011 I compiled an ‘alternative Ogham’ for the followers in Australia, this I named ‘An Antipodean Ogham’ which I intend to publish again on this new website in the very near future.

When selecting which trees to include I first searched for the Australian ‘equivalents’ and found a fair few…and though some of them are related ‘in name only’ they have obviously been named so for their close resemblance to their northern hemispherical counterparts.

For those remaining I searched for species within the same families and again found more ‘equivalents’  such as ‘Native Grape’ and ‘Gorse Bitter Pea’. For Luis (Rowan) I could only choose another member of the Rosaceae family.

Huathe (Hawthorn) and Coll (Hazel) proved more difficult to match-make and so I did a little research on ‘Australian thorn bushes’ and ‘Australian nut trees’ .. here is my alternative for this month’s tree – Huathe .. Kangaroo Thorn

Acacia paradoxa – this is a large shrub which grows up to 3 metres in height and width with a dense foliage and spiny branches.

Widespread across Australia it makes excellent hedging and provides dwelling and shelter for small birds such as wrens.

It flowers in fluffy yellow balls which can be cooked and eaten in fritters. Other common names include: Prickly Wattle, Hedge Wattle and Paradox Acacia.

Wishing you ALL a Very Happy Month ahead! 🙂