Hello and welcome to the 13th (lunar month) of the year on our Celtic Tree Calendar – in fact we are now almost one week into the month of Elder or ‘Ruis’ which began on November 25th and takes us through to December 22nd – my apologies, the weeks seem to have been flying by!
Ruis represents Karma, regrets and ‘facing the inevitable’ – a little scary you may be thinking?
Well this is the time of year when the days are getting progressively shorter, a time when most of us spend more time indoors and perhaps start to ‘look back’ over what we have achieved (or not) over the past year.
The Elder is another ‘Goddess tree’ especially in relation to her Crone aspect – the ‘Elder Mother’ who guards the door to the ‘Otherworld’.
As with a lone Hawthorn it is said to be very unlucky to cut this tree down for firewood…
“Elder be ye Lady’s tree, burn it not or cursed ye’ll be“
But the Crone is not really to be feared but rather respected for her experience and wisdom – it was the fuelling of fear that condemned so many poor elderly ladies to be burned as witches during the 18thCentury – See Janet Horne 😦
Without even wanting to try to get into the politics of it all they do say “knowledge is power” and it seems that the ‘authorities’ of the time definitely had a problem with anyone who might have some power that was beyond ‘normal comprehension’ – hence the hysteria that ensued during those terrible dark times 😦
The Elder represents evolutionary change and as with the Hawthorn, this I think, can be seen in its growth stages from the large sprays of white 5 petalled blossom(Maiden), to purple berries(Dark Mother), and then back to bare twisty branches(Crone) which really make it stand out from all the other hedgerow trees in wintertime 😉
Elder Blossom can be used to make a lovely champagne-like beverage and the berries too can be used to make syrup and wine. Please note that the berries can be poisonous if eaten raw *
Photo Courtesy of Trish Steel
And so as we approach the ‘darkest day of the year’ we also look forward to Yuletide and the ‘return of the light’ which is represented by Ailm – the Pine or Silver Fir – the Christmas Tree 🙂
.. And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun ..
John Lennon
Wishing you ALL the Very Best of the Season and Thank You so much for all the support that you have given me with Divine Ogham over this past year X
Brightest Blessings!
Kim x
* The leaves, twigs, branches, seeds and roots contain a cyanide-inducing glycoside (a glycoside which gives rise to cyanide as the metabolism processes it). Ingesting any of these parts in sufficient quantity can cause a toxic build up of cyanide in the body.
Due to the possibility of cyanide poisoning, children should be discouraged from making whistles, slingshots or other toys from elderberry wood. In addition, “herbal teas” made with elderberry leaves(which contain cyanogenic glycosides) should be treated with high caution. However, ripe berries (pulp and skin) are safe to eat. ~ source Wikipedia
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