Sacred Woods :: Birch
Birch into the fire goes
In sign of what the Lady knows.
Several species of the elegant and graceful birch are native to Russia, Asia, Europe and Eastern North America where they
cluster in forests stretching from the Arctic Circle down to Texas and Florida. Its peeling bark, which is said to be a
powerful magical parchment, is probably the tree’s most distinguishing feature, though the changing of the leaves from
glossy green to golden yellows and russet reds turn an autumn drive in the country into a magical experience. In the winter,
tiny winged nutlets (the seeds of the tree) scatter the snow around the trunk, while the shapely limbs stretch up to 80’
into the sky, both quietly awaiting the coming spring which the tree will herald with the first sprouts of green.
Our ancestors must have recognized the refined sensuality of the birch for its spirit has been envisioned as a virginal maiden veiled in light that is endowed with the powers of magic and healing in different cultures across the Northern Hemisphere. The Indo-Europeans called the spirit Bhereg, meaning “wrapped in brilliance” and probably a derivative of the Sanskrit word for birch, Bhurga. In the Himalayas, where the B. jacuemontii variety is native, the spirits of the tree was associated with Saraswati, the radiant white goddess whose vehicle is either a white swan or a wild white goose. Saraswati is the goddess who begins, it is she who brings everything into flow. She inspires mankind to create, heal and seek wisdom, to compose, speak and write. The first books of the Veda were written on bark taken from her sacred tree. Saraswati’s hold day occurs in February when the goddess turns the wheel to spring and is still widely celebrated in Northern India as the first day of spring. The predominate color of her festival is yellow and celebrants may also choose to honor Lakshimi, goddess of wealth, in the hopes that their money grow as well.
The Russians considered their native birch (B. ermannii), with its pink or cream tinged white bark, to be the most beautiful of trees and examples of their reverence appears frequently in Russian literature, poetry, songs and fairytales. Slavic and Siberian people saw the spirit of the trees as beautiful, white-feathered swan maidens who sometimes wed their shaman and lent them their wings to fly. Eurasian shaman made their masks and drum frames from birch wood, preferably taken from a tree that had been struck by lightening. According to Siberian lore, the first shaman was rocked in a cradle shaded by birch boughs and a bit of the tree’s sap dripped into his mouth. When they needed to travel to the spirit world, the shaman ascended and descended a consecrated and decorated birch, whose roots, trunk and branches spanned the lower world and the upperworld.
Germanic people identified the birch with Bertha, their “White Lady” who was the spirit of spring. Though not considered
attractive, she is thought of as kind and caring and is charged with guarding the souls of unborn children. In Holland, she
was known as Vrou-elde, in Germany as Nerthus, Scandinavia as Huldra and in the Teutonic pantheon, she is identified with
Freya to whom the birch is also considered sacred. As with other goddesses of the birch, Freya is associated with fertility
and love as a creative force. These associations manifest in traditions and folklore. As a symbol of the first stirring of
love, boys once placed fresh, green birch twigs in front of the house of the girl they liked. It used to be traditional for
new parents to bury the placenta beneath the birch to both thank the goddess for her blessing and to invoke her protection
and inspiration on the new life. Cradles and cribs were once made of birch for the same reason, but the belief in the power
of the birch to confer fertility and protection extended beyond humans. In fact, it was traditional to flog or slap with a
birch twig anything and everything that one wanted to flourish. In Northern Europe, at the start of the agricultural year,
buildings and fields were adorned with birch branches and cows were driven out to pasture for the first time under the snap
of birch switches in the hopes of a fertile and safe season.
The Norse consecrated the birch to Thor as well as Freya. A god of fertility, Thor is primarily thought of as a
lightening and storm deity. His associations with the tree may have evolved from the tree’s close relationship with a
mushroom called fly agaric (Amanita muscaria) which produces an entopic light phenomena at night that resembles flashes of
lightening. According to lore, the Lady of the Woods would be angered if she was maligned by people peeling away her bark.
To avoid her ire, it was proper to wait until the tree had been marked by Thor’s lightening before gathering bark. The theme
echoes the practices of the Eurasian shaman discussed earlier.
The widespread birch extended far south into Rome, where magistrates swore their oaths of office over a spray of birch branches tied with red ribbon. In Italy, a bundle of birch braches with an ax in the middle, called a fascis, became a sign of the cleansing rule of the law. This symbol was maligned when the dictator Mussolini appropriated it as the sigil of his fascist government.
In the Celtic lands, the people saw Brigid in the white branches of the birch. Like the Hindu Saraswati, Brigid is a maiden goddess associated with light, creation, knowledge and healing. She is the muse who inspires bards, poets and craftsmen. The Gaelic name for birch is beith, which also means inception and beginning, so it is appropriate that the first month of the Celtic tree calendar is named beith. According to the folklorist and author Robert Graves, the month extends from December 24 to January 20, but because the calendar was tied to the moon and a month began and ended on a new moon, the actual dates vary from year to year. It has also been proposed that the month of beith actually began on the new moon closest to Brigid’s sacred day in February when the maiden goddess presided over the first stirrings of life. The birch ties in closely with another Sabbat, that of Beltane, which is celebrated across Europe under various names ranging from May Day to Walpuristnacht. Birch twigs wee used to kindle the sacred bonfires that signaled the inception of the new growing season and its tall, straight trunk is the traditional Maypole around which dancers twisted ribbons to symbolize the creative union of the God and Goddess.
Variety of birch are native to the Americas as well and it was well known to the indigenous people who associated the tree with lightening and protection Manabozo, an Ojibwa cultural hero found protection from the thunder god’s lightening bolts in the hollow of a birch tree. Birch incense is still considered to protect against lightening today.
While it may seem contrary to the previous associations of life, beginnings and protection, the birch has long been
associated with the dead and the underworld. The Ojibwa wrapped the deceased in birch bark to protect and conceal them.
The Celts placed conical birch hats on their dead, as with the Chieftan of Hochdorf and a Scottish ballad survives that
tells the story of two dead sons who appear to their mother wearing conical hats. Their appearance settles their mother’s
grieving heart, because their hats signal to her that her boys will not languish as ghosts, but will pass on peacefully to
rest and be reborn. Perhaps the two meanings are not as at odds as they initially seemed.
The religious and spiritual importance of birch may have stemmed from its practical importance and characteristics. As the first tree to seed after the recession of the glaciers, the birch was an available resource to Paleolithic hunters who used the gum of the tree to secure their arrowheads and harpoons to shafts. Shoes were made from birch bark and clothing and hats from bast fiber for thousands of years. Native Americans and Siberians have, and still do, made/make containers from the bark then seal the container with gum and resin from the tree. Maple syrup can be stored in one of these containers for a whole year. The Ojibwa made cooking pots in much the same way as the water tight containers were made. To cook the food, hot stones were placed inside the pot. They also made canoes, utensils, plates and winnowers for wild rice from birch bark. Today, birch is used in furniture making, flooring, and a myriad of home décor products.
Another practical application of the birch, that of creating fire, may have led to the tree’s mystical association with
fire as a protective, creative and healing force. Our ancestors noticed that the bark burned remarkably bright and so made
torches of the dried, rolled bark to protect against the darkness. Birch twigs kindled the fires of the Celtic forge in
which weapons and art were made under the protection of the goddess Brigid. A fungus called Fomes fomentarius grows on the
bark of the birch. When friction, such as the rapid twisting of a stick, is applied to the fungus, it easily catches fire
creating instant heat and lighting. The burning charcoal could then be applied to afflicted areas to draw out the spirit
that was causing the illness. Hildegard of Bingen recommended this treatment for back, limbs and internal complaints.
Additional healing properties of birch were well known by ancient people and birch is still used in healing today. The dried bark, twigs and leaves are the medicinal parts of the tree and birch also comes as an essential oil. Native Americans of the Great Lakes region placed the bark on sweat lodge stones so the volatile oils would be released in the steam to cleanse the skin and lungs. In the Russian bania, leaves were used in the same way for the same purpose. As a tea, birch has been used to treat bladder and urinary tract infections, kidney stones, digestive problems and for headache and pain relief. The tea can also be used as a gargle to heal canker sores. A poultice can be made from the leaves and bark for external application to treat pain associated with rheumatism and to speed the healing of wounds. As an oil or ointment, birch can help relieve the skin inflammation, eczema. Birch continues to be used in the traditional ways and new applications are being researched. In Germany, betulin, a compound found in birch is currently under evaluation for use against tumors. Taking into consideration the wide-ranging healing application of birch, it is easy to see the source of the mystical connotations of purification and cleansing. Criminals in England were once flogged with birch twigs to drive out the spirits that caused them to commit crimes!
As with all herbal remedies and medications in general, please be informed and use wisely. Do not use birch if you are pregnant and use cautiously if you have a predisposition to seasonal allergies. Discontinue use immediately if skin becomes irritated or nasal allergy symptoms develop. If symptoms persist for more than a few days, consult a medical professional. Dose: As an extract or tea, steep 2-3 grams bark or 1 tsp leaves in 1 cup boiling water for 10-15 minutes. Ingest several times daily.
The mystical and magical connotations of birch are as alive today as ever. Incorporate the symbolism and significance of
birch into your magical workings. Start by taking cues from the past uses and traits of tree, then modify them to fit modern
needs and lifestyles. Tie a red ribbon to a twig to ward off the evil eye as was once done in Italy or swear over a bundle
of birch tied with red ribbon to uphold the laws of your coven (or practice), a modern modification of an old Italian
tradition. Kindle the Beltane fire with birch twigs or erect and decorate its trunk as the maypole. Most of us are unable to
erect a full fledged maypole, but don’t let that stop you, be creative using a birch branch instead. It is widely believed
that the traditional witch’s broom was made using ash for the staff and birch twigs as the bristles. Make your broom the
same way and invoke the tree’s purification and cleansing properties to sweep the temple area, shrines and sacred spots. The
broom can also be used to symbolically sweep the old year away and welcome in the new by decorating doors and windows with
birch. Burn birch incense to purify and exorcise or to protect from lightening in the tradition of the Ojibwa. Bring birch
into your workings to commune with the Lady of the Woods and meditate in a birch grove to contact the earth mother. Make
bark torches to illuminate rituals, especially for Brigid’s holy day Imbolg. Fashion a cradle of birch for the corn dolly
at Imbolg or at the Winter Solstice for the newly born sun king. Add birch to workings of increase, flog with a twig those
things you wish to grow or burn the incense at the new moon to unite the celestial and terrestrial energies of fertility
and increase. Make a birch wand, with its connotations of fertility, purification and banishing, for use in rites. Play a
birch flute
(available from Heartwood Flutes 
)
to purify the air and exorcise negativity. The energy of the rune Berkanan is the feminine growing energy of spring, use
this by placing a carving of the rune in your garden to bless it with growth or anywhere else that the powers of increase
are needed. If you have the ability, plant a birch tree on your property to protect your home from lightening and to provide
a place to connect with the spirits and deities of the tree. Birch is remarkably easy to grow and find in the wild where it
is free to obtain, remember to thank the Lady of the Woods and make an offering in return, or wait until the tree has been
blessed by Thor so as not to anger her.
Fossilized forms of birch date to the Upper Cretaceous Period and it is still abundant and widespread in the Northern Hemisphere, where it is a common site in woods and in landscape designs. To identify the birch, look at the bark. It is usually white, but in varieties may also be yellow brown or almost black. In younger trees, the trunk is smooth and as the tree ages horizontal lines develop, surface cracks appear and the bark begins to peel back. Its leaves are alternate, simply toothed and a glossy bright green turning to golden yellow and russet red in the fall. In late summer to early autumn, the flowers of the tree appear as worm-like catkins near the ends of branches. The following spring, the catkins elongate to expose brownish bracts. Inside the axils are tiny flowers whose ovaries mature into tiny, winged nutlets that scatter the ground in fall.
In a landscape garden, the birch (Betula pendula.alba) is an easy to care for quick growing tree that will grow in almost
any soil when planted in sun or light shade. It tolerates poor soil very well but is markedly reliable in alkaline soils.
Some of the 40 species commonly referred to as birch are shrubs, but most are lofty trees that, at maturity (15+ years)
reach up to 80 feet in the air and branch outward up to 20 feet.
Common Landscape Choices
• B. albosinensis var. septentriohalis, is a form of Chinese red birch that is renown for its bark which is a creamy white when the tree is young and matures to a pinkish color that peels back to reveal a mahogany red under layer. Zones: 6-8• B. ermannii called Russian rock birch is native to Japan, Korea and the Kamchatka peninsula of Russia. Its pink or creamy tinged peeling, white bark is most apparent in multi-stemmed trees. Zones: 5-8
• B. pendula (aka B. alba and B. verrucosa) is the familiar silver birch that is native to Europe. Its slightly drooping branches bear a grey white bark that cracks attractively at maturity. Zones: 3-8
• B. utilis var. jacquemontii is a native of the Himalayas. Its white bark stands out in a snowy winter landscape and its oval leaves turn dandelion yellow in autumn. The majority of commercially sold seeds are raised from seed collected from a tree farm in the Himalayas. Zones: 6-8
Use knowledge about the tree’s native areas to provide a strong magical link to that area of the world, its cultures, people and deities. Solitary birch trees are attractive in a landscape but when planted in a grove of 3 or more their varied fall colors will play off of each other nicely. Either will provide an excellent place for meditation and enough material for workings, healings and magical craft projects which will allow you to bring the mystery, magic and healing power of birch easily into your practice.
Modern Birch Steam Bath
Boil 2-5 lb birch leaves in enough water to cover for 1-2 hours. Fill a bathtub with enough hot water to reach the waist when seated. Straining through a cotton cloth (or pillowcase), pour one half of the leaf infusion into the bath and immerse yourself. Allow the remaining infusion to cool so that it is hot to the touch but not scalding, then use it to drench the neck, shoulders, back, arms and face for as long as you feel comfortable. If you begin to feel weak or relaxed to the point of falling asleep, make yourself get out of the bath. This type of herbal bath, done once or twice per week 30 times consecutively will prove beneficial for internal and external complaints as it will improve proper function for both.Leave Feedback for the Author