Sacred Woods :: Hawthorn

Hawthorn is burned to purify,
And to draw Faerie to your eye.

From the Rede of the Wiccae

In the village of Hethel, 10 miles south of Norwich in Norfolk, stands the Witch of Hethel. Her age is unknown, but the earliest mention of her is said to have been in a 13th century deed held by the first Sir Thomas Beaver which referred to her as the “Old Thorn”. Today, her trunk is cloven and her spiraling, twisted branches are supported by props here and there and yet she is as revered as she was when peasants revolting against oppressive King John gathered beneath her boughs. Under the care of the Norfolk Naturalists Trust, the Witch of Hethel continues to put forth sweet smelling blossoms every spring, but hos did this grand old tree get her name?

First, she stands near the old village church and many times churches were constructed on or near sites that were already regarded as sacred. We also know that hawthorn cults were dedicated to goddess worship in the British Isles. Taking these factors into account, it may well be that the Witch of Hethel was once the Goddess of Hethel and this hawthorn was her sacred representation.

If the deed mentioning the “Old Thorn” refers to the hawthorn that stands in Hethel today, the tree is over 800 years old, very old indeed and yet reverence for and beliefs surrounding hawthorn are far older. Like the dichotomy in referring to the tree as with or as goddess, the lore surrounding hawthorn is equally as contradictory.

Hawthorn trees, of which there are more than 300 species growing in temperate regions of the globe including parts of North America, Europe and western Asia, come to life in spring with white of pink clusters of flowers. Many of the tree's common names – may, maybush, may blossom, and mayflower allude to these floral heralds of warmer days, fertility and new beginnings. The flower's scent was though to be an aphrodisiac and they were used in spring weddings as fertility charms. In ancient Greece, the wedding couple were crowned with hawthorn blossoms and the wedding party carried haw wood torches.

But perhaps hawthorn's most well known association with fertility is as the traditional decorative topper for the maypole, which forms the phallic centerpiece of Beltane, the festival of Bel (Belenus). This springtime celebration of fertility, replete with sexual overtones, once began on the day may blossoms opened rather than a fixed calendar date, hence a common name for the festival, May Day. In a strange twist on this celebration of fertility and sexual levity, hawthorn is also known as the tree of chastity and its leaves were placed beneath mattresses and around bedroom to promote chastity and celibacy.

In Rome, the may flower was sacred to Cardea¹, the virgin goddess of childbirth and marriage who was referred to as Queen of May. The hawthorn bough that Cardea was often depicted holding was regarded as an emblem of protection and Roman parents adorned cradles with haw cuttings to invoke the goddess' protection upon their infants. Infants themselves are the personification of spring's newness and potential promise as are newly wedded couples and so Cardea's protection extended to them as well. Hawthorn's blossoms were prominent in Roman weddings just as they were in Greek weddings.

How did Cardea, goddess of springtime, childbirth and marriage, come to be endowed with protective powers? Beginnings are tenuous and tentative, threatened by greater, more mature forces, so in order for these upstarts to survive and flourish, they require protection. Beginning are the first step across the threshold and Cardea is associated with thresholds and door pivots as well. Here her symbol is the hings, which leads us to another of hawthorn's prominent associations.

The hawthorn has long been regarded as the hinge to the fairy world and when clustered with two other trees, the oak and the ash, the triad is referred to as the fairy triad. This grouping of three trees has a practical application rooted in one of hawthorn's most distinguishing characteristics, its irritant-tipped thorns. Grazing cattle and livestock will avoid the tree rather than get tangled in its thorns and the tree's small, densely packed three-lobed leaves on clustered branches help protect the exposed trunks of oak and ash from storm damage. These same characteristics were thought to protect the hidden fairy world, to which haw was the hinge, from prying humans. It was thought to be incredibly unwise to rest your back on the smooth grey trunk of the hawthorn, especially on nights like May Eve when fairy were thought to be particularly active, lest you be enchanted away to their world.

The fae were fiercely protective of their tree, so much so that to cut down a hawthorn without their permission was to risk illness or even death in one's family. In Ireland, just to pluck the tree was to risk the wrath of angry elves. There were loopholes to these dangers however. Permission could be asked prior to cutting and, if it was granted one was safe. A damaged tree could be used for its wood without angering the fae but another haw should be planted in its place. Then there is the May Day loophole. On May Eve, and only May Eve, it was safe to pick the blossoms of the haw and bring them indoors for use in decorations and rites of May. Bringing haw indoors on any other day was sure to invite death into the home as haw blossoms are said to carry the same scent as that which accompanied London's Great Plague of 1665. Some claim that the scent of may blossoms is the scent of death itself.

Associations with beginnings and death in the same tree? While they initially appear as unrelated opposites, one soon realizes that when it comes to polar pairs, elements of one lie in the other and vice versa. Death is the end of one process, but the doorway to the next. Tuetonic tribes viewed hawthorn as a symbol of death and used it in their funeral pyres. While others believed that a dying person could be made well if carried three times around a hawthorn. Christians believed that haw branches were used to form the crown of thorns that was meant to humiliate Jesus and add to his suffering but legends tell how from this suffering and death bloomed new life.

These legends surround the hawthorn growing in Glastonbury, England. Though the tree growing there now is not the original tree, which was destroyed as a superstitious relic during the Puritan movement of the 17th century, it is the glorious rebirth of a cutting taken from the original hawthorn. It is said that the original tree was planted from the crown of thorns worn by Jesus and later brought to England by Joseph of Arimathea. Another legend holds that a haw sapling sprang from the earth when Joseph of Arimathea struck the ground with his staff. It is further said that the tree, both the original and its offshoot blooms on Christmas Eve, heralding the promise of the Divine Child seen in both Jesus and the returning sun. In a continuation of a century's old tradition, cuttings from the Glastonbury haw are sent to members of Britain's royal family each year, perhaps they are intended as a blessing. These legends exemplify the harmony of placing associations of both death and new life in one tree.

This dichotomy of associations is further exemplified in other goddesses to whom the tree is sacred. The White Goddess Maia of love, fertility and the dawn is also a goddess of death. Blodeuwedd, the flower-faced wife of the Celtic god Lugh was spring and flowers and sometimes called the Queen of May until she betrayed her husband and was speared. The betrayal moved her association from haw's springtime blooms to its stabbing thorns. In Celtic Ogham, the hawthorn tree is associated with Huath, meaning “terror”. In the Celtic Tree calendar developed by Robert Graves, the month of Huath falls between May 15 and June 10, a time once ruled over by Blodeuwedd. Before we leave the world of goddesses, we must once again visit with the Roman Cardea, as her links to the hawthorn go on.

Romans believed that Cardea ruled over the heart, liver and internal organs and her aid was often sought in the treatment of ailments concerning these areas. Remembering that hawthorn was her symbol and sacred plant, were the Roman's aware of hawthorn's medicinal properties and did they use it as a remedy or treatment? The Celts were aware and they did use it. Celtic healers used potions of haw leaves, flowers and berries as a tonic to maintain the health and vitality of internal organs, especially the heart.

Today, 2-3 doses daily of 160mg standardized extract containing 2.2% flavonoids or 18.75% oligomeric procyanidines help in treating hardening of the arteries (arteriosclerosis), blocked and inflamed blood vessels (Buerger's disease), heart failure, high blood pressure and rapid pulse. Germany's Federal Institute for Drug and Medical Devices has approved leaf and flower extracts for minor heart ailments. They have yet to determine the effectiveness of berry extracts but they are marketed as a supplement to strengthen and invigorate the heart and circulatory system. The use of berry extracts is another continuation of Celtic medicine. Infusions of berry extracts were regular tonics and treatments for the Celts, who ingested them to aid the health of internal organs (once again, we are in Cardea's doman). Berry infusions were used specifically to aid the kidneys thanks to haw's astringent properties. These properties also make berry/flower infusions effective in treating sore and infected throats. A 1/3 cup moderate infusion 3x per day is recommended. When made from fresh berries, be sure to remove the seeds as they are mildly toxic.

It seems the ancestors knew where of they spoke with regard to hawthorn's medicinal effectiveness. Considering this, it might also be wise for use to pay heed to old beliefs in hawthorn's powers of protection which extend far beyond the previously mentioned cradle.

Hawthorn provides powerful protection to the home, especially protecting the home from storms². In Norway, nailing a piece of haw to one's home on Holy Thursday (the Thursday prior to Easter Sunday) would protect the home from lightning as long as the haw remained in place. When worn, haw protects people and animals from lightning's deadly strike and from evil influence. Long considered a sacred tree, hawthorn was said to be so holy that no malicious spirit could bear to approach it, one of the tree's common names is holy thorn. Ghosts could not enter homes protected by hawthorn and witches were said to get tangled in its thorns, though hawthorn hedges have long been regarded as a traditional component of witches' gardens; probably planted to keep nosy people at bay in an ironic twist on the tradition of planting haw to keep witches away.

Hawthorn doesn't have to be planted to bless a home with its protective power. In Ireland, blossoms placed on a dresser served the same purposes and a globe created from haw cuttings hung in the kitchen on New Year's Eve would protect the home through the year. At the end of the year, its powers were not yet exhausted; it should then be burnt and its ashes scatted over fields to ensure a bountiful harvest, protecting the people from hunger. In this same vein, taking a sachet of haw on a fishing trip will guarantee a good catch for the dinner table. The tree also feeds animals and humans on a practical level as well as a magical one. It's distinctive red berries (bunches are called haws) provide food for birds in fall and into early winter and they can be processed into pies and jams in the same way as other berries. The berries are surprisingly nutritious in addition to bioflavinoids, they contain cardiotonic amines, polyphenols, and are a source of Vitamin C, B vitamins and many other nutrients.

On a personal level, when worn or carried, haw promotes happiness in people who are troubled or depressed. Those born in May enjoy special protection since haw blossom is May's birth flower.

Belief in hawthorn's powers of protection may be rooted in the tree's ability to withstand adverse conditions much better than more tender trees such as birch or willow. Hawthorn is quite happy growing in poor, limy or chalky soils in areas exposed to the elements where other trees would suffer a quick demise. This tough, hardy tree prefers full sun and will grow to 25-35 feet tall with spreading branches reaching out up to 25 feet, but it doesn't have to become a tree. With proper pruning, hawthorn can be grown as a hedge, just as it was in the witches garden of lore and legend.

With more than 300 varieties of the species Crataegus to choose from, you may like to begin with the most common options. C. laevigata is Common Haw and is used as a hedgerow in northern Europe. C. monogyna, C. folium and C. mespilus are common and easily found in nurseries as well. All varieties are deciduous and burst with blooms in springtime but Crimson Cloud, a newer variety, offers up red flowers with white centers as opposed to the more traditional pink or white blossoms. Crimson Cloud will also grow only 16 feet high and wide if left to its own devices and it does best in planting zones 5-8. If dropping berries littering the yard are not something you look forward too, consider Paul's Scarlet which produces sterile haws on a less frequent basis. Like Crimson Cloud, Paul's Scarlet will only grow to 16 feet and does best in zones 5-8 but instead of red flowers, it produces double deep pink flowers.

Crataegus lavallei and C. persimilis (aka C prunifolia) are large hawthorn trees, growing up to 25 feet tall and spreading over 30 feet wide. Both produce clusters of white flowers and have glossy green leaves that turn color in fall, lavallei leaves turn red while persimilis' are a softer scarlet tinted with orange.

Hawthorn is a magnificent tree, whether you decide to grow it in your landscape or happen upon it in a craggy out of the way place, take a moment to appreciate it just as hundreds of generations before you have done.

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