Back in 1999 a little tree made a very big name for its self, when workmen downed tools, refusing to chop down a little Hawthorn tree, believing it to be a fairy tree.

The building project was a multi-million pound motorway project. The Clare County Council were forced to alter the course of the motorway to accommodate the fairy tree, because of the widely held belief that to chop down the tree would bring very bad look on whoever did this.

This isn’t the first time that is has happened either.

Twenty years earlier on a massive factory project was brought to a stand still when machinery broke down on several occasions while trying to remove another fairy tree. This was eventually relocated to a nearby field.

There are many such stories of people refusing to cut down fair trees because of the widely held belief that something bad could happen.

The story of how foresters from Ulster tried to chop down a skiough, a fairy bush, only to break their hatchets on the sacred bush at every attempt is another. But where did these come from?

The Celts were well known for their respect for the natural world, but they had a special place in their hearts for trees, believing that the souls of the dead waited in them until they were reincarnated.

In Germany if you we’re caught even damaging Royal trees, the punishment was to replace the damaged part of the tree with your own flesh.

Even the Celtic written language, Ogham, is represented by different trees, a different species for each letter.

Ogham seems to either be a variant of the runic systems or the Roman alphabet, although some believe it could have originated from a form of sign language. Originally only consisting of twenty letters, five extra were added at a later date.

Ogham was at one time said to be used for divination this was called Crannchun or “casting the woods”, as each represented letter was marked onto a twig from its corresponding tree. Another variation of this was to use a bag, shaking the marked twigs before drawing out one in answer to a question asked to them.

Thirteen of the fifteen consonants are associated with the Beth-Luis-Nion tree calendar.

To the Celts every tree was sacred, symbolising the cosmic tree, which represented the three planes of existence.

Wherever three trees were found entwined, growing as one, was considered to be an extremely sacred place to both the Celts and Druids. Many people have reported over the years seeing fairies at such places, some even being transported to the Celtic underworld.

People still say that sometimes you can see fairies at the base of the trees, resting under its branches as they travel too and from distant tribal battles.

But a fairy tree is more than just a solitary hawthorn standing alone, either near a well or in the middle of a field. There are actually three different trees.

Some Celtic bards called these three individual fairy trees the fairy tree triad of Britain.

The trees which grow naturally in the same habitat seem drawn to each other.

The trees are oak, hawthorn and ash, although in some earlier myths Alder is also described as a fairy tree, this is most likely due to a reshuffling of the chieftain trees some time before the seventh century poem “Crib Gablach”, when the Alder was replaced by the Ash. The Alder became relegated to the status of peasant, while the ash joined the chieftain trees.

But it is the oak, ash and hawthorns, which seem to have this magnetism, drawing one to the other, like lovers

LOVE

The fairy trees are also associated with enchanted love. Pierre Duois for instance retells an old tale of how an oak tree was so taken by a couple’s undying love for each other, which had been declared under the great oak, that it turned the couple into twin trees so as to be able to spend eternity in each others tender embrace. It is said that they can still be heard whispering to each other, when they think no one is around.

Through out Scotland the hawthorn was a “trysting” place, a meeting place for lovers, Robert burns was famous for his liaisons beneath one not far from his home.

CLASH OF THE ASH

According to Nordic Mythology the Ash of Odin, which was known as Ygdrasill, the terrible ones horse, it was also known as the world tree, which grew at the centre of the world.

Ygdrasill is said to be the source of life and wisdom. Its branches support the sky, reaching up to the realm of the gods, while its roots reach down into the underworld.

The Greeks also held the Ash tree as sacred. Poseidon who is more commonly known as the sea god was originally known as the ash-god before he become associated with the oceans. At this time the ash-god was the second god of the Achaean trinity.

Many of the species of Ash tree weep a sugary sap, which until the turn of the twentieth century was regularly harvested by the Greeks, who called it meli meaning honey.

In the Scottish highlands newly born infants we’re still being given the honey of the ash well into the nineteen sixties.

According to Pliny the ash repelled snakes, he believed that a snake would rather enter a ring of fire than go near an ash, if given the choice. As absurd as this seems it does hold some truth and was also used against snakebites.

The Druids used ash for their wands and protective staffs because of its straight grain, it was said to be a very effective healing tool, putting it’s leafs under your pillow could help to stimulate psychic reams.

The Druids believed that the ash tree was a balancing force to the masculine oak and the feminine Hawthorn as it held both masculine and feminine qualities.

OAK

For centuries the oak has been the symbol of leadership, king of the forest, with direct links to the heavenly fire.

The oak was sacred to all the thunder gods; this was due to its ability to stand firm-footed in the earth even when struck by the thunder gods spiritual blasts of enlightenment.

By drumming an oak club in the hollow of its trunk it is said that you can call the positive forces of thunder. Similarly woodpeckers were said to entice rain fall with their drumming on the oldest of oaks.

Some foresters still carve the protective circle with four segments upon the side of oaks in the 7th lunar month of the druid’s calendar.

According to the Greek writer Pliny anything which is found growing on an oak was considered as a gift from the gods, although the mistletoe, one of the most revered of all plants to the druids, were said to have been grafted onto the ancient oaks as they were not naturally found upon them.

Duir was the Celtic name for the oak which means doorway, a gateway to the inner sanctum, whether it be the inner sanctum of a castle, a church or even earlier still the underworld.

The acorn also unsurprisingly holds many of the same properties as its elders. To place one in each window guards against lightning entering. While to carry one in your pocket, a pouch or as a charm is said to insure a healthy and lucky life, for as long as it was carried.

Oak leaves were used by the druids for divination, through the rustling of the leafs. They were also used in smudge form to purify the atmosphere.

Catching a falling oak leaf is said to free you from flu and colds all winter.

HAWTHORN

Solitary Hawthorn trees which grow on hillsides or near sacred wells are said to be markers for the fairies and this is where if you are lucky you can enter the fairy realm. Some believe that to sit under one in the month of May could lead to you being lost in the fairy realms forever.

The blossoms have long been used to decorate maypoles.

One old custom is to make a plait crown from the blossoms, which should be left outside. If this were lucky enough to be blessed by the fairy spirits, by dancing around it, which would bring the maker of the crown good fortune.

However the blossom was never to be taken into the home, as this would bring illness and misfortune whether it had been blessed or not.

The hawthorn itself on the other hand has long been used in the home for protection, especially in the kitchen. A charm carved from hawthorn was said to protect the kitchen against fire, while a globe made from its twigs placed in the kitchen on New Year was also beneficial as long as this was replaced with a new one each New Years.

Travellers would carry twigs of the tree to protect themselves against psychic attack, and misfortune. It is also said to be a cure for depression, the seeds being used to cure gallstones.

Hawthorn protects against lightning, it also wards off evil spirits stopping them from entering the home.

NEW BEGINNINGS

Since the spiritual revolution in the sixties, tree have once again become more important, both in our physical life, as without them we wouldn’t even be able to breath (they seem to act as a filter, removing much of the CO2 from the atmosphere, without which we would need to be wearing factor 2000 sun-block due to the ultra-violet radiation, and also in our spiritual lives.

The Wiccan tradition for one has adopted the three fold powers of the fairy tree, recognising these special places harnessing the powers of the natural hot spots of spiritual energy, probably in much the same ways as they had been used for thousands of years before.

In fact as the old spiritual and mystical pagan traditions are being studied more in depth, the fairy tree is becoming more and more prominent within these traditions. Reintegrating the long held beliefs which have always protected the trees, for fear of bad luck being bestowed upon those who chops one down, much of the time without even understanding the reasons why they are held in such high esteem. People seem once again to be taking on board the spiritual lessons of the wise old fairy trees.