We flow into Ash Moon Mother on Sunday, February 10th, 2013. She is the magnificence and beauty of the Divine Feminine. She teaches us many lessons about living from our heart. Please let me know how you are feeling this moon month because it is all about FEELINGS!
The Ash Tree (The Wisdom of Trees Jane Gifford)
In the early histories of Ireland, it is said that five magical trees protected the land; three of these were ash trees, the other two were yew and oak.
St. Patrick in the 5th century CE was said to have driven all serpents out of Ireland with the aid of an ash stick. To the Celtic people, the serpent represented the female earth energy and so to them this act of St. Patricks’ also symbolized the banishment of the goddess from the involvement in the affairs of humankind.
In Northern European legend, the ash is seen as the Great World Tree, a symbol of universality, which spreads its roots and branches over every land and forms a link between the gods, humankind, and the dead.
In ancient Scandinavian legend three goddesses known as the Three Norns dispensed justice from beneath the sacred ash.
The Greek goddess Nemesis also carried an ash branch as an instrument of divine justice on behalf of the Gods.
The Vikings believed that the first man was born of ash and their god, Odin, hung himself from this magical tree to receive illumination in the shape of the runes – an ancient form of writing similar to ogham – the secret form of written language known only to the Druid intiates (the Celtic tree alphabet).
The ash is also connected to the waters of life and is associated with the sea.
For the Celts, the ash was the guardian of universal truths.