The White Goddess, by Robert Graves,
is the source of a mythic system which purports to link the Celtic alphabet
with the names of trees and plants whose characteristics are representative
of the cycles of personality, as well as the changes in the land throughout
the year. Whatever the actual source, the Solar and Lunar Wheels as designated
by the "tree months" become a complex and workable system of magic. Beginning
in the Winter, between Yule and Imbolc, the tree months exemplify the inception,
growth and development and attainments of the personal cycle throughout
the year.
Below is a listing of the alphabet
in order, with the tree, season, and characteristic energy noted. Tree
names are links to further exploration of the seasonal round as it progresses.
Please note that the letters are turned 90 degrees from how they would
be written on a standing stone or drawn on a tool...so if the staff points
down, it is to the right of the center line. Also please note that the
times of the Lunar Cycle do NOT coincide directly with the Solar Wheel...so
the duration of a lunation is approximate. That is to say, the Solar Feasts
which are used as markers ( Yule to Imbolc, for example) quite likely fall
WITHIN the lunation mentioned, not at the end of it.
CELTIC TREE MONTHS..LUNAR
WHEEL
BEITH...Birch...First
lunation after Yule...Inception
LUIS...Rowan...between
Yule and Imbolc...Quickening
NION...Ash...First
lunation after Imbolc...Aspiration
FEARN..Alder...between
Imbolc and Oestre...Assertion
SAILLE...Willow...First lunation after Oestre..Intuition
UATH...Hawthorne...between
Bealteine and Litha...Purification
DUIR...Oak...first
full lunation after Bealteine...Divination
TINNE...Holly...first
lunation after Litha...Protection
COLL...Hazel...between
Litha and Lughnassadh...Inspiration
MUIN...Vine...between
Lughnassadh and Mabon...Intoxication
GORT...Ivy...first
lunation after Mabon...Resurrection
NgETAL..Reed...between
Mabon and Samhain...Seclusion
RUIS...Elder...first
lunation after Samhain...Dissolution
STATIONS OF THE
YEAR...SOLAR WHEEL
AILM...Silver
Fir...INTERCALARY DAY...Conception
ONN...Furze
or Gorse...SPRING EQUINOX...Seed
CROSS-QUARTER FESTIVAL...Bealteine...Flower
UR...Heather...SUMMER
SOLSTICE...Fruit
CROSS-QUARTER FESTIVAL...Lughnassadh...Harvest
EADHA...Aspen...AUTUMN
EQUINOX...Celebration
CROSS-QUARTER FESTIVAL...Samhain...Compost
IDHO...Yew...WINTER
SOLSTICE...Fallow