Witches, Besoms And Birches
The birch tree is found throughout the country on a range of soil types from wet to dry and peaty to sandy.
It is truly a native tree, being one of the first species of tree to colonise our landscape after the ice retreated from Ireland 10,000 years ago. It also has a long association with our upland and bog landscapes and our cultural heritage.
The Gaelic for birch is Beith (pronounced 'bey') meaning 'beginning' or 'inception' perhaps because it is one of the first trees to come into leaf or possibly due to its ability to colonise open, wet, boggy ground, in the case of downy birch, or drier, sandy ground in the case of the silver birch, with quick growing seedlings. The silver birch, in particular, is considered to have sacred powers of renewal and purification and the twigs were used to drive out the spirits of the New Year. This belief persisted into the recent past when delinquents and the insane were 'birched' to expel evil spirits. Full Story
Related: religion, wicca, pagan, spells
It is truly a native tree, being one of the first species of tree to colonise our landscape after the ice retreated from Ireland 10,000 years ago. It also has a long association with our upland and bog landscapes and our cultural heritage.
The Gaelic for birch is Beith (pronounced 'bey') meaning 'beginning' or 'inception' perhaps because it is one of the first trees to come into leaf or possibly due to its ability to colonise open, wet, boggy ground, in the case of downy birch, or drier, sandy ground in the case of the silver birch, with quick growing seedlings. The silver birch, in particular, is considered to have sacred powers of renewal and purification and the twigs were used to drive out the spirits of the New Year. This belief persisted into the recent past when delinquents and the insane were 'birched' to expel evil spirits. Full Story
Related: religion, wicca, pagan, spells
posted at 11:16 AM
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