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.
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
Many people believe that there is something "wrong" with using Graves' Tree Calendar because it is "false"...as in, because the Ancient Celts didn't use it. Somehow they miss the point that even Graves knew the Calendar was his own creation, and his discussions of Mythopoesis state repeatedly that "this remains a very difficult book, as well as a very queer one, to be avoided by anyone with a distracted, tired, or rigidly scientific mind" He states clearly that he "assembled" the Tree Calendar from fragments of poetic writings over many centuries and several sources. Graves didn't pretend to be recording either history or science, and he doesn't expect anyone to take his writings for either of these. What is expected, and what I believe is owed to him by the integrity of a reader responding to the integrity of a writer, is to look carefully, study for yourself, and decide for yourself whether or not this is a useful tool, whether or not it works, whether or not mythopoesy should become a part of your own method of Crafting. For me it is, it does, and it has. See what you think.
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