Yareah Magazine

Isabel del Río 

The holly tree http://www.trees-online.co.uk

After the break of the summer, I return again with my seasonal Celtic calendar. In Druidic culture, letters were known by the name of a tree which started with its same initial: for example, “duir” -our oak- was also the letter “D” and “saille” –our willow- was the letter “S”. They have five vowels and thirteen consonants and these last ones had magic meanings which explain some roots of our current celebrations and believes.
Summarizing the previous information:
“Beth”, letter “B”, is our “birch”… see Yareah/January.
“Luis”, letter “L”, is our “wild ash tree”… see Yareah/February.
“Nion”, letter “N”, is our “ash tree”… see Yareah/March.
“Fearn”, letter “F” is our “alder”… see Yareah/April.
“Saille”, letter “S” is our “willow”… see Yareah/May.
“Utath”, letter “H” is our “hawthorn”… see Yareah/June.
“Duir”, letter “D” is our “oak”… see Yareah/July.
This month of October, we are going to speak of the eighth consonant letter or “magical” tree and about its legends.
“Tinne”, letter “T” is our “Holly tree”.
In old Irish tradition, we find the poem of “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”. The Green Knight was an immortal giant who had a spike made of holly tree” and, therefore, he is also called the Holly Knight. He and Sir Gawain (who is sometimes called the Oak Knight) firmed a pact to cut their heads in alternative years.
Some centuries later, we find the “Christmas song of the Holly Tree” and we see that Jesus has been identified with the Holly Tree and Saint Jean Baptist (we do not have to forget that Herod cut his head) with the Oak Tree. From then on and in spite that Robert Graves thought that this is a mistake and in fact, Jesus was the Oak Tree, the holly is the tree of the peace.
This eighth tree dominated from the 8th of July to the 4th of August. During theses days, farmers reap and in the cabbala, eight is a good number to growing up cereals.

Read more:
http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/gawain.htm

Isabel del Rio, arts editor in Yareah magazine

Isabel del Río was born in Madrid (Spain). She has studied in the University of Valladolid and she has a degree in Geography and History. She likes Arts and she has been painting for years. Now, she is teaching in a secondary school in Madrid and investigating about old lost female painters. She has published a novel called “Ariza” (Grupo Editorial Alcalá ISBN 978-84-96806-52-8).

See more:

http://www.isabeldelrio.wordpress.com