Hazel

Of the ninth month Amergin sings, "I am a salmon in a pool." The Salmon is the third of the Four Sacred Animals to be mentioned in Amergin's chant. The pool spoken of is the Well of Segais. Six months ago we witnessed the explosive birth of the river and now the waters have settled down as a cooling, containing influence, soothing away the fiery summer air and we begin to experience the subtle move toward an inward atmosphere of the Harvest. The hazel trees that grow at edge of the pool mirror the ripening of nuts in our own world. These nut are symbols of wisdom gained through experience. The Salmon feeds on the nuts and absorbs the magical knowledge they contain into its own flesh, so that the wisdom is reproduced and passed on.

In our realm, we realize that the passage of time will provide hindsight which will allow us to understanding our actions, as we work at our own personal Harvest. Our experiences are ripening in our memory and we are slowly beginning to understand the significance of them. We are now able to frame those experiences into words and share with others. Like the Salmon, we take in life's lessons, and transmute them into a part of our own nature and then through personal contact with our work, others will share in the deep wisdom of our experience.

I AM A SALMON IN A POOL

Swiftly flows the river
From the mountain to the sea,
The rapids as they flow
Teach me what they know
Of strength and grace and speed,
And flashing as I go
I ever learn and grow.

Gently winds the river
Through the plain down to the sea;
The still and silent pool
Makes a wise one from a fool

With depth and calm and peace
And flashing as I go
I ever learn and grow.

On the earth, in the air~ Through the fire, by the water,
I am KNOWLEDGE, the eleventh month's daughter

© Chris Carol 1979. © 1948, 1966 by International Authors N.Y.

Hazel is the ninth tree. The nut is a symbol for concentrated wisdom, something sweet, compact and sustaining in a hard shell.. In England a forked hazel-nut stick was used for divining not only water and buried treasure, but murderers and criminals. The letter Coll was given as the Bardic number nine, nine being sacred to the Muses and because the hazels fruits after nine years. It gave its name to a god, Mac Coll. The Fenian legend of the ancient dripping Hazel, the hazel appears as a tree of wisdom that can be put to destructive uses. Ancient Irish heralds carried white hazel wands. (White Goddess p.182)

Magical Properties - planet- sun, element - air, deities - Mercury, Thor, Artemis, Diana, powers- luck, fertility, anti-lightning, protection, wishes. string nuts and hang in the house for luck. Give to a bride to wish her good fortune.. Eaten they give wisdom and fertility. to protect yourself outside, draw a circle in the dirt with a hazel twig. Weave hazel twigs into a crown for luck or the induce invisibility. Placed in the window to guard against lightning. Dowsers and magical wands. (Encyclopedia of Herbs, Cunningham p. 119)

It is a Tree of Divination, tree of feminine inspired wisdom, wands of arbitration, hazel represents natural law, that of human rhythm in response to lunar rhythm. The witches broomstick should have a shaft of hazel and the dowsers rod should be hazel. (Fruits of the Moon Tree p. 105)

Hazel represents the distillation of the pure and concentrated essence of anything, especially knowledge. It is the essence of the use of language for communication, the mystery of how ideas are formed and realized in consciousness. It is from this ultimate source that creative energy is produced. It is the essence of all truth and beauty. You will either become the facilitator of self-discovery for others, or you will soon be the recipient of some teaching from others. Concentrate on the acquisition of knowledge and wisdom. You may be called upon to arbitrate in a conflict, or some conflict you are having will be mediated on the principles of wisdom. Search for the source of all things. There is mastery and skill being directed in a conscious way. The challenge is that there may be a tendency not to follow intuition, and as a result your creativity may be blocked. You may be blocked by fear of failure, or you may experience blockages from outside yourself.

Botanical Information

The hazel is of course, where we get hazelnuts. It is a shrub up to 20 feet tall, growing in open woodlands and at the edges of forests. The Hazel is part of the Birch family.