Willow
Saille (SAHL-yuh)
The Letter
The Tree
Willow ~ Saille
Fifth Consonant
Place on the hand
Tip of the Little Finger
Color ~ Sodath ~ Fine colored
Stone ~ Ruby
Bird ~ Seg - Hawk
Goddess ~ Hecate
Symbols ~ Hawk Feathers
Planet ~ Moon
Metal ~ Silver
Day of the Week ~ Monday
Note ~ b
Message ~ Enchantment
Flower essence ~ Willow and (wild oat, scleranthus, cerato combined)
Willow is sacred to Hecate, Circe, Hera, and Persephone who are all death aspects of triple goddess. The words Wicca, witchcraft, witches besom all possibly derived from old word for willow. Druidical sacrifices were offered in wicker baskets. Willow gave its name to Helicon, abode of nine muses, who were orgiastic priestesses of the Moon Goddess. A Willow tree grew outside Zeus' Cretan cave when he was born. It is a tree that loves water the most. It is sacred to the moon goddess giver of dew. The bark is good for pain, arthritic and rheumatic. It is the tree of enchantment. Willow is sacred to Minerva, a moon goddess. It is the Season of Beltane.
Saille is feminine, the moon, water, line burial places, and has a symbolic association with death. Use to attract love, magical wands for moon magic, guard against evil, healing spells, brooms traditionally bound in willow.
The Willow is a sign of intuition and imagination. It is the unfolding of our powers, including psychic and intuitive. The Willow is the gift of cunning, of the skillful and subtle use of mental powers to have your aims met. You are urged to seek out the hidden forces in your life. The challenge of the Willow is the tendency to ignore the unconscious, hidden aspects of the personality. You may be ignorant of an important aspect of yourself. Awaken to possibility ~ embrace the fertile aspects of your mind.
Botanical Information
North America and Europe is home to a large number of willow species. Two common tree willows are the white willow and the crack willow. The white willow is named so because of the whitish undersides of its leaves, and the crack willow because its branches tend to crack off! Both grow along with poplars and alders beside lowland rivers. They can grow up to 80 feet in height, and they both sprout from stumps. Other willows are shrubs that grow along streams and boggy soils.
I AM A HAWK ON A CLIFF
I am a hawk on a cliff
Poised before the fray
In the dance of death, dance of life,
The hunter and the prey.
Flashing feathered streak, wicked beak,
Swift as the eye can see,
Straining every nerve, downward swerve
In glorious artistry.
Bright the open sky in my eye,
But blood is on my breath,
Thunder shakes the sky, as I fly,
In all of life is death.
On the earth, in the air, Through the fire and water,
I am SKILL, the Willow moon’s daughter
© Chris Carol 1979