Irish – Saille
Welsh – Helygen

The Willow has a long history in many traditions. It grows in damp places, usually riversides and as such like the Alder it is regarded as bordering the crossings to the Otherworld. It has strong lunar associations due to it's watery residence and many gods and goddesses are connected to it.

It is thought to inspire poets and other creative people because of it's closeness to the Otherworld and lunar element, having been carried thought the Underworld by Orpheus in the Greek myths. Also these qualities make it very magical, so it it favored for use in wand-making, charms and so on.

It is used to represent harmony and inspiration, as it is regarded as a tree of emotional balance, and charms used to clear emotional blockages often include willow.

The use of it's wood has a wonderful, ancient history being used for basket making, weaving screens, and so on, due to the great flexibility of it's branches. It is also the binding on the birch brooms for this reason.
The bark is well know as a natural aspirin and has many uses and applications.

It is place here for it's fast growing tendency and powers of re-generation when cut. It also appears to have been used as a Maypole in some Eastern European traditions, but on the 23rd April ( St. George's Day).

Irish – Duir
Welsh – Derwen

The Oak is placed in the month in which the Summer Solstice falls. It has been widely venerated by many cultures and is sacred to many deities, usually male, as one of the strongest and tallest trees it is not surprising that it has so many powerful associations. One female deity that claims the Oak is Brighid, as daughter of the Dagda, and through the site of Her saintly aspect, Kildare which means 'Cell of the Oak'.

It's great height means that it often attracts lightening strikes. The structure of it's wood makes it more able than most to survive these strikes, as it has a deep central root and hollow cells filled with water in it's trunk, these conduct the strikes down into the ground. These qualities allow the tree to regenerate and so it's chief deities are lightening and storm deities such as Thor and Zeus, Taranis in Celtic tradition.

Oak trees are slow growing, after the first hundred years their growth rate slows to an inch per year. This makes the wood very dense and strong, and they can develop a large girth, up to 65 feet. King Arthur's table was said to be made of such an oak.

The trunk sometimes hollows out as a result of fungal disease, thought the tree can survive. Cracks sometimes allow access to this inner space and so become a doorway to the inner world /Otherworld. The Irish name means door, and it stands as a doorway to wisdom. The term 'Druid' is thought to mean 'Oak Wisdom'. There are many myths of characters hiding in oak trees from Robin Hood to the odd king or two. It was also said to be the way in which Merlin met his end, entombed within an oak.

Its wood is renowned for it's strength and has been used in building and ships for millennia. It is associated with oracles and divination generally and also a wide range of folk medicines.

It stands here at the Summer Solstice as it is the doorway to the decline of the year, as the Oak King ruling over the height of the season and whose wood is burnt in sacred fires, the prime tree of the Druids in their groves.
Traditionally the Oak King fights the Holly King and relinquishes his crown (either now or at the Autumn Equinox), and so the year moves towards Winter again.

Irish - Tinne
Welsh – Celynnen

Holly has an ancient heritage as a sacred tree, it's name itself means holy and is derived from the Christian myths, (European in origin) adding it to Christ's life story at his birth and at his death.
It was certainly sacred to the Celts and the Romans, though our mid-winter traditions may date more from the latter.

It's evergreen nature and bright red berries stand out sharply in the winter time, so it is not surprising it is associated with this solstice, death and rebirth. It's berries, though poisonous to humans are good food for birds and the leaves good fodder for cattle in this hard cold season.

In the tale of Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain is challenged, at Arthur's court, to chop of the Green Knight's head, on the understanding that afterwards the Green Knight may have the same opportunity at a later appointed time. The Green Knight is described as having a crown of holly and a club made of it. Gawain (whose name means 'Hawk of May'), is successful, but the knight simply gathers his head and reminding Gawain of his future appointment then walks out. So here we see Spring overcoming Winter, albeit temporarily. In this tale, though, the Green Knight does not take Gawain's head, but spares him.

The same battle is enacted with the Holly King and the Oak King. At the summer solstice the Oak gives way to the Holly and vice versa at the winter one. How old this tale is is difficult to estimate, but it shows the ageless battle of the Summer and Winter, a theme found all over Europe and beyond and holly often features in other culture's tale too. This is why the Holly follows the Oak in this calendar.

Holly tree can be either male or female, the female bearing flowers and berries, the male flowers only. As such it is sacred to both male and female deities. It is always seen as highly protective, sharing many similar traits to Rowan, in that it was grown around houses, kept malign forces at bay , was used in charms above doors and so on.

Holly wood is very white when dried and was often used in decorative work. It is close grained and so suitable for carving and printing blocks. It is said to be unlucky to cut the wood from a tree though, better to take a broken branch , having first asked the tree's permission.
It also burns fiercely and make an excellent charcoal too, rivalling the Hawthorn for use in smithies.

Irish – Coll
Welsh – Collen

The Hazel is truly an ancient tree in Celtic lore, at the heart of the Otherworld in both Irish and Welsh myths. It is from the nine Hazels that the Salmon of knowledge and Inspiration gain their wisdom, eating the nuts that fall into the Well of Wisdom. Each nut gives rise to a spot on the Salmon's back. The Salmon is the oldest of creatures in the Celtic world.

One of the Tuatha De Dannan, (the gods and goddesses or faerie folk of Ireland), was called Mac Coll meaning 'Son of Hazel', along with 'Son of the Plough' and 'Son of the Sun', he was partnered with one of the three land goddesses of Ireland.

It has a long association with wisdom then, and also with divination, fertility and magic. It's pliable branches used to divine water and also woven into various protective charms. It has been used similarly to willow in basket making and so on but the wood is not durable for other forms of use.

It's veneration probably stems from it being the only truly edible nut growing in Britain. All other nuts either require preparation of some sort or are not worth the harvesting. It has been found in many ancient sites, often charred, as our earliest ancestors realised that by roasting the nut in it's shell it would increase it's storage. Today we know it is a valuable source of protein and fat.

It is interesting to note that the cycle of the salmon seems to have been of great importance to early man, some have suggested our ability to notice spawning patterns gave us an advantage over our Neanderthal cousins. The salmons' return to stream beds during the summer to autumn period, when the hazels too were plentiful, would have meant a good supply of food at this period. And so with the Celtic tales we have a glimpse into some truly ancient knowledge indeed.

Irish - Muin
Welsh - Mwyaren ( bramble)

The Vine is usually taken to mean the Grape. The Celts were importing wine well before the Romans conquered these Isles and so it is not so unusual to find it here or in the Ogam. It is placed, naturally enough, over the first grape harvesting season and over the Autumn Equinox.

Apart from merry making wine had a valuable function in that, drank diluted it, would generally inhibit most harmful bacteria in the water and so make water safer to drink. The grape has many beneficial qualities as a fruit and the leaves too have been used in many folk medicines.

It is associated with fertility and abundance.

A more natural plant for these Isles would be the Blackberry and so is often used instead. It is plentiful at this time of year and full of vitamin C. It also makes and excellent wine and sprawls in a vine-like way. Medicinally it has many uses, and was said to cure whooping cough.

The Blackberry is sacred to Brighid.

Both these plants are suitable here as they are abundant at this time and remind to look at our own harvest and celebrate the good things.

An alternative meaning for this Ogam is 'Hill of Poetry', and it has to be noted that the earliest versions of the Ogam may not have had tree/plant references for each glyph.

Irish – Gort
Welsh – Eiddew

The Ivy is placed here for it is at this time of year it flowers. It's berries growing gradually over the winter months to ripen in early Spring, the flowers providing nectar for late Autumn insects and the berries a useful Winter food for birds.

It is regarded as a female plant and is partnered with Holly at Yule. It was thought by the Romans and Greeks to alleviate hangovers if the wine they drank had ivy leaves steeped in it, it also was said to make the wine more potent!

It is in fact poisonous if taken internally and though there are folk remedies for its external use it is little used.

It provides shelter and nesting sites for birds due to it's evergreen nature, but is a mixed blessing in that being parasitic it's healthy growth will often result in the death of it's host.

In Celtic myth Fionn took shelter under it's leaves as a child and it is sacred to Arianrhod, as well as several other Moon goddesses. And is associated with fertility, lucky and fidelity and persistence.