The Magick of Ash

I had never much connected with Ash trees before this year and yet over recent months, they have become one of my strongest plant allies.

Before I talk more about the wonderful qualities of Ash trees, let me first explain a little more about the way I connect with plants and how this process has evolved over the years. My interest in plants grew upon discovering some of the medicinal and healing properties of the herbs that I was growing within my garden. I spent much time researching their qualities and experimenting using them in teas, bath soaks and other herbal remedies. It was a brilliant way to kindle my fascination with plants and open my mind to the healing held within so much of that which is found around us.

Over the years, the way I connect with plants has become more intuitive. It often begins with me noticing a certain plant whilst out on a walk. It seems to catch my attention and I feel pulled to get to know more about it. Often now, if the species is new to me, I find the name comes to me somehow too, a knowing of the plant arising from somewhere within.

Last year the pull was to deepen my connection with Yew trees. I first noticed their beautiful yellow pollen in the Spring time which I hadn’t seen before. I quickly started seeing Yews almost every time I was out, we parked underneath them regularly and even travelled to an ancient Yew site that we hadn’t realised was there beforehand! This connection inspired us to begin working with the wood from Yew trees to make our Wild Jewellery and it quickly became a favourite of ours with its rich colour, patterns and magickal energy.

This year it has been Ash trees that seem to appear everywhere we go. I have lost count of the times we sit down beneath a tree in mid conversation, or pull over to park up beneath the shade of a tree only to look up and discover that it is of course another Ash tree.

Ash trees grow strong and tall, their branches reaching in the direction of the Sun. They were especially sacred in Norse mythology where they were thought of as the ‘Tree of Life’. Ash trees made up 3 of the 5 Guardian trees of Ireland and their wood has long been prized for wands and staffs thanks to its protective and magickal qualities.

Ash wood is extremely strong and burns very hot, its Latin name Fraxinus meaning ‘firelight’. It is one of the first trees to let go of its leaves come Autumn some falling whilst still green, they can guide us in the art and courage of transformation.

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This year, we created our Forest Pendant collection, which are slices of our favourite woods. Again I felt pulled to the Ash one, a strong sense that I needed to wear it. When we finally got round to crafting my piece about a month later (coinciding with July’s full moon) I popped it on and that day came across an advert for a piece of land, that after a year of searching, really fit the bill for us and I responded straight away. A month on, I sit writing this post from the land that we are now renting and unsurprisingly somehow, I find myself under the watch of a large old Ash tree, the only tree here on the plot.

I feel that plant medicine comes in many forms, sometimes to physically consume but just as often we can gain much healing and support from spending time in the presence of plants or carrying them with us in some way. Be guided by your intuition and see what plants you begin to notice. Their medicine comes in many guises! we would love to hear what plants you find yourselves drawn to….