Beloved Trees of the Celts

As in many, actually, most ancient belief systems, trees were highly venerated and the ancient Celts were no exception to this common thread in the theologies of the time. This seems quite logical given that the landscape of Europe and the British Isles were thickly forested in those days, and that trees provided the population with most of the necessities of life. Trees were not only useful, but pleasing to the eye and provided a living metaphor for the interconnectedness of the universe: branches in the heavens, roots deep in the earth. In addition to all this, they also seemed to be endowed with immortality! As sacred beings in their midst, trees were believed to possess personalities, attributes and powers by the Celtic peoples. In Ireland, five sacred trees are said to protect the five major divisions of the land. Even the ancient writing system, ogham, is integrally connected to trees as each character of its alphabet is said to represent a tree! As trees are, by nature, connected to the changing seasons, each tree came to be associated with a time of year and the festival celebrated at that time. There are many belief systems today which incorporate this reverence for nature into a Celtic Tree Calendar; some say it is the very calendar used by the ancient Celts. Each tree is associated with it's own fascinating legends and mythology, some of which have trickled down through the centuries as the basis for common customs of today. I'm going to do a little investigation into each tree held sacred in the Celtic tradition and share in my blog what I find as I go along. I'll also share links to web sites and book titles that I think are particularly informative. My shop, "The Nature of Things" sells shirts designed with this theme as well in its Trees as Irish Celtic Symbols section.