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Heather
(Calluna spp; Erica spp. vulgaris)
By Dawn Thomas
Folk Names: Common Heather, Heath, Ling, Scottish Heather
Gender: Feminine
Planet: Venus
Element: Water
Deities: Isis, Venus, Cybele, Uroica, Erycina
Powers: Protection, Rain-Making, Luck
Heather is Ur, the third vowel U in the Celtic alphabet. Robert Graves believed it to be sacred to Venus and to Isis. He also believed that heather is "the midsummer tree, red and passionate", and associated it with mountains and bees. Perhaps one of Grave's more interesting comments is that heather was "a suitable tree for the initiation of Scottish witches".
Meaning: Heather is the soft bed upon which lovers lie. This makes it a very favorable omen for a love affair or partnership. It tends to represent love that is meaningful and lasting, as opposed to mere passing fancy.
Folklore: In Celtic stories and folktales of epic lovers, heather often signals the point where love is consummated. It is a sign of love, as well as lovemaking. It signals a deepening union between lovers; a shifting from the chase to the actual meeting of primal opposites.
The traditional 'bed of heather' can also signal issues of sharing a space; of living together. Perhaps contemplating taking the step of moving in with a lover. Heather represents a comfortable foundation for such a transition, though it also retains its associations of passion, freedom, and open spaces. You should seek to preserve these elements within your life, especially when you live together day in and day out.
In one Egyptian legend Osiris is enclosed in a heather tree. In another legend, Cybele imprisoned Attis in wood at this time of year. Associated with the Empress card, heather is believed to bring one in touch with one's divinity and to increase physical beauty.
Depending upon geographical location, the solar position of mid-summer (Summer Solstice) is represented by the Heather or the Linden (Lime tree). It is the balance of the Dance of Life. This is a time of maturity, ripeness, and fullness.
Physical Level: Heather is a twisted and tangled plant which grows in profusion on open moorland, hillsides, and heaths. Its thin stalks are tough and usually longer than they first appear due to the heather's horizontal growth. It bears small purple, red, and bluish flowers which have a delicate aroma and are much favored by bees for their pollen.
Heather, along with furze, adds great patches of white, pink and mauve flowers to the countryside's splendor; a visual tribute to summer solstice. At midsummer, the longest day of the year, the sun reaches the height of its power. Heather thrives in full sun and blooms through early autumn.
As a medicinal plant, it can be used in the treatment of nervous complaints and cardiac palpitations. It is not always necessary to actually administer the plant physically, especially in cases of nervous disorders. As much benefit can be gained simply by walking over a heather clad meadow in the sunshine, enjoying the beautiful sight and inhaling the delicate perfume of the flowers. This experience heightens the senses and spirits, bringing on a calm and soothing effect.
Heather can also be used to ease the pain of migraines and menstruation. Bees make an excellent honey from its pollen, and the Picts were believed to brew a potent ale from heather. It's tough, twisting roots and stems are still used in some areas to make ropes, thatch for roofs, and sturdy brooms. It has become quite popular among craftspeople for these purposes. The many different hues found in the stalks of the different types of heather can be bunched together and polished to produce very colorful and attractive brooches and badges.
The name, Heather, is a popular one for girls in not only Scottish families, but throughout the English-speaking world.
Mental and Spiritual Level: The lesson for the spiritual aspect of the heather is to contemplate your personal position in the scheme of things, and ask yourself if you are truly ready to take on the responsibility of destroyer and creator. Remembering that whatever you do to others may eventually be done to you. You must also consider if you are ready to be destroyed at this level and projected into another, unknown level. Think very seriously about the implications of your actions, at all levels, and at all times. Gaining a true understanding of your place in the scheme of things will allow you to exercise your full potential safely. The practical work with the heather will help you to resolve some of these issues.
The description of Heather in the Word Ogham of Morainn: "terrible tribe, in cold dwellings, mould of the earth," and in the Word Ogham of Cuchulain: "completion of lifelessness" and "the grave," are all rather bleak and morbid. This implies that heather is connected with death, but the name of the letter in the Tree Ogham, Ur, actually means "new" both in Irish and Scottish Gaelic. This apparent contradiction is easily explained by the Celts' unshakable belief in life after death and reincarnation. Dying and being placed in your grave was seen as the first step toward something new.
The heather can be invoked after an emotional cleaning. It will then be realized that the last stage of one task is also the first stage of a new one. Whether one is dealing with physical, mental, or spiritual destruction, one is also dealing with physical, mental, or spiritual reconstruction - the perpetual cycle of life, death, and rebirth. The transition from one state to another can sometimes be unpleasant and very violent.
Magical uses: Some traditions associate heather with Lammas, gathering it to place in urns to decorate the ritual site. Taking it as a daily tonic, or wearing an amulet of the wood will bring a long physical life and will enable one to perceive the truly immortal soul and remain in touch with the ever lasting elements of the Universe. Heather is a valuable plant for those who pursue initiatory paths, as they work to unfold the inner self.
You may work with heather while bathing, and herbal extracts may be included in toiletries as well. However, any work with heather needs to be done with moderate caution. Using heather to achieve ones desires works within the web of the Universe, within which 'nothing is received for nothing'. Heather is carried as a guard against rape and other violent crimes, or just to bring good luck. White heather is the best for this purpose. Heather, when burned with fern outside, attracts rain. It has also long been used to conjure ghosts.
Perform a ritual with heather until you are familiar with it. Then link the heather with another tree and embark on your formal Otherworld journey. This exercise will help you experience the ongoing, cyclical nature of creation and destruction.
Mystical Associations: As summer progresses and heather blooms in ever-deepening shades of pink and purple across the meadows, it is a sight to move even the least passionate of souls. Countless poets and other artists have found inspiration in heather's heavenly smell and its color, which, in itself, is never constant, drifting from pale lilac to red with the play of light. For the extravagant and emotional Celts, the flowering of the heather heralded a season of rejoicing and self-indulgence. With heather's sweet fragrance on the summer breezes and the taste of its rich honey on their tongues, the Celts raised their spirits further by drinking ale made from heather flowers. This brew of ancient legend was the staple drink of the highlands and islands of Scotland, where it was drunk from the horns of cattle. In the ancient Welsh poem Cad Goddeu; the "Battle of the Trees," attributed to the bard and magician Taliesin, heather is praised for giving "consolation to the toil-spent folk," a reference to the restorative powers of Celtic heather ale.
In midsummer, when heather hums with the sound of millions of bees, the White Goddess herself is often depicted as a queen bee, a femme fatale surrounded by a swarm of her male devotees. In this way, heather is a symbol of woman as temptress, as a seducer and devourer of men, the love goddess who couples with the oak king, before he is consumed in the midsummer fires. White heather is considered lucky because it is believed to protect against acts of passion. The bee itself is a Celtic symbol of wisdom, and controlled intoxication was seen as a way of parting the veils between this earthly reality and the world of the spirits, and communicating with the gods.
Drinking heather ale at the midsummer celebrations promoted a festive atmosphere, breaking down inhibition, encouraging the muse of poetry, music, and song to join the company, and invoke the goddess of love. But, of course, if drunk to excess people soon took leave of their senses, passions were unbridled, and tempers flared. Acts of love could soon turn to acts of violence, so it is apt that the reddish-purple of heather is also the color of passion.
The word for heather in Irish and Scottish Gaelic is fraoch, which also means fierce or warlike. Perhaps this is a distant reference to the fighting spirit also evoked by drinking heather ale. The Picts were supposed to have made an especially pleasant and potent brew. In a romantic tale of the massacre of the Picts in the fourth century, the last survivor is said to have plunged to his death over a cliff, rather than trade his life for the secret of heather ale!
Lesson of Heather: Heather is a symbol of passionate love, of sacrifice, and self-control. In the first place, heather represents enthusiasm and sensual pleasure, and the benefits that can be enjoyed from spontaneous self-expression. But within this lust for life and exhilaration lies a deeper lesson of the consequences that may arise out of unbridled passion. The Celts believed that you are always totally responsible, and accountable for the outcome of your actions, so you were wise to be sure of your own true nature before totally abandoning yourself to the potent delights of heather ale and the pleasures that it could bring. Unchecked, heather is short-lived and unproductive but if burned yearly to the ground, it re-grows with fresh vigor. The lesson of the heather is that a necessary balance must exist between self-expression and self-control for both to be enjoyable and effective.
Healing: As a medicinal plant heather is used mainly in the treatment of nervous complaints and cardiac palpitations, migraine, and problems associated with menstruation. A decoction made from the flowering tips is said to have antiseptic and diuretic qualities, and when added to the bath, it can help to tone up the muscles and soothe rheumatic pains. The Heather Bach Flower Remedy is useful for people have become so self-obsessed that they have no thoughts or time to give to others. It promotes generosity of spirit and a better awareness of other people's problems and needs.
Deities and Heroes: Uathach was the daughter of Scathach, who taught the greatest Irish hero CuChulainn the arts of war. Uathach allowed CuChulainn to join Scathach's "school." She later became his mistress, after he killed her lover. This shows both the gateway aspect of the ogham few and the aspect of passion.
Sources:
Ann, Martha and Dorothy Myers Imel; Goddesses in World Mythology; Oxford University Press; 1993
Beyerl, Paul; A Compendium of Herbal Magick; Phoenix Publishing; 1998
Blamires, Steve; Celtic Tree Mysteries Practical Druid Magic and Divination; Llewellyn Publishing; 1997
Cunningham, Scott; Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Crystal, Gem and Metal Magic; Llewellyn Publishing; 1988
Cunningham, Scott; Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs; Llewellyn Publishing; 1985
Gifford, Jane; The Wisdom of Trees; Sterling Publishing; 2000
Glass-Koentop, Pattalee; Year of Moons, Seasons of Trees; Llewellyn Publishing; 1991
Mountfort; Paul Rhys; Ogam the Celtic Oracle of the Trees; Destiny Books; 2001
Pepper, Elizabeth; Celtic Tree Magic; The Witches' Almanac, Ltd.
Thorsson, Edred; The Book of Ogham The Celtic Tree Oracle; Llewellyn Publishing; 1992
Walker, Barbara G., The Woman's Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets; Harper Collins Publishers, 1983
Walker, Barbara G., The Woman's Encyclopedia of Symbols and Sacred Objects; Harper Collins
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