Huath or Hawthorn

Shape changer
Normally a small tree, hawthorn can appear as a multi-stemmed shrub, especially in hedgerows, yet it can also be found often as a gnarled bush, on its own in meadows or at the edge of woodland and in well-lit deciduous woods, where it can twist itself into impressive shapes. Its wood is fine-grained and excellent for carving, being often used  for inlays on boxes (and even combs). As a firewood it burns very hot.

The protective thorn
Very hardy, with strong, deep roots, hawthorn can grow well on rocks or soils, (although it does prefer nutritious, preferably alkaline soil). As part of a hedgerow, hawthorn provides a dense windbreak that prevents passage by cattle and protects open farmland. Its germanic name of hegen, means to protect and nourish. Hawthorn can be easily recognised by its distinctive five or three-lobed leaves and short thorns.

The supermarket
Similar to blackthorn (known for its sloe berries), hawthorn has berries that provide food for many small birds, which include blackbirds, thrushes, pigeons and robins, as well as voles and squirrels. It is also home to more than two hundred species of insects, making it a veritable supermarket for nesting birds. Reaching a height of forty feet (if not cut back), hawthorn can achieve a massive trunk and live over five hundred years.

The heart tree
Medically, hawthorn has been used for generations as a tonic to strengthen the heart and circulation and balance blood pressure. It contains vitamin C and anti-oxidents that stops cramp and tiredness and helps relax over-active people. Leaves, flowers or berries can be made into a tea that has few side effects if drunk regularly, and its berries, if dry, are edible if plucked fresh from the bush.

Hips and haws
Leaves appear in mid May and the flowers a week or so after. Toward the end of summer appear the brilliant red haws, with each haw (berry) containing a single pit (stone) in the centre (or two pits in the midland hawthorn). Cooked, the leaves taste like lime beans, and sometimes chewed when anxious, or used as a tobacco substitute. The flowers are edible and good for salads, while the seeds can be a coffee substitute. There are many species, yet all are thorny shrubs of the rose family.

Queen of the May
As herald of summer, hawthorn has always played the central role. Its other names of May or May Tree gave the month its name, and its white blossoms were used for garlands, wreaths and other decorations, including those of the maypole and particularly at the festival of Beltane (Bel’s fire) on May 1st. Olwen, ‘She of the White Track’, is still celebrated with the white flowers on the crown of the May Queen, but without her ‘white track’ of flowers - white trefoil - which sprang up from the footprints she made when she walked. In the Mabinogion, Culhwych, nephew to King Arthur, has to fulfil thirty-nine (three times thirteen) tasks set by the thunder giant Yspaddaden Pencawr (Giant Hawthorn), in order to marry his beautiful daughter, Olwen. Hawthorn’s connection to fertility, protection, marriage and betrothal are very ancient.

Spirit tree
Its protective charms against evil, witches vampires and lightning meant that most civilisations placed hawthorn twigs above the door. Its key renown, however, lies in its ability to guard springs and wells. In Ireland and Scotland most sacred springs and ‘clootie wells’ have a hawthorn growing beside them, which are decorated with colourful rags, left in return for the blessings of the hawthorn. May or hawthorn is a spirit tree, that has thorns to catch spirits, which is one reason why cloths (or clooties) are hung on it, hence the saying “Ne’er cast a cloot till May is oot”.

Sleeping beauty
Hawthorn is associated closely with the Keeper of the Four Winds, who lives ‘behind the North Wind’ (the North Star, a turning axis) at the door-hinge of the year, where she can look both forward and backward in time. Other of her names include Blodeuwedd (‘made of blossom’), Flora and Maia (root of ‘May’). However, in Iceland, hawthorn is called svefnthorn (sleep thorn), and Odin used a hawthorn spine to send Brunhilde into a magical sleep, while in Brittany, Vivaine put Merlin to an enchanted sleep under the hawthorn until his reawakening in another age. These stories all hint at the origins of the fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty, whose original name was Dornroschen (Briar Rose). Hawthorn belongs to the rose family, and the cause of Sleeping Beauty’s long sleep of a hundred years through pricking her finger on a spindle, has reason, since spindles were traditionally made from hawthorn wood.

Thomas the Rhymer
Another herald of spring, the cuckoo, has special affinity with hawthorn in Europe. In the ballad of Thomas the Rhymer, who, playing his harp by the the Eildon Tree, a hawthorn at Ercildoune, was taken away for seven years by the Queen of Elfland. She gave him his geis, the gift of prophecy, on condition that he never lied, which led to his becoming known as ‘True Thomas’. The planetary balance on hawthorn is similarly dual, being described as ‘Venus in Aries’ by herbalists. Aries is controlled by Mars, so the prickly protective thorns can be seen as the Mars influence, while the influence of Venus is evident in the art, sexuality, beauty and flowers of hawthorn.

Additional bits

Calendar: Apr 26—May 23 (contains Beltane) ;
Ogham: first digit of thumb; one upward stroke, second left on lintel; hadaig (night crow); huath (terrible); sapphire (sappur, lapis lazuli, dark blue sky); number: 0 (no value)