Mythology
'the Moon owns it', said Culpeper of the willow in his Complete Herbal. Although
unlikely to have been the first to do so, the Sumerian goddess, Belili, once
ruled over the moon, love and the underworld. Living in the willows, she was
responsible for springs and wells. And in Greece, association with willows
include Circe, the moon goddess who had a willow grove, dedicated to Hecate, the
goddess of death. Persephone too had a sacred grove 'remarkable for its black
poplars and aged willows', to which Odysseus is sent by Circe to meet the spirit
of a dead seer. Significantly, helice is the greek name for willow, and also for
the goddess, Helice, of Mount Helicon, where also lived the Nine Muses as
priestesses.
Sacred to poets, willows have been associated with the moon and
female power since earliest times, particularly psychic abililities and
divination through water, healing and magic. Because of this, the willow was
declared in later Christian times to be in league with Judas, the devil and
witches. The tree that wickerwork was made from became associated with wicked,
witches, wrong
and wretched, even affecting the wryneck (a bird that uses willow to nest
in)... Tradition persisted fortunately, however, and going to the willow for relief
of ailments and diseases, folk medicine, spells and white magic remained. For travellers, willow is lucky to carry as a rod when travelling
and a branch bearing catkins
in the home brings luck. However, willow has unlucky attributes
to burn as fuel, hence 'burn not the willow' and (another old saying) 'if forsaken in love, wear the willow wand'...