Trees hold a special place in our family. They are equally sacred to the Native American and Celtic sides of our family tree.
While Oklahoma isn’t the best climate in which to grow willow trees, there are a few sprinkled throughout the state. Most of the Native American tribes associated with Oklahoma have a special place in their hearts for the willow.
The willow tree is used quite often in mythology, sometimes representing an association with certain gods or goddesses. Other times, they are the subject of specific mythological stories.
Because of the tree’s slender, spiraling branches it has at times been associated with creatures such as the snake. Its deep roots also made certain that it would be associated with fertility. In Greece, it was often the custom to place willow branches in the beds of infertile women in hopes that they could somehow entice magical serpents into impregnating them.
Other cultures joined in the belief of the willow’s fertility powers. Some Native American tribes would lay willow limbs in the marriage beds of newly married couples in hopes that they would help ensure immediately fertility. They also made gifts from both the limbs and the bark of willows and presented them to brides on their wedding day, as a symbol of their blessing upon the union.
Some say that the weeping willow once stood upright and strong, but the death of star crossed lovers so touched the heart of the trees that they bent in abject grief and were never able to straighten themselves again. Others claim that the trees weep for the loss suffered by the red man at the hands of the white man. Still others, say that they weep for the pain that mankind inflicts upon one another and that they will right themselves, once again, when a new era of peace and kindness becomes a reality.
But not all myths about the willow are pleasant. It is also often associated with witchcraft and mysticism. In fact, the traditional witches’ broom was bound by twigs from the willow tree. Mystics often made divining rods from willow branches.
It is said that the goddess Hecate used to wrap her male victims with the willow’s vines and that the trees bore the weight of the men as birds feasted upon their still conscious bodies. It is that weight is what caused the willows to bend. It is believed that this is where the idea of burying willow branches along with the dead was born.
The Celts associated the willow with both death and life. According to Celtic tradition, it was common to plant a willow tree on the grave of the dead. They believed that the dead person’s spirit would become part of the tree and, thereby, live forever.
This is a tradition observed by the Irish side of my family for some time, although in America they weren’t often allowed to plant the trees on top of the burial ground. In substitution, they planted the tree in an area that was beloved by the dead family member.
In the hole where the tree was planted they would place an object of clothing or an item that they believed still held residual energy of the individual. They felt that the object would draw the spirit of the individual to that sight so that it might merge with the tree to live forever more.
In Great Britain, it is common for willows to be planted in cemeteries. Ancient Brits believed that the trees kept the dead from resurrecting to seek revenge or justice.
The willow has also been used extensively in health remedies. Willows contain a substance known as salicin; a compound that has many of the same aspects as aspirin. The ancient Celts used the bark of the tree to help reduce fever, to relieve minor aches and pains as well as to soothe rheumatism.
The ancient Brits used willow bark to help with the common cold as well as to soothe inflamed tonsils. Other cultures have used it to help indigestion. It has also been used to help perspiration and as an antiseptic and disinfectant.
Some psychics believe that wands or talismans, made from willow bark, can help one connect with their inner intuition and strengthen their clairvoyant abilities as wll as open them to receiving visions. Some even believe that they can help inspire writers by literally drawing a muse to the needed recipient.
Whether any of these cures or talismans actually work, I cannot say. However, it is interesting to note the number of cultures that believe in the power of a single tree. That, in it, makes one wonder if they just might be true.
