Celtic sacred trees

[Brian G Turner]

This came up at home with the mention of a "Tamman" tree - so I looked it up on Wikipedia and there's an entry on sacred trees in Celtic lore that some may find interesting as part of their writing research:

Celtic sacred trees - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Ray McCarthy]

There are maybe three levels of "sacred" trees in Celtic lore.
The ones the alphabet letters are named after (which includes important trees). Though some people say that's a late invention.

I think Oak, Hazel and Rowan (mountain ash) are very important. Blackthorn (slow or May) and Hawthorn too. I'll read the article later. I have books on the subject. I forget about Willow.

 

[Phyrebrat]

Every fantasy writer should get a yew in one of their stories over their career: it should be the law.

pH

 

[Jo Zebedee]

Oh, we do trees over here. Sacred, fairy-cursed, all sorts. Anyone writing anything in the celtic world needs a smattering of knowledge.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

I think it varies a lot between Brittany, Cornwall, Scotland, Wales, Isle of Man and Ireland. Also somewhat with which period of time.
I don't think the Wikipedia article is very accurate for Ireland.
Here the Blackthorn & Hawthorn more important than Elder as "fairy tree". A local dual carriageway built in last ten years split around a fairy thorn.

Apple is important, but I don't see that it has same significance as Hazel, Rowan and Oak, the three important ones. I'm fairly sure "Ash" mostly meant Mountain Ash, the Rowan. We have a large Rowan and a large Hazel we planted when we moved in here in 1998. Though we weren’t thinking of Celtic lore. We have Willow, Plum, Elder and Cherry we planted too.

I'd never heard of the Tammar as Manx Celtic stuff is quite different to Ireland, Scottish is far closer, then Welsh.

As well as trees, for Irish Celtic (which is the oldest surviving) you need to know about the rivers, wells, the four fire festivals (roughly between the Solstices & Equinoxes which are not as important), animals. Shape changing is a big thing. Difference between bawns, court graves, dolmen, raths, stone circles of different kinds, and the bigger older structures like Newgrange and Dowth.

 

[svalbard]

And do not forget the mystical Money Tree as my mother constantly reffered to this never seen entity.

 

[Ray McCarthy]

mystical Money Tree

We had something with leaves that went white and papery called a "money tree" in the garden when kids. I don't know what it was, but none of these listed on Wikipedia (who claim it's originally a Chinese myth):

• Jade plant, also referred to as "money tree"
• Pachira aquatica, commercially sold under the name "money tree", also known as Malabar chestnut, Guiana chestnut, provision tree, or saba nut
• Theobroma cacao, because its beans were used as currency
• Lunaria, also referred to as "money plant", because the seedpods resemble a large coin