The Wild Wisdom of Birch

Previous Tree Cycle: Elder, The Grove & Yew

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New Year Blessings.

Tree Cycle: Birch

Birch Tree Cycle Dates: November 1st - November 28th

Key Words For Birch: New Beginnings, Fresh Start, Birthing, Support, Strength, Acceptance, Solitude, Encouragement, New Journey, Release, Relief, Rest, Cleansing, Rebuilding, Self-Respect, Forgiveness, Deity, Gift, Serpent.

Lunation: 1st

Souls Evolution Stage: Deity

The Council of Trees - Hidden Tree Cycles: Oak & Holly

The Council of Trees - Hidden Tree Cycles Date: May 1st - May 28th

Key Words of The Council of Trees: Oak - Long Term Goals, Growth, Fixed, Rooted, Strength, Protection, Keeper of Memories, Nostalgia, Optimism, Development, Plans, Beauty. Holly - Protection, Security, Grip, Mountain, Healing, Hope, Strength, Loyalty, Commitment, Reason, Resilience, Discernment, Regeneration, Action, Focus, Purpose, Observation, Trust, Abandonment, Challenge.

Spiritual Weather: Wounds, Weaknesses, Vulnerability, Fatigue, Loss, Impotence.

Celebration: The Celtic New Year 1st November

Animal Guide: Snake Mother

Tree Cycle: Birch

Birch trees shed their bark in the same way a snake sheds their skin in order to grow and expand. The Snake Mother is an animal guide at this time. Offering the gift of renewal into a new and fresh body, spirit and way of being. The Birch tree sheds paper like skin that curls like ancient mysterious scrolls. The bark of the Birch tree has healing properties and is known to soothe and speed up the healing process of wounds. When we move into Birch season we are offered an opportunity to attune with this rhythm of nature in order to be comforted of any difficult Elder cycle experiences and support our being in cleansing and renewal of spirit. We can make a choice as we enter the Celtic New Year to put behind us that which has really shaken us up, and will ourselves to take a personal stand over our life and direction. We can also give ourselves a talking to and adjust our mind set from victim, to warrior, from wounded to healed, from naïve to wise. Employing the practice of The Law of Attraction and As I Will It So Shall It Be. Or even Fake It Till I Make It. The Power of the mind is strong during November. We can set our intentions for the dark half of the year and offer support for ourselves to gain in strength and enhance the harmony between our mind, body and spirit. A part of us is still resting with the ancestors and will do so for some more days. We can step into a heart space of connection with our spirit guides and deity and receive our blessings for our next journey from those who would support us in our evolution.

Spiritual Weather & The Council of Trees

Influence: Oak

Inspiration: Holly

Spiritual Weather during the Birch cycle is more calmly felt, yet their is an intelligence present. Their may be remnants of our challenges, like a light breeze, licking the back of our neck causing our hair to stand up on end. Beckoning us to slink back into our loss, our injuries. We are tender during Birch but we also embody a fierce will, a fire that is our spirit, pulling us from deep within a knowing that is greater than our individual parts. We can become the sum of all our parts. Dwelling on the past will do us no good during November, because we are setting the tone for our spiralling journey into the dark forest. We may still feel the sting of raw wounds, but we do have some say in whether we leave these wounds open and weeping, or if we dress them and move on.

Oak influences us in the first two weeks of Birch season. We are reminded of our back bone. Our strength of character and our resolve. We are offered an opportunity to reground ourselves, regroup our senses. Stretch our roots deeply into earthen energies and know that we are also nature and thus, able to move in cycles of growth, dormancy and regeneration. As we move into the dark half of the year, November 1st, the Celtic New Year is mirrored by the fire festival Beltane and this reflective energy, although folded, is present and available for us to harness and wield into our own magics in unique ways. We may feel a sense of fertile ground within our inner realms. We start to form ideas for study and plan how we would like to journey through the good long night. We are reminded of our core inspirations, our hobbies that bring us joy. This is a good time to decide upon what it is we want to invest our valuable time in. What will offer us rich experience. We may want to return to an old line of study, and pick back up where we left off. Or we may want to challenge ourselves with something new and interesting. Oak blends with the Birch tree creating an alchemical tempering of strong creative influences within us, directing our powerful thought and feelings towards our growth and away from destructive forces. Oak opens up our Hermit energy. We have a wonderful opportunity for a fresh start that is more than a hope for returning to our old self, for we can with Oaks influence, root deeply in a new direction and way of being and embrace the evolution that is occurring in us right now. And welcome within us new parts of our self, parts that will enhance our experience of being present and conscious every day.

Holly engages us within the final two weeks of the Birch tree cycle. Holly comes in with the mysterious winds of time and blows in and around us fresh new hope for the road ahead. Holly knocks at the door of our spiritual home. Holly is the passion, the exhilaration, the obsession that keeps us hooked into a journey. Holly is our very own Everest, however that may look for each of us. We all have our mountain to climb. That one thing, that we know we have inside us to achieve, we know we have what it takes, all we need is the opportunity to experience even a part of this journey to feel enlivened by it. We have only to take the first step, and then put one foot in front of the other. We have so far set our mind to an intention, we have mustered our will and decided how it is going to be. But we may still feel a sense of nothing much is happening. But a lot is happening, on an unconscious level so much work is being done within us, within our cells. The time to commit is now. The time to do it is now. Each small action when supported by another and another, grows in momentum and power. Before we know it we are miles from where we first began. We may not even realise how far we have come. But we will know, in that second when we have arrived. Holly offers us beautiful inspiration during Birch season for us to reach for our dreams. The very nature of reaching suggests that something is slightly out of reach, and that we must push ourselves to our limit to attain it. This is a good exercise for us, reaching, because it teaches us to lean, towards joy.

A Blessing For Birch

Woodland sea of dainty leaves,

Yellow bells chime with glee,

Shimmering lustral waves fold over,

Soothing bark curl and cover,

Whispering mysteries unfold,

Releasing and renewing in song,

Puddling roots lather in earth,

Readying for the new birth,

Resting and settling,

Coming together,

Birch tree spirits gather.

An Offering to the Council

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the next best time is now.

Ancient Chinese Proverb

November is a perfect time for planting trees. Trees are entering their dormant period and so planting now will be less disturbing for their roots. "Trees like to cuddle". Wise words from Peter Wohlleben, so finding a spot for a sapling, or young tree to join a community of young trees, a tree nursery within a woodland would be ideal. If planting a tree is not a possibility, visiting a woodland and noticing young trees along your walk is also a special way to join in experience with tree spirit. Offering young trees blessings for their journey through winter invites presence of empathy for their being. Trees come in all different shapes and sizes. Even if you have a very small garden, there will be a spot for a little tree to be and become. You may even have space for two or more trees to grow up together. Earth without tree roots is like a face without a smile.

Next Tree Cycle: Rowen

Yours in the heart of the woodland,

Mags Black.