April 18–May 15
Seventh Lunation, May
Ogham: Duir (der or dur), D: 
Keywords: Strength, stability, protection and grounding, doorway to the mysteries, fertility, sexuality, spring, thresholds, eggs, flowers, initiations and initiates
Totems: The White Stag, bull, rabbit or hare
Guides and Deities: Gaia—Mother Earth, the maiden aspect of the Goddess, Herne the Hunter, Cernunnos, and the Great Goddess
Practical Guidance: Do not underestimate your own strength. The key to opening your own spiritual door is your strength.
Duir/Oak Month Ceremony
Holiday
Beltane is May 1.
Purpose
To celebrate the portal of the Oak month.
Preparation
Procure a bowl of acorns. Prepare a bowl of earth large enough to hold candles for your group. Gather a larger central candle and enough smaller candles for your group.
Welcome and Greetings
Welcome to our Oak month ceremony. Introduce yourself and go around the circle having each participant share their name and why they came to the circle. Have them close their eyes and share a moment of silence to prepare for the ceremony.
Call in the Directions
Call in the directions and invoke the energies of the Oak tree (strength, spring, sacred union) and her totems, guides, and deities (the bull, the White Stag, Herne the Hunter, Cernunnos, the Great Goddess).
Teachings
The Oak portal celebrates fertility. Doorways and thresholds hold special significance. All around us the flowers and trees are blooming. The renewal has begun. Beauty is everywhere. We honor the fairies and the elfin people and the unseen realm. We give our gratitude to the devas and dryads of each plant and tree species who organize and protect every aspect of the seasonal growth. This is a time for magic and gaiety, frolic and merriment. This tree offers us grounding, strength, and stability.
Read
We honor the maiden as well as new growing generations. We honor Gaia our Mother Earth. We celebrate the renewal of her life force. All around us is new growth in the buds and blossoms of springtime.
Chant
What is the teaching of the Oak? Fertility.
Our renewal comes from the maiden’s return from the underworld.
Behold! We honor the fairies and the elfin people.
And we are free to create life itself and to make merry.
We seek to celebrate together in joy.
What is the teaching of the Oak? Create and enjoy.
Sing
Choose songs that celebrate spring.
Activity: The Acorn and New Beginnings
Before the journey begins, pass around a bowl of acorns. Have each person take an acorn. Then say: “Let this acorn represent what it is you want to begin and grow now in your life. What would you like to grow from this little acorn?” (Long pause)
Ask them to close their eyes for a moment and say: “Your dreams and desires and goals are no less than an actual child of your flesh, for they are part of you and seek expression in the world. As you grow your goals and desires, how will you honor them?” (Pause)
Guided Meditation
As you hold your acorn in your hand, close your eyes and we’ll begin to take a beautiful journey together. Slow your breathing down and center yourself at your heart. Feed your heart with love. Let go of your worries and concerns. Take another deep breath. Feel your acorn.
You find yourself in a lovely green field full of trees and flowers. The sun is bright and you hear the birds as they swoop and fly above; you see the fluffy white clouds move gently through the blue sky. This is a magical place and you feel very safe. The colors are vibrant and alive, and you feel at home here.
You walk through the field until you come to a special spot. It is here that you can plant the acorn of your dreams and desires. Take the time that you need to dig a hole for your acorn. When you are ready, you can place your acorn in the hole, add some magical fertilizer, and place the dirt over it. Make your special prayers. Perhaps you find a watering can right there and you can sprinkle the area in which you have planted your special acorn. Hold your hands over the spot and give your acorn some love and positive energy.
Imagine now that your tree begins to grow, and you observe it growing and growing until it becomes a mighty oak. We fast-forward into the future. Watch it as its trunk thickens and grows forth branches that begin to fill the area above the tree with leaves. Watch as the leaves and limbs reach farther and farther toward the sky and take up more and more space. See the root system grow down deeper into the earth. Feel the magnitude of this huge Oak that has grown to its full stature right before your eyes. Take a moment to realize that you are the steward of this tree. Feed your tree with love and appreciation.
Notice that a group of friends has come to help you celebrate the growth of your tree. Totems, guides, and deities from the spirit world may also show up. The fairies present themselves. All join hands with you and you all begin to sing and dance around your Oak tree. When the joyful dance is done they continue to hold a circle for you as they witness you moving close to your tree. They invite you to take a moment to embrace your tree and touch it. The tree emanates its communication and you receive the communication …
Now imagine that the acorn you have planted also has grown your own dreams and desires. Fast-forward the manifestation of a special dream just like you fast-forwarded the growth of the Oak tree. Take a moment to take in the future vision to see the fruit of your own dream come true … (pause) Now go ahead and feel the joy of having manifested your heart’s desire. Celebrate the manifestation in your mind’s eye.
When you feel complete give your gratitude to all your friends and helpers. Give your gratitude to your Oak, and for your own dreams and desires. Begin to return and ground and center. When you are ready and back to the present time and place, gently open your eyes.
Sharing
Give them time to record their journey in their journals and then allow each participant to share. What message did they receive from their tree? What was it like to see the acorn grow to its full potential? What goal or heart desire did they see manifested in their journey? What did it feel like to see that dream come true?
Sing
Choose some songs that have to do with spring, fertility, the Goddess, abundance, joy, and celebration.
Activity: Sharing Our Goals and Aspirations
Have each participant light a candle at the center that represents a goal or aspiration that they choose to focus on to bring into manifestation. After each one lights their candle and shares, all the participants respond with: “We witness you. We support you. We love you.”
Sing
Stand, join hands, and sing some ending circle songs such as “May the Circle Be Open,” “Merry Meet,” and “We Are a Circle,” or choose songs that honor the spring and the maiden aspect of the Goddess.
Endings
Release the directions and give your gratitude to the Oak and to her totems, guides, and deities. Have your participants take their acorn home. They can plant it or place it upon their altar to remind them of their goals and aspirations. Open the circle.
An Oak Story: My Birth Tree
The month of May is my favorite time of year and I am a May baby. I love the profusion of flowers budding and the activity of the birds singing me awake every morning. May carries a promise of fertility and everywhere there is evidence of growing life. The animals have their babies and the fields and trees blossom. The sun is out and the air is warm. What a relief. We have made it through another winter.
My favorite tree is the Oak. It is my birth tree. It is so sturdy and can grow to such a huge stature. I love the little acorn and am always reminded of what can grow from just a seed. This is the time of year that I think about what I am growing. How am I doing? Is there more that I need to take care of to ensure that my goals and aspirations will be met? I love to meet with my women friends in circle, as we always talk about our projects and seek support. It is indeed their support that so feeds me. We meet at least once a month. If you don’t have such a group, I suggest that you form one. I simply asked like-minded friends to join me and eventually each person took responsibility for running a circle. Just like the ceremonies that I have included in this book, the women brought their own ideas and we all enjoyed it. One of the things that we often lack in our busy world is a safe place in which we can be authentic. Such a circle is an answer to this.
I once had a special dream about an Oak. The dream took place in the forest, and I found myself in a cozy little home inside of a huge Oak tree. The entrance to my home had a little door with a curved top and toward the top there was a little round window in it. Outside I heard a commotion and the sounds of angry words. I looked through the window and I saw young men who were angry and yelling at me to come out and fight. They beat at my door and pounded with their fists and kicked their feet against it. At first I was frightened by their aggression and hostility, so I chose to stay inside the tree, but I could see them through the little round window in the door. They kept hollering and began to bang even more loudly and threateningly at my door. I felt frightened and very small.
Finally, I was angry because they kept bothering me and they wouldn’t go away, so I went out the door (the duir) and was calm and collected. One by one, I kicked their butts, with hardly any effort at all. I met their force and used martial arts; I flipped them over and derailed each angry, hostile young man. Rather than meeting their force directly, I used the force of their own aggression as it moved them past me. They went home exhausted and defeated, “never to darken my door again!”
When I awakened from this dream I felt energized and charged with positive force. I discovered that taking action in a dream could effect change in my daily waking life. The dream gifted me with an infusion of positive energy and self-empowerment!
I found that I was less fearful of aggression and that I had a way to navigate through an experience with someone who may be very aggressive or threatening. It is not that I know exactly what to do, so much as knowing that I should trust my instincts and not use aggressive force. I already have a blueprint for how to get through the situation and triumph.
After the dream, there was a situation that showed up in my waking life in which I was able to apply the healing instructions of my dream. I had gone to a new service station that told me I needed a new water pump, which they then replaced. It so happened that in getting an oil change at my usual old car repair place they found out I did not actually need a new water pump.
Empowered with the energy of the dream, I was able to go back to the service station, present the facts, reverse the charges, and replace my original water pump, which I had kept. Usually I would cringe at the idea of going back to an all-male blue-collar workplace and having to stand up for myself. Yet I was able to get my money back, have my original water pump put back, and get their apologies. And I did this without fear and without resorting to aggression or threats.
Dreams are potentially powerful healing tools. Do not dismiss their messages, nor their healing ability. They are direct communications with our inner wisdom and guidance through metaphor. Symbols have a way of cutting through the intellect. Ask for a powerful dream and you will get one. Ask the trees for messages and they will show up in your dreams.
I also suggest that you begin to develop a special relationship with your birth tree. You can find your own birth tree from the chart below. Once you have identified your tree or trees (as two months share a tree) you can become more familiar with its attributes and teachings and can develop a closer friendship with it.
If your birthday falls between : Your birth tree is:
November 1–November 28 Birch
November 29–December 26 Rowan
December 27–January 23 Alder
January 24–February 20 Willow
February 21–March 20 Ash
March 21–April 17 Hawthorn
April 18–May 15 Oak
May 16–June 12 Holly
June 13–July 10 Hazel & Apple*
* The Quert Apple shares the month with the Coll Hazel, so those who have these birthdays can claim both trees.
July 11–August 7 Vine
August 8–September 4 Ivy
September 5–October 2 Reed & Blackthorn**
** The Straif Blackthorn shares the month with Reed, so those who have these birthdays can claim both trees.
October 3–October 30 Elder
October 31 The Grove***
*** Those who were born on October 31 can claim the Grove, which stands for a group of trees and can represent any kind of tree you choose. This date relates to a very important day in Celtic cosmology, one on which we can claim our connection to spirit.