Birch/Beith (Betula alba/Betula pendula)
Other names:
Beth, berke
Word ogham of:
Morainn: Féochos foltchaín
“Withered foot with fine (fair) hair”
Cuchulain: Mais malach.i.creccad
“Browed beauty, worthy of pursuit”
Oengus: Glaisem cnis “Greyest/most silver of skin”27
Description
Birch is a fast-growing deciduous tree that grows up to thirty metres. The branches, angled upwards, tend to bow at the tips, lending graceful curves to its shape. Its triangular double-toothed leaves grow on alternate sides of the stem. The slender female green catkins form on the same tree as the male yellow-brown ones, and both form in the months of April and May, and fall in September. The silver birch has distinctive, beautiful bark. Starting as reddish brown when very young, it turns pinkish or white with grey horizontal markings and darker scales. It has deep fissures at the base of the tree—hence Morainn’s poetic kenning for the tree as “withered foot with fine hair.” Birch grows in a wide variety of environments, from open woodland, fens, bogs, heaths, and wastelands to mountainous regions (although this is rare and numbers are often limited in other areas due to competition with other trees). A pioneer tree, it was one of the first trees to populate an area after the receding Ice Age. Birch is relatively short-lived, providing nutrients for other slower growing trees which usually colonise an area after it has prepared the soil. Its pioneering, self-sacrificing qualities are a clue to its magical nature. Birch is hardy against frost even when young, one of the first trees to flower in spring, and has long been associated with beginnings and fresh starts. Silver birch grows widely in continental Europe, Ireland, the UK, and Scandinavia, as well as southwest Asia and the US.
Lore and Legend
One of the seven peasant trees according to the Brehon law, birch nonetheless occupies a special position in the Celtic tradition. According to legend, the first ogham ever written was beith, written seven times to create a warning and magically protective talisman on a sliver of birch, by the god Ogma to warn the god Lugh that his wife was taken away by the sidhe (the Irish for faeries).28 For this reason the birch is always considered to be full of the god Lugh’s light, bringing clarity and chasing away stagnant energy and shadows within and without. Birch is often associated with light, particularly moon- and starlight, reflected in its silver bark. Birch twigs are also used as witches’ besoms (brooms) which are used for ritually cleansing a space and are also used for “flying” in the pursuit of shamanic vision, due to the magical light that is believed to be in the wood. The use of brooms, clearing the old to make way for the new, reveals a key quality of the birch: preparing for and supporting newly emergent growth and circumstances. Its connection to beginnings is so strong due to the fact that the tree itself is self-sowing, creating its own groves. The Siberian Yakut people also connected the birch with light, believing that the creator of light, Ai Toyon, dwelt in a birch with eight branches which supported nests filled with children.29
Traditionally the birch is used for purification and the cleansing of negative spirits, sometimes in the practice of “birching” or flagellation to remove negative energy from the body as well as toxins, and also to force out negative entities and correct “misdeeds.”
It is said that birch was used to beat Christ, and Roman soldiers carried fasces in advance of important officials, which were made of birch stalks enclosing an axe. These symbolised the power to punish by flogging with the birch sticks as well as to execute by the axe. As such, the birch can be associated with the concepts of law and punishment as well as healing and renewal. Birch was also used to “beat the bounds” where the boundaries of an area were ritually beaten with birch to enforce and clear the parish or village boundaries. Beating the bounds was considered a purifying behavior that removed negative influences and created a fresh start for the community within. Sometimes boys would be beaten at the boundaries to enforce the cleansing, and in some parishes, council officials would be carried to a hole and dipped headfirst at the boundary line, both an echo of earlier Pagan sacrificial rites.30
Birch is known as the “white tree,” and it lends purity and renewed vitality wherever it grows or is used with magical intent. The English poet Coleridge called birch “the lady of the wood,” and it is usually believed to be a very feminine tree. Considered to be under the rulership of the planet and goddess Venus, birch has a gentle, fresh energy that may seem at odds with its use in chastising and banishing qualities.31 Although it is often connected with autumn and the festival of Samhain, the Celtic new year, it also has strong associations with spring, and Samhain’s sister festival, Beltane, on May 1. Birch was the chosen tree for the maypole in Wales, as well as the fuel for the Beltane fires, which were jumped for blessing, cleansing, and fertility. Cattle were led between the Beltane fires to bless and protect them for the rest of the year. Wreaths of birch were also used as tokens for romance and initiating courtship. Basque witches used birch oil (birch bud, Betula alba) for love spells, and it was traditional in Basque country to offer a birch twig in order to initiate courtship; this lends a further clue to its uses—it attracts fresh, fertile energy and shows the links between the Celtic traditions of the Basque and those of the insular Celts in Britain and Ireland.
Despite its gentleness and the delicate atmosphere it creates, the birch has immense vitality that is a powerful initiator for change. It is unstoppable in its gradual forward movement; it pushes stagnant energy away, disintegrating it within its path. This tree restores the flow of life force and encourages flexibility of mind, body, and spirit, which makes future stagnation less likely to recur. Sacred to Norse goddesses Frigga and Freya, it is also associated with Bloddeuwedd, the Welsh goddess of flowers and springtime, whose other side is the owl huntress, illustrating the birch’s dual nature. These goddesses can be wild and fierce as well as gentle and loving, and the same can be said of the birch. It assists change gently and mercifully, but when resistance is encountered it has a fierce strength which will see that change occurs regardless. The spirit of the birch is a boundary guardian which both constrains and initiates, just as new beginnings require appropriate work and preparation. Cuchulain calling the birch “browed beauty, worthy of pursuit” suggests the serious but worthwhile and attractive challenge of creating a genuine fresh start.
Birch’s association with the boundaries between realms or states can be seen in the Scottish border ballad “The Wife of Ushers Well,” in which spirits of the dead wear birch twigs to protect them from being blown away by the world’s wind—that is, the energy of the living denying them presence in the physical world.32 Faeries and the faery realm are also connected to birch trees, growing in the areas where many worlds meet, a place on the cusp of things.
Across the Northern Hemisphere, birch was considered as the World Tree in the earliest cultures, and was used as ridgepoles in various structures, symbolising the sky-supporting cosmic pole around which the world turned. The Siberian Buryat people call it Udesi Burkhan—“the guardian of the door” which opens the way to the sky realms for the shaman.33 Before such astral journeys are undertaken, a young birch is placed inside their yurt to represent the cosmic axis. Nine notches are cut in the birch’s side to represent the nine celestial planes, and it is decorated with red and blue ribbons that connected it to other birch poles outside. Tartar shamans also believed a birch tree stood at the centre of the world, and it has been suggested by scholars that the Eurasian Birch was the original Tree of Life as it appeared in India and the Near East. In all these cultures, the birch has a relationship with the hallucinogenic fly agaric mushroom, which has been used by shamans and witches for centuries, believed to be both a central ingredient in the famous “flying ointment” of British and European witches, and the much-earlier appearing sacred drink, the legendary Soma, which is praised in the Rig Veda for giving visions to both humans and gods alike. Although fly agaric is now relatively rare, it was once common across the north of Asia, America, and Europe. It usually grows at the foot of birch (and sometimes pine) trees, but shows itself above the surface soil as startling faerytale red mushrooms with white spots, for just two weeks or so in autumn. It is this that may have linked the birches magical significance with the festival of Samhain, when the mushroom could have been used to aid in the shamanic travel the birch facilitated.
Birch trees have long been used for purification and removing bad luck. In Russia, birch trees had a dual nature; deep in the forests, they were the dwelling places of the leshy, fearsome faery folk who lived in their branches. Yet these beings also removed curses, and for this purpose birch trees were dressed as women and fed from a feast which was held at its feet at Whitsun.34 The tree was then cut down, carried home, and treated as an honoured guest until thrown in the river, having drawn away negative influences from the home and community. The tree was also used by Dutch farmers, who decorated the tree with red and white ribbons to protect the farm from evil influences and protect the crops and livestock.
The Chippewa revered the birch as sacred to their mythical hero Wenebojo, who formed their culture and taught them how to live. It is said that Wenebojo was once pursued by thunderbirds and he took refuge in a hollow fallen birch, which the birds could not touch. Because of Wenebojo’s blessings, it is said that the birch is never struck by lightning and the patterns on its bark are pictures of the thunderbirds created by Wenebojo himself. This connection with thunder and lightning is echoed in Norse mythology where the birch is sacred to the thunder god Thor.
Practical and Magical Uses
Birch wood is very tough and flexible. It is good for carpentry and has been used to make tools, furniture, cradles, and of course, besom brooms. Birch has also been used to make charcoal that produces a high heat which can be used in metalworking. The bark makes good kindling, and is also invaluable for traditional tanning.
The Chippewa make use of birch bark for all manner of storage containers and wrappings, and they used hollowed-out birches as canoes; the bark is very flexible and waterproof. Harvesting the bark and wood was only ever done after making prayers to the spirit of the birch, with offerings of tobacco to each of the cardinal directions.
Birch bark was used for similar purposes across Scandinavia, and the Finnish hero Vainamoinen was said to have a magical harp, the kantele, which was also made of birch.
Birch bark can be burnt for energetic auric and physical purification, a practice long used by the Dakota Sioux.
Birch is an excellent choice for carving runes or ogham sigils, and its bark is perfect for parchment for domestic, artistic, or magical use. The oil is excellent for love spells, and it can be used to anoint candles or diluted to wear as a magical perfume. Burning birch bark or dried leaves make a good incense for love spells as well as cleansing and purification.
Offerings of birch wreaths can be made to water spirits to ask that storms or excessive rain be delayed or averted, and birch wands may be used when invoking Freya or Thor.
Due to its associations with springtime and fertility, birch can be used to decorate the sacred space at Beltane and the spring equinox, and it can be called upon to help invoke other gods and goddesses of fertility and light such as Eostre, Bel, Oengus, and the Dagdha. It is also a supreme tree to assist in calling Lugh, and to invoke protection against and the banishment of darkness.
Healing
Birch is considered to be one of the most healing trees—its suppleness, its ability to draw large amounts of water, and its white bark symbolising purity all allude to its healing properties. It is astringent and diuretic, good for skin problems, sore throats, and chest congestion when used via steam inhalation. It is an effective germicide, and water bored from the trunk was a traditional tonic to break up kidney stones and heal bladder problems. The buds can be eaten for stomach problems and it aids digestion.35 It is useful as an insect repellent and is sometimes used in perfumery. The oil has a leathery aroma and has much the same uses. Leaves should be gathered in spring, and the sap is best tapped in April. One of its modern believers was Rudolph Steiner, who actively promoted its use in holistic medicine. It is said to demineralise the tissues and promote suppleness, and anthroposophic physicians now recommend taking birch elixir as a tonic in spring.
As a vibrational essence, birch helps bring hope and innovative thinking, sometimes encouraging purification before a breakthrough. It encourages a pioneering attitude and the courage to move on from ossified circumstances. It helps the introverted to step out of the crowd. It brings renewal and springtime to the spirit. It aids in clear thinking and clarity of purpose whilst providing the energy and confidence to embark on new adventures.
Ogham Divination Meaning
As an ogham, beith counsels proper preparation and support of new emergent energies by making way and clearing out the old or negative influences. Its renewing energy must be respected by a phase of recognition of its position—the now in between the past and the future. It encourages self discipline and inner authority. Birch asks you to check your motivations and purpose, insisting that you clear away old, stuck patterns and energies if a new start is to be achieved.
27 McManus, Guide to Ogam, 43.
28 Calder, Scholars’ Primer, 273.
29 Gary Varner, The Mythic Forest, The Green Man and the Spirit of Nature
(New York: Algora, 2006), 57.
30 Alan Cleaver and Leslie Park, “Beating the Bounds,” Strange Britain (http://www
.strangebritain.co.uk/traditions/bounds.html).
31 Nicholas Culpeper, Culpeper’s Complete Herbal (London: Fousham, 1939), 50.
32 Francis James Child, The English and Scottish Popular Ballads, Volume 1
(Mineola, NY: Dover, 2003), 238.
33 Mike Williams, The Shaman’s Spirit: Discovering the Wisdom of Nature,
Power Animals, Sacred Places and Rituals (London: Watkins, 2013), 81.
34 James George Frazer, “The Relics of Tree Worship in Modern Europe,” chapter 10 in The Golden Bough (http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/frazer/gb01000.htm.)
35 Maud Grieve, A Modern Herbal (Surrey, UK: Merchant, 1973), 104.