Hawthorn

What this is

Hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna). The May-tree, the fairy-thorn, a Mars-and-Venus hedge of Scorpio and Taurus whose white blossom crowns Beltane and whose lone trees you do not cut for fear of the good folk. The marriage-flower, the heart's medicine, and a door to the other world.

What it governs

Hawthorn answers to Mars and the element of Fire, with a second hand from Venus. Its seat in the zodiac is Scorpio and Taurus, and its day is Friday, when its virtue runs fullest. It strengthens with the full moon. In the old practice its office is plain: May-blossom on the altar for the month of May only. The fairy tree; greet, never take.

Its properties

In the Galenic reckoning hawthorn is warm and dry, and that temperament is the whole key to its work. The part you take is the flower and the berry. Its working colour follows Mars, scarlet red; its metal is iron, its stones are rose quartz, ruby, its number 5, and on the Tree of Life it threads up to Geburah. It carries well on the body, kept in a pocket or a small sachet and it is gentle, safe to use as the practice describes.

Where else it appears

Heart and fairy-threshold everywhere: brought in for May and the wedding across Britain; never felled where it stands alone, being the fairies' tree; its haws steeped for the heart in the herbalist's hands. Love, the heart, the fairy-door, one thorn, many May-poles.

Where you meet it on the Oracle

In the Green Kingdom you meet Hawthorn on Today's Herb, Angelic Herb, Today's Gathering, and Herb of the Hour. When it surfaces it counsels you toward its one office: may-blossom on the altar for the month of May only. The fairy tree; greet, never take. As the Angelic Herb it stands under Anael; read its rising as that intelligence laying a hand on your day, with martial heat and decisive force. As Today's Gathering it marks a plant to take up now, while the full moon and the day are with it.

Why it matters

Hawthorn opens the heart and stands at the fairy-edge. It is for love and for the threshold of the unseen, held together. It asks you to greet what is wild and never to take from the lone thorn.

Correspondences

planet

Mars

element

Fire

zodiac

Scorpio, Taurus

number

5

sephirah

Geburah

day

Friday

colour

scarlet red

metal

iron

stone

rose quartz, ruby

tarot

The Empress