Willow Month will start on April 15th and end on May 12th.

Planets – Moon

Element – Water

Stone – Moonstone

Animals – Snowy Owl, Hawk

Color – Silver

Deities – Cerridwen, Persephone, Hecate, Selene, Diana, Artemis

Sabbat – Beltane

The fifth tree in the Celtic Druid calendar is the willow. It grows very fast and is a very hardy tree. There are about 300 species of this tree that can survive in very harsh conditions, which is why the willow is often called the “Queen of the Water”.

The Druids considered the willow tree to be sacred. In their Creation myth, the sea serpent laid two purple eggs, which contained the Sun and the Earth, precisely in the branches of a willow tree. It was the first tree of creation, in the branches of which the universe was hatched, which symbolizes both the birth of the cosmos and the beginning of earthly life. The sea serpent among the Celts symbolized the power of the moon over the oceans and its fateful intervention in the life of the human race.

GREEK

In ancient Greece, the willow was closely associated with the Oracle of Delphi. It bestowed the gift of eloquence

In ancient Greece, this tree was dedicated to the goddesses Hekate, Gary and Persephone, that is, the incarnation of the triune goddess, which is now believed by representatives of the neo-pagan religion called Wicca. This goddess is associated with the Moon, life, death and rebirth and was once honored by witches.

Willow Magic

Willow magic is lunar, strongly water-aligned, and feminine.

It is a great time for healing magic, time to restore your energy, release your problems, and practice self-love and self-care.

You can cast a love spell or work on creativity, fertility, and awaken positive emotions in general.

Shadow magic to confront your own inner darkness

Willows are closely linked to shadow magic.

Shadow magic helps you to embrace your flaws, confront your fears, and address the roots of your behaviors. It’s self-therapy.

Moonlight does cast long shadows.

Willow is a strong tree because it is flexible and bends instead of breaking

Willow is sacred to poets and is also associated with healing and divination. This is also a tree associated with fairies and the otherworld

Wish-Fulfilling Magic

Many people feel comforted by the willows loving energy, sitting within the veil of a weeping willow can be a very healing experience, and is a perfect place for meditation. It’s also traditional to tie a knot in a willow branch and make a wish. Return to the tree once the wish is granted and untie the branch and give thanks!

Celtic willow month: to do list:

• Open your heart and let your emotions come to the surface.
• Develop intuition and extrasensory abilities.
• Put willow leaves under your pillow to see a prophetic dream.
• Burn willow leaves with sandalwood bark during the growth of the moon – this will help establish a connection with the otherworldly.
• Heal a broken heart – to do this, put willow leaves and bark and moonstone in a white bag. Carry it with you to ease your feelings.
• Be filled with the power of nature. To do this, imagine how moonlight penetrates your body. To perform this ritual, it is better to be somewhere near the willows.
• Make a Wish: Tie a white ribbon on a willow branch and imagine that your wish has become a reality.
• Plant a willow in your own backyard: if you plant this tree, bad luck will recede from your home.
• perform lunar magic and to let go of the past.
• Drinking more water will also help you to attune to the Willow Moon, and so enable you to connect to the tree’s watery magic.

Willow month: myths and legends

It is believed that the word “witch” comes from the ancient word “willow”. In rural England, it is believed that witches’ brooms are still made from ash handle, birch branches and willow, which connects all the details into one whole.

Ruled by the Moon, its element water and under the care of the Goddess Hecate, ‘The Tree of Enchantment’, the Willow (Salix alba) is a strong power in the thirteen trees of Ogham.

The shape of willow trees is a symbol of grief.

In medieval times, witches were said to worship the willow above all other trees because of its link with healing and to the Witch Goddess Hecate, who taught sorcery and enchantment in the Underworld of old and her magician daughter Circe.

The themes of moonlight and water, witchcraft, grief and weeping mixed with the hope of immortality, run as a never ceasing current through the legends of the Willow

You should listen to Steeleye Span singing the old folk song…

‘All Around my hat I will
wear the Green Willow’

An old English tradition involved jilted lovers wearing a sprig of Willow in their hats, which originated from an ancient Willow charm to heal a broken heart.

Willow Moon teaches you to release pent-up emotions and experience your grief. Tears are linked to healing and as you express difficult and painful feelings, you are able to purge yourself of subconscious fears, which would otherwise prevent you from reaching your dreams.

The Celtic willow month falls on May 1st, which starts with the celebration of Walpurgis Night, when witches gather for their sabbat, a famous period of orgastic fun and magical May dew. Beltane is accompanied by rituals that are associated with the search for a soulmate. The Druids believe that during Beltane, two eggs should be hidden, which are painted red at the roots of the willow, one of them personified the Sun and the other the Earth. We can find similar traditions in different parts of the world during the celebration of Easter or Spring Day. Celts at this time of the year perform rituals associated with purification.

Willow Tree Ritual

This Willow tree ritual should be performed outside and can be used to make a wish. or heart’s desire, come true.

1. At the time of the full Moon go to a shallow river or stream where willow trees grow

2. Stand with your feet in the water and hold your arms up towards the Moon

3. Visualise moonlight flooding your aura, filling your body with each breath

4. recite this incantation “Lady Moon of wax and wane, bring my wish and take my pain”

5. Perform an act of ritual purification by washing your hands in the water by the roots of the tree

6. Focus on your wish and tie a knot with string around a willow branch to seal it/ When your wish comes true, untie the knot

Full Willow Moon – May 5, 2023

The Celtic Willow Moon will officially become full Saturday (May 5, 2023).

Key full willow moon rituals:

enchantment, boosting magical power, wishing, fertility , love, healing, protection, magic for women, death, femininity, love, intuition, divination, friendship, joy, and deep peace.

Full Willow Moon Blessing Your Magical Tools Ritual

You may wish to light a white or green candle and have some incense of your choice to set the mood, try violet incense.  If you have a willow tree you can work under or near, all the better, if not sit anywhere you like and visualise a spiritual sparkling willow tree rising up from the ground and surrounding you with a curtain of leaves.  Now visualise energy from the moon pouring over your divination tools in the basket filling them with the powerful full willow moon energy.  As you feel the energy flowing into your tools program them with the following charm:

“Full willow moon lend your vibrations,

Bless these tools of divination,

Always guide my heart that I may see,

All they have to show to me.”

When you’re finished be sure to leave a gift for the willow tree as thanks, a crystal, fertilizer spike, a coin, or water.

Willow – Born April 15-May 12 – The Observer

5th moon of the Celtic Year – (April 15 – May 12) (The Observer) – Patient, intelligent, information collector, modest.

Willows are resourceful, and strong-willed, have excellent memory and always willing to protect others. They are good listeners and empaths. Willows respond quickly to changes and have the energy to do so.

Most of all, willows value their spontaneity and freedom.

A Willow is an awesome friend. Their ties to the Moon give them extraordinary wisdom and imagination.

According to the horoscope of the Druids, people born under the sign of Willow are very hard to unravel, since all the mysterious aspects of nature associated with the Moon are superimposed on them. The “antennas” of their psyche are constantly turned on, thanks to which they can use even the most remote corners of memory. Favorable aspects of character tend to show up in their perseverance and insight.

Willows are creative, smart and resourceful. They perfectly understand the cycles and seasons, they are hypersensitive, have psychic gifts and abilities. Willows love to learn and constantly crave new knowledge, which makes them great teachers. Their own fears sometimes could hold them back, but this happens extremely rarely.

Being focused and practical, willows can be brilliant inventors, love to explore the inexplicable mysteries of life.

If the chosen profession is in the field of education, willows are considered among the best teachers.

The lunar energy of the Willow people can be manifested in art.

Sometimes Willow people reveal hidden talents in adulthood that have not been shown for many years, and this can even lead to personality changes.

Willows tend to wear a kind of “veil” over their personality and always have mystical vibe. Willows are, in the full sense, the great magicians.

Gemstone – moon stone

Animals – snake and a hare. They seem to understand snake language.

Lucky color is gold and yellow

Personality – intuitive and smart.

The Celtic calendar of trees will continue on with the month of hawthorn, which starts in May.