Ladies and goddesses of Samhain (Halloween)

A festival celebrating the tree of enchantment

This week I’m inside for my voiceover, with a cup of green tea.

Greetings from the moss—it’s good to have your company.

If the month belongs to a tree, it must surely be the birch: it is the candle that burns brightest in the wood during October.

I still remember my first vivid impression of the Scottish Highlands, a memory within which birch trees are intrinsically bound. You might think it would be their golden leaves, or perhaps the monochromatic mark-making of their bark—by the time our college minibus made its way from Edinburgh across to the northwest the trees were bare. It was late October and I had never seen such intense colour. On the hillsides we passed, the bruised bloom of birch branches en masse was offset against a scowling sky; somewhere I may still have the photographs.

A tree of enchantment: 31 views from October

Here we have many trees. Before our move my research told me that the moss was of local nature conservation interest, but it was the reference to regeneration of birch and pine that piqued my interest. The secret beauty of the bog would be a slower burn. The birch had lost most of their leaves by the time we arrived. Deja vu?

But rather than their branches it was the encrusted lichens that took my breath away. Since then, I have taken many photos of birch, and I have decided to devote this last letter of October to them. To make it manageable, I have selected 31 images from this year, but they still give a good idea of their diversity: you will find these in the video below.

100 words for birch

This week I set myself the challenge of finding—from observation—100 words to describe birch. So far I have reached 50, so I have a way to go.

Slender encrusted fallen persistent contorted competitive airy variable profligate delicate brittle dusky pendulous companionable magical fecund hospitable fractal sociable bejewelled golden lofty crowded adaptable spreading fissured smooth peeling monochromatic rough raincatcher pioneer host serpentine graceful arching slender tactile elegant smooth lustrous myriad majestic massive chaotic lustrous shining decaying shimmering broken…

From your own experiences, or after watching the video, what word would you add?

A sign of new beginnings

A little research tells me that Silver birch (Betula pendula) has been important spiritually in many religions and cultures.

The druids associated what they called the Goddess Tree or the Lady of the Woods with light, new beginnings, love and fertility. A tree of enchantment, it had the power to protect against evil.

Birch or Beithe, is the first tree of the Ogham, the Celtic tree alphabet. It was celebrated during the festival of Samhain—what is now Halloween in Britain.¹

Another dose of serendipity… I did not realise this when I decided to celebrate our birch trees in my last letter of the month, on October 31st.

I read that the birch tree begins the Celtic tree calendar, symbolising new beginnings and the potential for fresh starts. The tree’s graceful appearance contributes to its association with youth and renewal. It’s a good thought with which to close out this month and look forward to the next. As November begins, the leafless trees will carry colour and light through the remainder of Autumn and into Winter, and retain their capacity to enchant this watcher of the woods.

Until next week,

Encore:

On the lane I meet a roe deer. We watch each other; she’s in no hurry to flee. Slowly we move along the lane together. I steal a few photos as she browses the verge. And then, finally, she jumps through the birch trees onto the moss.

Later, on a pine stump, I find a squirrel’s breakfast table.

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All words and images are copyright © Michela Griffith except where otherwise noted

1. Birch mythology and folklore | Trees for Life