NAME : HAWTHORN

GAELIC NAME : SCEACH

LATIN NAME : Crataegus oxyacantha.

COMMON / FOLK NAMES : English Hawthorn May bush May tree Quickset Thorn-apple tree Whitethorn Bread and Cheese Tree Gaxels Hagthorn Halves Haw Hazels Huath Ladies' Meat May Mayblossom May Bush Mayflower Quick Thorn Tree of Chastity

MEDICINAL PART : Flowers Fruit

PLACES OF ORIGIN : Ireland Europe

DESCRIPTION : The hawthorn grows as either a shrub or a tree in Ireland & Europe. In Ireland & England it is widely grown as a hedge plant. It trunk or stems have hard wood, smooth and ash-gray bark, and thorny branches. The small, shiny leaves are dark green on top, light bluish-green underneath, and have three irregularly toothed lobes.

FLOWERING PERIOD : The white flowers have round petals and grow in terminal corymbs during May and June. The fruit, or haw, is a 2- to 3-seeded, fleshy pome, scarlet on the outside, yellowish and pulpy on the inside.

PROPERTIES : Antispasmodic Cardiac Sedative Vasodilator

Medical Properties of Irish Herbs, Trees & Fungi

MAGICAL PROPERTIES

Hawthorn was once used to decorate May poles. At one time hawthorns were believed to be Witches who had transformed themselves into trees.

Witches have long danced and performed their rites beneath the thorn.

Hawthorn has long been used to increase fertility. Because of this power it is incorporated into weddings, especially those performed in the spring. Call on the Goddess Áine or the Goddess Brigit while holding a hawthorn branch or wand of hawthorn to increase fertility.

  Fishermen should carry some hawthorn and call on the Gods Manannan and Lír if fishing at sea, or Nechtan if fishing inland.
The leaves, curiously enough, are also used to enforce or maintain chastity or celibacy. The leaves are placed beneath the mattress or around the bedroom for this purpose.
 Worn or carried it promotes happiness in the troubled, depressed, or sad.  Call on the Goddess Grian to bring some sunshine and happiness into your life.
Hawthorn protects against lightning, and in the house in which it resides, no evil ghosts may enter. It is also powerful for protecting against damage to the house from storms. 
In the past most Witch's gardens contained at least one Hawthorn hedge.

  Care must be taken to propitiate the tree itself before removing any branches.  It is important not to damage the tree and certain sacred trees should not be disturbed at all, lest their guardian spirits become angered.  

Magical Properties ; Magical Powers of Irish Herbs, Trees & Fungi

Stories, Myths & Legends associated with Hawthorn

Crith Gablach - Brehon Law Poem

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Last Updated - August 11, 2023

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