Ogham Study Group - Saille

Saille

Name: Saille
Pronunciation: SAHL-yuh
Sound: S
Tree: White Willow
Few: four stroke to the right or down from the stemline
Tree web site: http://www.2020site.org/trees/willow-tree.html

The White Willow is native to most areas of Britain and Ireland. However, it does not naturally grow in the Shetland Islands. This tree is not a weeping willow. The white willow does not have the drooping branches the way a weeping willow does. It grows near water, river banks, and marshy areas. The bark of the white willow is somewhat pale in appearance which connects this tree with the pale light of the moon. This further connects this ogham to emotions, intuition, the spirit world, psychic realms, witchcraft, and divination. The connection to the moon also links this ogham with the tides and the feminine lunar cycle. Willow branches are often used as divining rods. The White Willow tree represents the fourth month of the Celtic calendar (February).

Meaning:
Emotions, intuition, spirit world, psychic world, witchcraft, divination, feminine cycle, nocturnal instincts

Reversed:
Drowning, overwhelmed, lost, out of sync, in tooo deep, needing to return to the light or surface for air

More on the Willow (Saille)

There are over 300 species of willow that grow almost all over the world - everywhere except Australia!

The weeping willow is ornamental and actually native to China. Similar and easily found in North America is the Golden willow (S. alba). The white willow is the tree associated with the Ogham. The colour of its branches are said to be the colour of death, being similar to that of dead flesh. All species of Willow are at home in around and near water. They are often planted to help stop the erosion of riverbanks.

The Celts would plant willows over the graves of their dead, believing that the tree would assist the departed in passing to the next world and that some of their essence would pass on to the tree itself.

The willow was also a symbol of fertility. It is connected with the celebration of Beltaine in connection to the Goddess Belili.

Willow bark has long been known to be an anti-inflammatory. It is the source of the common Asprin (acetylsalicylic acid). The ancient healers believed that the cure for diseases of damp was to be found in the plants with affinity to the damp. The burning of willow bark incence is said to assist in the release and healing of deep emotions. Willow bark is also useful for its tannins -used for tanning leather.

Main Associations:
• Dreams
• Water
• Moon, Moon Goddess
• Healing
• Magic, Divination, Clairvoyance
• Intuition, psychic ability

The willow is the tree of poets, healing and divination. To the Celts, it was the "Tree of Enchantment", with influence on the production of visions and poetry. Orpheus, the Greek poet and musician was said to carry willow branches into the underworld. The tree's association with Persephone and the underworld is even more greatly connected in the power of willow. Willow magic is said to be most potent in the Spring for light magic and at Samhain for the contacting of the dead - mirroring the cycle of the Underworld.

Further, the willow reflects the cycle of death and rebirth. If you plant a willow branch in wet soil, it will sprout and root. I discovered this by accident, using a willow branch to support another tree by embedding it in the soil. Today it has several sprouts growing from a branch that was cut 2 years ago.

The expression "knock on wood" originates from the practice of knocking on willow wood to ward off evil spirits.

The wood was (and is used) for the production of furniture and was woven for baskets and many other things. The weaving of the baskets is said to symbolize the conscious woven into the subconscious. Divining rods and witch's brooms are made from willow due to its association with the psychic, magic and divination.

The finest charcoal used by artists is produced from the willow. The Irish harp is also made from willow.

To make a wish, go to a willow tree and loosely tie a knot in a branch. Thank the tree and return to untie the knot when the wish is granted.

If you don't have a willow in your area, Caitlin Matthews suggests, in her Celtic Wisdom Tarot, using the following attributes to select an appropriate tree:
• a tree that fringes rivers or streams