CompassRose
Yew is certainly found in Ontario, though I don't think it grows wild (it's that evergreen-looking bushy thing, rather shiny needles, used a lot in front of houses and in landscaping. Ovoid, translucent-looking single red berries. We have one in front of our porch...) I've seen yews in Britain, though, and our pathetic ones don't really compare. Thinking about that, my impression would be that the powers of Yggdrasil, as represented by yew at least, are not so strong.
If you wanted a tree with some similar associations (gateway of the dead etcetera), which IS native, there is cedar, which was traditionally planted in cemeteries.
Ash is everywhere.
I also think the traditional fruit tree shouldn't be dismissed. Apple, for instance, has wonderful symbology of power, knowledge and otherworldly connections.
It's important (in my opinion at least) to be flexible when adapting ancient traditions to your own use. Thinking, once again, of the yew thing... you are not in the ancient Norse lands, so perhaps you would want to use a tree with power in your country (coconut shell, heh! But not in Canada...) The traditional associations are valuable, yes, but it also needs to have power for you.
You might like to go out and meet some trees in situ, as it were; get to know the tree itself before deciding to fix your thoughts on any one wood. If you don't have any resonance with/understanding of the tree, its powers will be diminished for you anyway. Remember that all these traditional powers and associations emerge from a rural population, who knew what an ash looked like in the wind, and that if there was a lightning storm you didn't stand under an oak -- because they had experienced it firsthand.
Here is an interesting resource I turned up: a database of native Ontario plants including trees. http://www.evergreen.ca/nativeplants/search/index.php
If you wanted a tree with some similar associations (gateway of the dead etcetera), which IS native, there is cedar, which was traditionally planted in cemeteries.
Ash is everywhere.
I also think the traditional fruit tree shouldn't be dismissed. Apple, for instance, has wonderful symbology of power, knowledge and otherworldly connections.
It's important (in my opinion at least) to be flexible when adapting ancient traditions to your own use. Thinking, once again, of the yew thing... you are not in the ancient Norse lands, so perhaps you would want to use a tree with power in your country (coconut shell, heh! But not in Canada...) The traditional associations are valuable, yes, but it also needs to have power for you.
You might like to go out and meet some trees in situ, as it were; get to know the tree itself before deciding to fix your thoughts on any one wood. If you don't have any resonance with/understanding of the tree, its powers will be diminished for you anyway. Remember that all these traditional powers and associations emerge from a rural population, who knew what an ash looked like in the wind, and that if there was a lightning storm you didn't stand under an oak -- because they had experienced it firsthand.
Here is an interesting resource I turned up: a database of native Ontario plants including trees. http://www.evergreen.ca/nativeplants/search/index.php