Rowan Remedies

Latin:Salix alba

Also Known As: Osier, Pussy Willow, Saille, Salicyn Willow, Saugh Tree, Tree of Enchantment, White Willow, Withe, Withy, Witches Aspirin, Tree of Witcheries, Sally, Welig (Anglo Saxon, meaning supple)

Family:Salicaceae

Habitat and Description: The tree grows up to heights of 24 metres, and much prefer to grow near water, although they can be found growing in ‘normal’ soil – such as that not near a source of water. The tree is often pollarded, as the young branches are used for many different purposes including basket making. The bark of the mature tree is gnarled and thick, with deep grooves running vertically down the trunk. The younger branches have brilliant yellow – green bark, with small nodules, and on closer inspection the bark has extremely fine silver lines running vertically down the bark, possibly the precursor of the fissures found on the adult tree. The leaves are lanceolate, finely serrated at the edges, with fine veins running throughout the leaf. The colour is green on top with a silver coloured underside. The tree flowers in May, producing male and female catkins on separate trees. Willow is very easily rooted from the green twigs.

Parts Used: Bark

Constituents: The tree contains the phenolic glycosides salicin, picein and triandrin, with esters of salicylic acid and salicyl alcohol, acetylated salicin, salicortin and salireposide, as well as tannins, catechin, p-coumaric acid and flavonoids. flavonoid

Planetary Influence: the Moon. The tree is essentially feminine in nature, and is ruled by water.

Ogham: Saille

Associated Deities and Heroes: The willow tree is sacred to Artemis, Ceres, Hecate, Persephone, Hera, Mercury, Belili, Belinus. It is also sacred to Belin, Brigantia, Brighid, Callisto, Circe, Europa, Hermes, Isis, Kundalini, Lakshmi, Osiris, Poseidon, Selene, Luna, Diana, Helice Psyche and Zeus, and is particularly dedicated to Moon Goddesses. By extension, the tree could also be considered as sacred to the Triple Goddess, as well as to witch Goddesses such as Ceredwen, the Welsh counterpart of Hecate, and possibly also Arianrhod, Ishtar and Rhiannon.

Festival: Beltaine, Samhain

Constitution: Cool and dry

Actions and Indications: Culpeper used the plant to stop bleeding of injuries, as well as to stop any other blood loss, including nose and mouth bleeding and spitting of blood. He also mentions that it can be used as an anaphrodisiac although he may have been referring to Black Willow (Salix nigra) as there seems to be some confusion over which variety of willow has this property. He also comments that the tree can be used as a diuretic, as well as commenting on the use of the sap to treat eye problems.

Other herbalists use the bark to treat colds, influenza and respiratory catarrh as well as indigestion, diarrhoea and dysentery. It is used particularly to treat musculoskeletal complaints such as rheumatism and joint pain caused by inflammation, inflammatory tissue conditions and lumbar pain, as it is anti inflammatory and a useful analgesic. It can also be used to relieve gout, lumbago, sciatica, neuralgia and ankylosing spondylitis. It is a diaphoretic and can be used to relieve fevers, and contains salicylic acid, making it a useful pain killer for headaches and any other pains, especially those caused by inflamed diseases. A decoction of the bark can be added to hot baths to treat aches, pains and feverish conditions.

Externally it is used to treat ulcers, as a douche to treat leucorrhoea and as a scalp tonic to encourage the growth of hair. Generally the bark of the tree is the part most often used in herbal medicine, although previously the leaves were used as a tea to treat fevers or colicky pains, and as a wash to treat dandruff. The bark is a gentle bitter and can be added to prescriptions to stimulate the digestion and relieve gastroenteritis and diarrhoea related to heat and inflammation. It could quite possibly be used to relieve the symptoms of IBD.

Willow bark can be used to relieve the pain of spasmodic dysmenorrhoea, ease menopausal night sweats and help women suffering from menstrual pain in general.

Note – if you are going to gather willow bark, do make sure you don’t remove a ring of bark around the tree trunk, as this will kill the tree.

Spiritual and Energetic Uses: The general impression I get from the Willow is that it allows us to bend with the tide without losing our sense of identity. It fosters pliability and adaptability, the ability to ‘roll with the punches’ without losing personal integrity. To the Taoists, the willow represented strength in weakness. The flower remedy is used for people who are bitter and resentful, to help them regain a sense of humour. The tree is used to encourage the expression of deeply buried feelings, easing sadness and teaching the consequences of love and loss. The willow teaches us to surrender completely to our emotions from time to time in order to gain deeper understanding of ourselves and our hidden motives and any secret fears and desires, as well as to help us release suppressed emotions that cause stress and illness. The willow helps us to realise that every loss teaches us a lesson, and can have the potential for something new and better. This would perhaps work well with my personal impressions of the tree, as it would allow a person to contact their own emotions and deeply hidden fears, pains and anxieties, without allowing them to be swamped by too much emotion, leading to the loss of their self identity. Willow is the mystical guardian who bestows flexibility and optimism, exuding an air of grace, dignity and wisdom.

Magical Uses: The tree can be used to add energy to healing magic of all kinds, as well as to summon spirits when mixed with sandalwood and burned at the waning moon. The tree has qualities of femininity and love, and can be used to aid love divination, protection and healing, as well as having the ability to sweep away tears and bring peace. Willow twigs are used for dowsing, night visions, lunar tides and magic, and any spellcasting to do with the element of water, as well as for clairvoyance, clairaudiance and other means of contacting the dead and our ancestors. Personally, I would use Willow in magic to bring about fey wisdom and a different way of looking at things, simply because this is the ‘feeling’ I get from the tree.

Folklore: There is a wide body of folklore surrounding the Willow tree, as with most of the native British trees. It has long had a reputation as a tree of dreams and enchantments, as the name ‘tree of witcheries’ shows. Several of the more famous witches of legend lived in groves of Willow trees, such as Circe. Persephone’s grove of willow trees gave the gift of eloquence to Orpheus when he touched the trees growing there – the tree has long had an association with the bardic arts as a result.

The word ‘witch’ is apparently derived from the word for willow, and, to continue this link further, the binding on a witch’s traditional besom is made from willow withies, in homage to Hecate, the renowned Witch Goddess of legend. Many of the Sun Gods of myth and legend are associated with the Willow and the Moon Goddess, for example the willow tree that grew outside the cave where Zeus was born, or the willow frame of the coracle that the Celtic Sun God Belinos was lifted from as a child. Burial mounds near water are often lined with willow trees, possibly due to the link with Underworld deities.

An old celtic tradition of tying cloths and ribbons to willow trees growing near wells and sacred fountains still continues to this day, as I noticed last year when I was at Glastonbury.

It is thought that the origin of the saying ‘knock on wood’ derived from the practice of knocking on the willow tree in passing for good fortune. Sacred willow groves were planted, dedicated to Circe and Persephone. Circe’s willow tree grove was part of her sacred cemetary, where male corpses were wrapped in uncured ox skins and left in the willow tree tops where the elements might reclaim them. Persephone’s grove grew in the far west of Tartarus, another name for the Underworld, further demonstrating the great ties between the willow tree and the Underworld. Interestingly, the celtic bards and poets thought that ‘willow tree inspiration’ was often preferable to wine or trance in encouraging poetry and eloquence. The bards would sit under the willow trees and listen to the sound of the wind in the tree branches and leaves, and this would encourage the birth of poetry.

Dose: General opinion is that 6mls of the tincture three times a day is sufficient, or 2tsp in one cup of water, brought to the boil and simmered for up to 15 minutes, drunk three times a day

Contraindications: Overdosing can cause internal bleeding and excitability. It should be used with care during pregnancy.

Brought to you by Alex English at http://www.eldrumherbs.co.uk