August 5th - September 1st
Hazel signifies the 9th month in the Celtic Tree Calendar, a place it rightly deserves. Nine is the sacred number of the Goddess (3 x 3) and Hazel bears fruit after 9 years.
The Hazel Moon was known to the Celts as Coll, which translates to "the life force inside you". This is the time of year when Hazelnuts are appearing on the trees and are an early part of the harvest. Hazelnuts are associated with wisdom and protection and is often associated with sacred wells and magical springs containing the salmon of knowledge.
This is a good month to do workings related to wisdom and knowledge, dowsing and divination, and dream journeys. Even if you are not usually creative, this is a good month to try art, storytelling or learning a musical instrument, write a poem or song.
To look at, Hazel hardly gives the impression of a powerful sacred tree, but it is magically important. The flowers (catkins) appear very early in the year, dangling from the branches like ribbons, before the leaves appear. A display of a vibrant life force, which later becomes even more evident, as the highly suggestive nuts develop. It is the shape of the nuts that gave rise to the belief in the their having aphrodisiac qualities and played an important role in fertility magic.
Hazel is sacred to the White Goddess and considered a magical tree of witches'. Broomsticks and wands were fashioned from its rods. The twigs are commonly used for divination, or more precisely, for dowsing, a practice especially employed to detect hidden sources of water, subtle energies (ley lines), and secret treasures.
The king of the snakes (also an image of wisdom) was believed to have his nest at the root of a Hazel bush, guarding its wisdom.
Use any part of the Hazel magically for –
Protection, wisdom, knowledge, creativity, love, passion, psychic powers, fairy magic, healing.
Sources –
The Woodland Trust
A Kitchen Witch’s World of Magical Food by Rachel Patterson
