Straiff & Huath - Blackthorn Hawthorn

STRAIFF – BLACKTHORN

Straiff is associated with the Prunus species – Prunus spinosa or blackthorn. I associate it with the time in the wheel between mid-April and mid-May alongside Saille, the fourth ogham on the descending branch, and the letters St/Z because a wreath of blackthorn and its sister hawthorn (discussed next) are traditionally used to top a Beltane maypole. For this among other reasons, I place blackthorn here in the wheel. Blackthorn gets its name from its characteristic long thorns that protrude from dense, spiny branches with nearly black scaled bark. It grows more as a dense sprawling shrub than a tree, creating a thicket that serves as a home to many birds and other animals. Its creamy white five-petaled flowers become fruits known as ‘sloes’ which resemble small black plums. These are commonly used in jams, pies, and alcoholic beverages, the most well-known being sloe-gin. The wood itself is often used for making walking sticks and is the traditional choice for Irish shillelaghs. It does not grow naturally here in Utah but is closely related to more common species such as cherry plum, Prunus cerasifera and wild american plum, Prunus americana.

Blackthorn is also known as ‘The Mother of the Woods”, it is associated with the goddess Ceridwen and holds the concepts of retribution, reconciliation, discipline and resilience. Ceridwen and Arawn are the keepers of the cauldron of rebirth in the underworld, the ancestral realm. They work to balance consequences of past deeds against present and future deeds. Ceridwen, particularly in her crone aspect, enacts settlement of debts through these concepts. Blackthorns oghamic name, Straiff, gave rise to the word strife - conflict, discord, friction - these are all things that lead to the necessity of contrition and retribution. When we think of the word retribution, we usually think of it in terms of punishment. In Latin retribute means to re-tribute, to give back what is due - be it reward or punishment - in proper exchange for actions taken. This is reflected in a common axiom among witches called the Wiccan Rede, "Mind the threefold law ye should, three times bad and three times good". This idea of proper exchange applies both to how we treat others and how we allow ourselves to be treated, and this ties in with those boundaries Saille and Fearn helps us with. When we are hurt or hurt another, when our boundaries get crossed, the resulting strife requires appropriate apology including some kind of offer to make it right, to give back what is due - to retribute. A complete apology consists of acknowledgement, acceptance, and amends. It is common in our culture to apologize and forgive at a mental/logical level without really opening our heart to the experience and feeling both sides of the situation. Straiff reminds us to pay attention to our anger, to enforce our boundaries clearly and kindly - with the thorn if necessary - and to ask for proper retribution or amends where appropriate.  Receiving a proper apology during conflict resolution is an act of self-acceptance and protection. Straiff can help us learn about this concept of proper exchange.

This theme of exchange is fundamental in pagan traditions because it applies not only to proper exchange between humans and humans, but also humans and plants, animals, the planet, and even between worlds. Practitioners of these traditions understand that to walk the path is to be in exchange with all these things; because we understand that we are part of it. We are a drop in the ocean and the ocean in a drop. This leads us to the deeper concepts of blackthorn which ask us to remember that we are part of the cycle of exchange, and that we only have this body for a limited time before we must give it back to the earth. Straiff asks us to consider our mortality, not just in a morbid way, but also to remember that we have but a short time to make our mark on this world, and that our actions in this life are truly the only part of this incarnation that can leave an indelible mark upon creation. Our names, personalities, preferences, everything about us will eventually fade from memory, save the actions we take to effect change around us which ripple out into time. As Walt Whitman states in his poem, 'O Me! O Life!', "…the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse." Straiff asks us to consider what we are contributing to the collective while our soul is here and inhabiting a body.

HUATH – HAWTHORN

Huath (or Uath – either way the H is silent), is associated with the Crataegus species, the hawthorn tree, also known as thorn apple, quickthorn, whitethorn, may-flower and may-tree. I associate it with the time in the wheel between mid-May and early-June, the first ogham on the top branch, and the letter H. The white or pink flowers bear bright red berries which are useful sources of food and nectar for birds, butterflies, moths, etc. and are good for jams, jellies, liqueurs, juices, and teas. It is associated with Beltane, the beginning of Summer, and the month of May, which is when it blooms. In folklore it is considered unlucky to cut the tree when it is not in bloom, and it represents an entrance to the other-worlds and is associated with the Fae. They are sometimes found near wells and are used to tie clooties to – intentions or prayers written on strips of cloth and tied to a branch of the tree.

Huath is also associated with the goddess Blodeuwedd (pronounced ‘blod-eye-weth’) and holds the concepts of sovereignty and empowerment as well as obstacles and barriers. In this case we are talking about empowerment in relation to sovereignty and becoming more confident in advocating for oneself and setting boundaries to maintain that connection to inner authority. This can manifest as harsh lessons or ordeals, and it is up to us to be able to shift our perspective and see what lessons are being taught amid pain and difficulty. We see this with Blodeuwedd in the fourth branch of the Mabinogi. She figures into the story of Llew Llaw Gyffes – cursed by his mother not to be able to marry a woman of the race of the earth. I highly recommend reading the full story for more context – The Mabinogion Tetralogy by Evangeline Walton gives an inspired accounting of this story.

Gwydion and King Math set about to create a wife for Llew – they crafted a body from flowers and drew down a soul to animate it, beseeching it to help make his son a worthy guardian and king. Gwydion and Math didn’t account for the free will that developed in that soul when they made a body for it. Math was wise and understood the changes happening to the archetypal roles of women at that time - going from the woman choosing a mate as she pleases, to men having dominion over that choice for breeding and bloodline purposes, for power. Marriage as we know it was a relatively new concept at that time, not ubiquitously practiced like it is today. He cautioned Gwydion that imbalances of power like this will always eventually be brought back into harmony by nature.

The women of the castle prepared Blodeuwedd for marriage to Llew, and she was given advice on how to be a good wife and lady. After their marriage Llew was granted land and became Lord of the Cantrev of Dinodig. They lived happily for a time, Llew learning how to be a caretaker of the land and its people. One day when Llew was traveling abroad she was out walking and saw over the castle wall a hunting party chasing a stag. The sight of this thrilled her, called to her wild nature and entranced her. That night she saw the hunting party returning near the castle at dusk and as lady of the castle, invited them in and offered shelter for the night. It was then that she met Gronw (or Goronwy), Lord of Penllyn. Over the course of that evening Blodeuwedd had an awakening, a quickening that she had never experienced before. She realized that while she enjoyed the company of Llew and was not unhappy with him, she did not love him. Events were such that Gronw and Blodeuwedd secretly professed their love to one another and sought to free her from the bonds of marriage, the prison she now found herself in. She became angry at Gwydion and Math, the creators who chose this life for her, but she was too afraid of their power to go against them directly - so she and Gronw plotted the demise of Llew. This betrayal ultimately leads to Llew’s death by Gronw and the magical ash spear which transforms Llew into the form of an eagle and sends him on an ordeal which teaches him valuable lessons that ultimately prepare him for kingship – which was the purpose by which Gwydion created a wife for Llew in the first place. A great example that sometimes spells work in ways you had not envisioned.

Gwydion saw that while his quest to help Llew become a man and a king had come to fruition, the curse of his sister was mirrored in Blodeuwedd, and he had been defeated in this attempt to subvert it. Rather than killing her, he turned her into a bird and cursed her never to show her face in the light of day, and that it would be the nature of other birds to attack her on sight, but that she would keep her name. He transformed her into the queen of the night – an owl – and in the old tongue Blodeuwedd still means owl.

Blodeuwedd teaches us about the pull of inner authority and desire, and of the anger and strife that can result from a broken boundaries – and the care one must take when seeking retribution - Straiff. She also brought about lessons to those around her, harrying them through lust, love, and desire, ultimately enabling their initiation into ordeals that pushed them out of their comfort zone, into the realm of strife and difficulty which can be the most powerful teachers. We cannot avoid the initiatory ordeals that will surely show up in our life – but we can harness the wisdom and power of proper boundaries, of demanding genuine contrition for harm done against us and genuinely offering amends for the wrongs we commit, and harness these two concepts to create a safe space to cultivate self-empowerment and sovereignty.