Last Woodland Bard Camping Retreat 26th -28th July 2024 An In- depth exploration of Plant Medicine.
In our July retreat we are going to plumb the depths of plant lore helping to build confidence in working with the plant kingdom for beginners as well the experienced. Botany, spirituality and practical application will blend to create an applicable body of lore borne from over thirty years research and experience. This may be our last retreat as I will be focusing on the Shamanic training for 2025. Book now to avoid disappointment.
Only £195 for the weekend including sumptuous food, good company and camping.
Woodland Bard Summer Solstice Special Sunday 23rd June @ 6pm - Traditional storytelling and Summer ritual.
Paid subscribers will receive a FREE link the Saturday morning before the event (please contact me if not received)- no need to book below.
In this Summer Solstice Special I shall share the magical tales of the Fenian Cycle, the adventures of Fionn MacCumhaill and the lore of the Holly tree with story, poetry and meditation accompanied by gentle shamanic drumming
For just £7 per month the event above is included and you will be able to access all the previous recordings and writings as an in-depth course on tree lore and Irish mythology.
OAK- KING OF THE FOREST
OAK- KING OF THE FOREST
Quercus robur (pendunculate oak) Quercus petraea (sessile oak ) Duir ( Ogham name)
Let us now enter into the Oak forest and see what it has to teach:
'There is not a crown to mark the forest King,
For in his leaves shines full the summer’s bliss,
As sun, rain and storm to him their tribute bring'
Anon.
Oak is the tree of Kings, durable, strong and most importantly an unshakeable support for all who take shelter under its boughs. This support extends to all of its realms and is not given with conditions or judgement.
In Celtic lore the oak gives shelter to all who seek it. It is host to more invertebrates than any other tree, it supports a myriad of birds, mammals and plants beneath its boughs.
Oak is a tree that has survived well since it regenerated in early wildwood times. It was avoided by the first farmers and encouraged by the early carpenters; no other tree in Britain has captured the imagination and attention of mankind more than the oak. Its timber is durable and good to work with, it has many medicinal qualities and useful tannins, it supports countless wildlife and grows to impressive proportions, living for many hundreds of years. Its success is partly due to mankind’s love of its timber and its ability to capture the nation’s heart.
There are two species of oak which were first recognised in 1586-7 although this was not really taken on board by British botanists until the 1790s.
Quercus rober (Pendunculate oak) is what we think of as the English oak with its wide and rustic appearance. It has a dense canopy and rough un-stalked leaves with stalked acorns.
Quercus petraea (Sessile oak) is often a taller statelier tree with a more open canopy and flat palmate leaves which are stalked and it bears un-stalked acorns. Both these trees can hybridise and cause even more confusion.
Both oaks are known to produce Lammas shoots which are healthy erect shoots that grow strongly in August at a time when other foliage maybe struggling in this sometimes dry time of year. There is a striking rare variety of Pedunculate oak which produces red Lammas shoots.
Sessile oak is more common in the west and north, most commonly growing in the Scottish Highlands. Pure Oak wood generally grows on the most acid of woodland soils although it is known to grow on calcareous soils in Scotland where it is much more widespread. Hatfield Forest in Essex is an exception as it is an ancient oak wood on calcareous soil outside of Scotland. Oak is generally a first coloniser not growing well in shade. It is not so much birch and hawthorn grow first on oak wood regeneration sites but just quicker thus deceiving the avid naturalist who assumes they came first!
In the Doomsday Book woods were assessed by pannage although this practice died out soon after as farmers began to feed pigs in more conventional ways. Beech mast was also used for pannage.
The Anglo- Saxon phrase ac means oak and can be noticed in many place names such as Accrington, Auckland and Acton.
Folklore of Oak
Higher than bushes is Oak.
Highest of bushes and a third.
Kneeling work, bright and shining work.
Craft work.
Book of Ballymote 1391
At one time Oak sprigs were collected for hats and door knockers which may well be a continuation of the Druidic Oak apple day still celebrated in Wiltshire. The Oak Man, Jack in the Green or the May King dance through the streets wreathed in oak and hawthorn to claim the May Queen.
The traditions of oak are numerous; from Christian lore the tree has been used to preach under and a place where angels have appeared. In Celtic lore it is the abode of strong male deities such as the Dagdha, Herne the Hunter, Cernunnos and the archetypal images of the spirit of the trees such as the Green Man or Green George.
It is said to be a channel for the might of the sky gods such as Taranis, Thunor, Esus and Thor as it attracts lightning.
Merlin and Robin Hood, both defenders of the land were said to have been protected under the oak’s canopy. St Brighid founded a retreat in Kildare called the Cell of the Oak and it is said that the Nuns used acorns as fuel on their fires.
The oak therefore is playing a keen role as a key provider and protector of our sacred land, the deities associated with the oak are chieftains and key figures reflecting its indomitable presence in the landscape.
In Glastonbury at the start of what is known as the old Druidic path that leads up to the Tor there are two oak trees known as Gog and Magog which are said to be the last two giants to have inhabited Britain, at least one of them has now died.
Even today at the head of the Lord Mayor’s procession we still have the wicker forms of these giants considered to be our benevolent guardians of the City of London.
The oak represents the Kingship, the high protector of the land and appears in legends as a symbol of Kingship such as when King Cormac arrives in the Other-lands and witnesses the burning of huge oak trees upon the fire. Charles the second hid in an oak after defeat at the battle of Worcester on the 29th May 1651 which is now known as Royal Oak Day.
Traditionally the Oak King Giant fights the Holly King Giant at the Winter Solstice making him the King of the waxing year. The tiny wren is the bird most associated with oak displaying the strength of kingship both in grand and more subtle actions. When the undisputed king of the skies, the eagle challenged the birds to see who could fly the highest it was the tiny drab wren who excelled through stealth.
The oak bears out its role as a King in a practical sense harbouring more species of wildlife from lichen and insects to birds and mammals than any other tree so let’s go deeper into the lore of oak through the exploration of the Fenian tales: