BIRCH
Note: While the resources used are included at the bottom of the page, these monographs have been pulled from class lectures and currently lack in-line or numerical citations, and pages in the references. At some point I will come back and update these texts to include them.
Birch is a tall, slender, deciduous tree bearing small, serrated, wedge-like or pointed oblong-shaped leaves. You may have seen the leaves fluttering in unison on a breezy day, or noticed how young trees are often so flexible as to bend dramatically in a strong wind! Its distinctive papery bark peels off the trunk in fine thin layers, and is often adorned with eye-shaped knots and a covering of lichen. Across Northern Europe where its presence in cosmology is deeply ingrained, birch has a reputation as “the oldest tree”, “mother tree”, or “Lady of the Forest”. As humans and birches became closer neighbors, people noticed its brightness—the origin of the name across several languages means to shine, bright, and/or white—and noted its presence as being symbolic of initiation, beginnings, and new life; as well as growth, resilience, flexibility, and adaptability. These associations make sense spiritually, because they also reflect birch’s ecological role. This rapid-growing tree serves its boreal ecosystems as a pioneer species, paving the way for larger, longer-lived evergreen trees to grow by leaving rich, fertile soil. In these cycles, birch serves as a “first” species, helping build forests and ecosystems and in fact, it was one of the earliest species to appear after the retreat of the ice caps. Birch grove sustainability also often benefits from a fire, which solidifies its reputation as adaptable and resilient; as well as its associations of leading to new life. And as it can appear in symbiosis with fly agaric, growing along boundary places and thus associated with thresholds, birch holds significance to spiritual otherworld places across multiple cultures from Siberian and Sámi shamanistic practices to Nordic and Germanic otherworld traveling; and it’s often believed that birch represents the world tree. These uses are further hints to potential associations of birch with the spirits of the dead, ancestors, and the otherworld. Birch may be found throughout lowlands in established forests and in dedicated birch groves, as well as boundary places such as lakes, rivers, streams, or the edges of forests and groves.
In the Irish ogham alphabet, beith is the first letter of 24, representing a multitude of associations from plants, wind, birds, and animals to colors, skills, events, and other material and abstract elements. Among beith’s many correspondences is birch: symbolic of beginnings and the initiation of a new event or endeavor; the advent of things to come. As birch itself is an initiator and advent of forests, I like this symbolism in the foretelling of established futures. The word itself, beith, is derived from the Proto Indo-European root, *gʷet- which implies a resin or a gum, potentially suggesting its known use as an incense.
Birch is commonly used as kindling and firewood because it sparks up and burns well even when frozen or freshly cut, due to the high content of oils in the wood—a characteristic duly noted by Northern peoples in regards to its practical, as well as spiritual uses. Birch was often, and is still, used to light bonfires at Bealtaine and Midsummer Solstice, and in some regions, birch was used for the Yule log. Beltainne bonfire ceremonies in the Scottish Highlands are lit with tein-eigin also known as a “need-fire” otherwise called force-wood and force-fire: a fire lit by hand with manual friction. Need-fires are started with an oak plank and wimble, and once sparks are lit, more birch wood is set on the growing flames. Sometimes fly agaric (found near birch trees, remember) is burned in the fire.
English folklore includes the use of birch alongside rowan in charms to keep witches or the fairies away, and is generally believed to drive out evil spirits. Throughout Northwestern Europe farmers drive their cattle over birch branches and guide them with birch sticks and included “beating the bounds” or flogging everything that is to thrive at the beginning of the agricultural year with a bundle of birch boughs; and birch garlands were known to keep demons away from cattle. Birch is also used as an apotropaic charm, hung in barns and over doorways of peoples’ homes for general protection and purification.
Birch is traditionally burned to cleanse and purify the home and the body (bark, leaves, twigs, branches), as it clears the working space and cleanses the energies of the body (ceremonial and healing contexts); used in saunas throughout Scandinavian, Finnish, and some Russian cultures. Sauna and steam have long been used for cleansing and purifying the body throughout Northern and Northeastern Europe, where birch is used to scrape as well as slap the skin for purifying and stimulating actions; known methods to elevate endorphins and induce trance states. Birch is also used in smoke or water cleansing and purifying for livestock and the home, and is a common tree to use for brooms.
These histories are the closest I can find with the resources I have (for now) on the specific use of birch in traditional European smoke ritual, asperging, or fumigation practices. Because of the various histories, lore, and physical properties of the tree, I personally feel its bark, wood, and leaves are wonderful for burning or asperging in ritual, for ceremonial purposes having to do with new beginnings, initiations, purifications, and blessings. Birch is one of the few deciduous trees that seems to come up, which makes sense because evergreens have more aromatic and resinous qualities. However, because bioregions vary and birch may not be found where you are; it could be that some exploration of relationships and personal gnosis may reveal similar uses for aspen, alders, or bigleaf maples (a Pacific Northwest tree). Each of these trees feel like kin in some ways—they are all pioneer species, fast-growing, world-building trees that grow prolifically in their respective environments and boundary places. In the same way our ancestors observed, and learned about the ways in which birch and other plants grew, thrived, and behaved; so can we, in order to understand our relationships with each other, and our intertwined roles together in this world on the lands where we now live.
Note:
This monograph is adapted from a series of courses taught in 2019 and 2020 and part of a larger project about the use of herbs and woods in a few select European smoke and water practices. I've focused on these practices as a way to point towards some traditions we all have access too, and in the interest of peeling back a few layers onto why these herbs are so popular in our contemporary traditions, today.
In the Irish ogham alphabet, beith is the first letter of 24, representing a multitude of associations from plants, wind, birds, and animals to colors, skills, events, and other material and abstract elements. Among beith’s many correspondences is birch: symbolic of beginnings and the initiation of a new event or endeavor; the advent of things to come. As birch itself is an initiator and advent of forests, I like this symbolism in the foretelling of established futures. The word itself, beith, is derived from the Proto Indo-European root, *gʷet- which implies a resin or a gum, potentially suggesting its known use as an incense.
Birch is commonly used as kindling and firewood because it sparks up and burns well even when frozen or freshly cut, due to the high content of oils in the wood—a characteristic duly noted by Northern peoples in regards to its practical, as well as spiritual uses. Birch was often, and is still, used to light bonfires at Bealtaine and Midsummer Solstice, and in some regions, birch was used for the Yule log. Beltainne bonfire ceremonies in the Scottish Highlands are lit with tein-eigin also known as a “need-fire” otherwise called force-wood and force-fire: a fire lit by hand with manual friction. Need-fires are started with an oak plank and wimble, and once sparks are lit, more birch wood is set on the growing flames. Sometimes fly agaric (found near birch trees, remember) is burned in the fire.
English folklore includes the use of birch alongside rowan in charms to keep witches or the fairies away, and is generally believed to drive out evil spirits. Throughout Northwestern Europe farmers drive their cattle over birch branches and guide them with birch sticks and included “beating the bounds” or flogging everything that is to thrive at the beginning of the agricultural year with a bundle of birch boughs; and birch garlands were known to keep demons away from cattle. Birch is also used as an apotropaic charm, hung in barns and over doorways of peoples’ homes for general protection and purification.
Birch is traditionally burned to cleanse and purify the home and the body (bark, leaves, twigs, branches), as it clears the working space and cleanses the energies of the body (ceremonial and healing contexts); used in saunas throughout Scandinavian, Finnish, and some Russian cultures. Sauna and steam have long been used for cleansing and purifying the body throughout Northern and Northeastern Europe, where birch is used to scrape as well as slap the skin for purifying and stimulating actions; known methods to elevate endorphins and induce trance states. Birch is also used in smoke or water cleansing and purifying for livestock and the home, and is a common tree to use for brooms.
These histories are the closest I can find with the resources I have (for now) on the specific use of birch in traditional European smoke ritual, asperging, or fumigation practices. Because of the various histories, lore, and physical properties of the tree, I personally feel its bark, wood, and leaves are wonderful for burning or asperging in ritual, for ceremonial purposes having to do with new beginnings, initiations, purifications, and blessings. Birch is one of the few deciduous trees that seems to come up, which makes sense because evergreens have more aromatic and resinous qualities. However, because bioregions vary and birch may not be found where you are; it could be that some exploration of relationships and personal gnosis may reveal similar uses for aspen, alders, or bigleaf maples (a Pacific Northwest tree). Each of these trees feel like kin in some ways—they are all pioneer species, fast-growing, world-building trees that grow prolifically in their respective environments and boundary places. In the same way our ancestors observed, and learned about the ways in which birch and other plants grew, thrived, and behaved; so can we, in order to understand our relationships with each other, and our intertwined roles together in this world on the lands where we now live.
Note:
This monograph is adapted from a series of courses taught in 2019 and 2020 and part of a larger project about the use of herbs and woods in a few select European smoke and water practices. I've focused on these practices as a way to point towards some traditions we all have access too, and in the interest of peeling back a few layers onto why these herbs are so popular in our contemporary traditions, today.
Alaric Albertsson, A Handbook of Saxon Sorcery & Magic: Wyrdworking, Rune Craft, Divination, & Wortcunning, Woodbury MN, Llewellyn Worldwide, 2017
Bonfires on Duchas.ie
David E. Allen & Gabrielle Hatfield, Medicinal Plants in Folk Tradition, An Ethnobotany of Britain & Ireland, Portland Oregon, Timber Press, 2004
Erynn Rowan Laurie, Ogham: Weaving Word Wisdom, Stafford UK, Megalitha Books Immanion Press 2007
F. Marian McNeill, The Silver Bough, Volume 1, 1957
J.Cameron, Names of plants (Scottish and Irish) — web archive of Irish and Scottish names, associations, and sometimes folklore
Jo Woolf, Tree Folklore: Birch, The Lady of The Wood, Folklore Thursday (online) 2016
Kiah Treece, What Is a Pioneer Species? These important species are the first to colonize barren ecosystems, Treehugger (online) December 2020
Margaret Baker, Folklore and Customs of Rural England, Rowman and Littlefield, Totowa NJ 1074
Niall Mac Coitir, Irish Trees: Myths, Legends, & Folklore, The Collins Press, Cork, 2003
Richard Folkard, Plant Lore Legends and Lyrics, Embracing the Myths, Traditions, Superstitions, and Folk-Lore of the Plant Kingdom, London England, 1884
Ronald Black (editor), John Gregorson Campbell, The Gaelic Otherworld, Birlinn Limited, Edinburgh, 2005
Duchas.ie is a resource acquired through Ogham Journeys, taught by Lora O'Brien, Irish Pagan School
Bonfires on Duchas.ie
David E. Allen & Gabrielle Hatfield, Medicinal Plants in Folk Tradition, An Ethnobotany of Britain & Ireland, Portland Oregon, Timber Press, 2004
Erynn Rowan Laurie, Ogham: Weaving Word Wisdom, Stafford UK, Megalitha Books Immanion Press 2007
F. Marian McNeill, The Silver Bough, Volume 1, 1957
J.Cameron, Names of plants (Scottish and Irish) — web archive of Irish and Scottish names, associations, and sometimes folklore
Jo Woolf, Tree Folklore: Birch, The Lady of The Wood, Folklore Thursday (online) 2016
Kiah Treece, What Is a Pioneer Species? These important species are the first to colonize barren ecosystems, Treehugger (online) December 2020
Margaret Baker, Folklore and Customs of Rural England, Rowman and Littlefield, Totowa NJ 1074
Niall Mac Coitir, Irish Trees: Myths, Legends, & Folklore, The Collins Press, Cork, 2003
Richard Folkard, Plant Lore Legends and Lyrics, Embracing the Myths, Traditions, Superstitions, and Folk-Lore of the Plant Kingdom, London England, 1884
Ronald Black (editor), John Gregorson Campbell, The Gaelic Otherworld, Birlinn Limited, Edinburgh, 2005
Duchas.ie is a resource acquired through Ogham Journeys, taught by Lora O'Brien, Irish Pagan School