Hawthorn

Entry to The Otherworld

The beautiful, gnarled hawthorn tree stands between earth and sky and in many cultures symbolizes a boundary between worlds. The flowers bloom in early May, bringing forth the Celtic holiday of Beltane when the pregnancy of spring buds burst forth. Everywhere, nature is bursting with life, and Beltane is a celebration of that fertility. In Celtic lore, hawthorn is especially sacred to the faeries. Some say that hawthorns mark a gateway to the faeries’ world.

There are over 280 species of dense, deciduous hawthorn trees that thrive in temperate climates. The Latin for the genus, Crataegus, is derived from Greek, kratos meaning “strength” and akis “sharp,” in reference to the tree’s fierce thorns.

MEDICINE FOR THE HEART

Hawthorn’s serrated leaves, white flowers, and bloodred fruit are used in tinctures and teas to strengthen the all aspects of the heart. This powerful medicine can normalize both high and low blood pressure, promote circulation, offer courage, heighten pleasure, and ignite passion.

Regular use of the sweet and mildly astringent infusion or tincture of the flowers, berries, and leaves can strengthen our heart to make it a stronger muscle and a more efficient pump. In herbalism, hawthorn is known as a heart and circulatory trophorestorative, an herb that has long-term benefits to a particular system within the body when taken over a period of time. As someone who tends to have cold extremities in winter, I’ve learned to begin drinking hawthorn infusion in October to keep my circulation strong. Sometimes I steep the leaves, flowers, and berries in a brew with warming cinnamon chips, grounding burdock root, and my staple, stinging nettles. I always add a thorn to my tinctures — an essential aspect of the plant’s expression. Omitting a thorn makes for a defanged and less complete medicine. 

It’s tempting to isolate a plant into constituents— high levels of flavonoids, oligomeric proanthocyanidins in the berry, vitamins, minerals — to determine the “active ingredients,” but when we dissect a plant into “useful parts,” we are getting fragmented medicine, not to mention disrespecting the life of the living being. For most herbs, it is the combination of constituents, the synergy that evolved through all of their adaptations, that make plants potent healers. As herbalist David Winston writes, “The active ingredient in hawthorn is hawthorn.” It’s the unique blend of elements that makes hawthorn as potent as she is. 

A FAERY TREE

Scotland is dotted with hills and mounds that are said to be entrances to these invisible lands. Stories claim that if faint sounds of music can be heard, and that if hawthorn is growing there, the area is most definitely imbued with magic. A single tree is a presence that can live to be seven hundred years old with branches that burst forth with flowers at the time of birth on Beltane and ripen with red berries at the time of death on Samhainn. The Hethel Old Thorn, managed by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, is the smallest wildlife trust nature reserve in Britain, consisting of one seven-hundred-year-old hawthorn tree that continues to blossom and grow.

I imagine generations of birds and other wildlife living in relationship with the Hethel Old Thorn. The nectar-rich flowers attract bees, hummingbirds, and other pollinators; deer and rabbits graze on the leaves and twigs, and the rich berries that cling to branches through winter provide important food for black bears and countless birds. While most hawthorn leaves are serrated and deeply lobed, their shapes can vary wildly, even within one species. I’ve seen many a small bird nests in the heart of lush, dark-green leaves and tangles of menacing, thorny branches. Perfect refuge from hawks and would‑be predators. Often planted to mark and protect holy wells in Scotland and Ireland, many hawthorn trees are still decorated, petitioned with offerings, and venerated by those who honor the old ways.

Hawthorn is the plant profile featured in chapter 11 of my book Awakening Artemis entitled ‘Lover and a Fighter.’ Portions of this post is excerpted from the book.