My Moon with Hazel
Reflections on the Hazel Moon ~ Tree of wisdom
As we tree pilgrims continue our spiral around the tree wheel of the year, I continue to share with you my reflections from my personal pilgrimage, I hope you enjoy my monthly musings on each Celtic Tree Moon. In my personal Lunar Tree Calendar, last moon we transitioned from the Holly tree on to Hazel – the tree of wisdom and inspiration.
I left behind the blood red of the Holly berries festooning our local trees and found myself softening into the gentle green of the Hazel still in full leaf in the local woodlands. We are very lucky to have some mature hazels not far from our home that form a lovely avenue through the woods as part of an old drovers way to an ancient loch side farm. It is a quiet and restful place to sit and tune in and I love to go and sit there when I need to connect to Hazel’s inspirational energy.
During this Hazel Moon I really felt able to draw on this tree’s energies of wisdom supporting me in preparing for a memorial service for a dear heart sister who passed away a year ago. I always call on Hazel when I am writing any of my guided journeys and meditations or materials for my online pilgrimages as this generous tree really helps me access and channel my inner wisdom and bring it forth in words.
In my elemental tree system, the Hazel is one of the three Air Element Trees, having Air as its dominant element; Hazel’s secondary element is Water, these two elements in harmony; Air encouraging us into the wisdom of our inner mind, allowing us ease as we work with our guides and our own innate wisdom; Water allowing the flow of that wisdom out into the wider world through our words – both written and spoken – guiding us to share what is most healing for others to receive.
As I spent time with the Hazel over this moon, I noticed how very early in the month their nuts were being gathered and buried by our resident Red Squirrels that bless us with their joyful presence both in our garden and in the Celtic Rainforest behind our house – so quickly in fact that I had no time to gather any nuts for ourselves before they had all disappeared!
Light through the Autumn Hazels in the Celtic Rainforest
This year on my visits I had a strong sense of how the Hazel were sitting on the boundaries of the worlds – the sense of their Fairy connections were quite powerful and I was careful not to allow myself to drift off to sleep whilst resting in their soft green embrace!
Following on from my work with Holly the previous moon, with whom I had worked on deepening my ability to draw on the strength within my centre, to feel my personal place of power and heart centred inner source and to move out into the world from that place; I was able to tap into the vibrant quicksilver energy of the Hazel to lift and support my work, and the way in which I share that to the wider world, during this moon. I found myself writing new guided journeys and beginning the steady process of gathering my words and tree musings together into something that may or may not become a book in the future.
Hazel Catkins Photo by Malwina Nogai
As I spent nearly a whole moon back in my homelands, I travelled out into the moist lush Celtic Rain Forests of Argyll and walked the liminal edges of the sea loch seeking out the Hazels that wished to share their wisdom and inspiration with me. We are lucking enough to have a few in the garden at home as well so I was able to meet with the trees almost daily this moon.
As the moon progressed it became all about words, words for my dear soul sister’s memorial, words for a long dreamt of book, words shared out in my seasonal news letter and words spoken in circles at my very last Red Moon Drum Birthing Retreat, words heard – spoken from the hearts of women deep in their journey.
Hazel was gentle and yet clear in our interactions – about how clear, gentle and true we must be with our words – for they hold power – they spoke to me of how important words are often lost in streams of threads, of the endless chatter across social media where people often speak out unthinkingly not realising the power of what they say. They reminded me that often our words are all we have to speak out against injustice and that when we speak from our heart and from that place where Holly took us last moon – our centre of personal power – that’s when we can begin to make change. They reminded me of the importance of kindness and compassion in the words we say to ourselves as we all endeavour to navigate these challenging times the best we can.
As the seasons change and we move fully into Autumn here in the northern hemisphere, nature continues to reveal the path ahead, as we journey through each tree moon. The light is fading here in the north, on the days of grey skies we are reminded clearly that we are moving into the dark half of the year, the days become shorter sometimes in leaps and bounds and the trees shed their leaves into huge piles as the winter winds begin to blow.
The path ahead continues to reveal itself more fully with each tree moon on this spiral of the Celtic Tree Journey, as the trees, and my beautiful local Celtic Rainforest, hold me centred during these unstable and unsettling times. As always the trees bring me back to myself and the land in new and deeper ways every time I open myself up to their wisdom and deep generosity.
I sit here in deep gratitude for the Hazel and give them my heartfelt thanks for the gifts of their medicine blessings shared with me this moon – they have allowed my words to flow, inspiring me and guiding me to inspire others further along this path we call life; with an open heart and curiosity to be with what is unfolding.
How was your Hazel Moon, have you felt this tree’s influence in your life? Feel free to comment below!
If you would like to explore the tree year with me, or deepen your connection to one or more of the Celtic Trees then take a look at some of my tree offerings – just follow the links below.
Hazel Tree Image at the top of this post Credit:the author
