My moon with Holly
Reflections on the Holly Moon ~ Tree of personal power
As we spiral once again around the tree wheel of the year, I have picked up the thread of this tapestry of reflections from my personal pilgrimage with you. So I hope you enjoy my continued monthly reflections on each Celtic Tree Moon.
As we tree pilgrims walk the spiral wheel of my personal Lunar Tree Calendar, last moon we transitioned from the Oak tree on to Holly – the tree of personal power, courage and soul gathering, whose support allows us to reweave, into the highest versions of ourselves.
During this Holly Moon although I was travelling between the rich moist lands of home in Scotland and parched dusty lands of southern England I was able to capture some special moments with Holly trees in both lands as I continued deepening my local relationships with the Holly in my ancestral lands and also opened my heart to the trees further south.
In my elemental tree system, the Holly is one of the Earth Element Trees, (as was Oak of the previous moon) having Earth as its dominant element; its secondary element is Air. As I spent time with the Holly over this moon, I noticed how quickly their energy was transitioning into the richness of autumn with heavily laden branches of berries on the female trees seeming to ripen almost before my eyes. The male trees also carried a deep richness in their leaves, glossy green mirrors could be seen gleaming almost like stars, amongst some of the more brown leaved trees in the South that were really struggling to survive the drought.
Holly Flowers
I had a strong sense of how the Holly were deepening into their resources, accessing their own well of personal power and strength inside, in order to bring through the light and the bounty standing constant amongst the strain and struggle being experienced by their forest neighbours. Holly seemed to be reminding me that even when everything around me is struggling and seemingly almost doomed by its environment, that there is always hope and a light in the darkness, there is always richness to harvest even if all seems lost.
Following on from my work with Oak the previous moon, from whom I had asked for support in balancing my connections to my source above with the Sky Father and the Cosmos; and below with the Earth Mother and the land; I decided to work with Holly to deepen 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.
Starlight Holly Mirrors deep in the forest
Holly is a dioecious species of tree meaning that they are made up of entirely separate male and female individual plants. In these tree species, the male plants produce pollen, and the female plants receive that pollen to bear seeds, fruit, or berries. I always feel that moons where we are working more deeply with dioecious trees are reminding us of the importance of both our inner masculine and feminine. In our work with the Holly tree ,this allows us to embody our inner power with these two aspects in balance and harmony, and through this balance we can access our courage to be our true selves.
Early in the Holly moon I found myself far away from home in the south of England – a land that for the first time felt truly alien to me. Gripped as it was, deep in a long drought, it was a place of heat and fire; the air completely filled with permanent clouds of dust that bit the back of my throat, filled my eyes and irritated my lungs. The last time I had experienced this kind of atmosphere was in Kosovo where I spent some weeks after the war at the end of the 1990s (that’s another story for a different time and not one of trees) and I found it quite shocking to find that kind of environment here in our Celtic lands. Witnessing ancient trees with their leaves dying off and brown on the branches and so many obviously struggling for lack of water was hard. However deeper in the forest, in the less exposed places the Holly gleamed brightly, the leaves of the male trees sparking like a miriad of mirrors reflecting a dancing light show in the occasional cooling breezes. And further into the woods still, I found the rich red berries of the female Holly trees, even in such a severe drought these trees were accessing their inner resources in order to bring forth their harvest, their offerings for the birds and other forest creatures that would be relying on this food source for the winter ahead.
Out on the land closer to home, back in the moist lush Celtic Rain Forest of Argyll the Holly trees were also blooming with abundant berries ripening fast, making the most of the last moments of summer sunshine as the year transitioned into Autumn more swiftly in the North. I began to tune into my own inner well, diving deep inside to resource myself to travel south once again towards the end of the moon for a final event under the still blazing southern sun.
I began to consider how we can resource ourselves in harsh times of cruelty and injustice in the world, by leaning into the wisdom of the Holly, accessing his power of mirrors, and shining the light out, illuminating what needs to be seen by everyone. How we can mirror her berry richness, and gather the harvest of our own lives walked on this earth plane, to sustain and nourish others who need us. As I connected into their strengths and wisdom in two very different environments, the Holly became a new doorway, access to a portal to begin to gather up and explore how I might best share my wisdom in service to the greater need – in new ways in this ever changing world.
This moon became all about power, the personal power that sits at the centre of all us, the heart power at the centre of the self. How can we resource ourselves with this power to truly embody it as we offer ourselves – to our families and loved ones and out into the wider world.
The Holly have strongly and unapologetically held me in this process this moon, they have been clean and clear about their power in a fast changing world; and the need for us to be centred in our heart power in order to be of service in integrity. Prickly to give protection and soft like their upper leaves when kindness and compassion are the way forward.
The path ahead continues to reveal itself more fully with each tree moon this spiral, as the forests 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 Hoilly and give them my heartfelt thanks for the gifts of their medicine blessings shared with me this moon – they have reconnected me to my well of inner power during this spiral and inspired me to show up in new ways.
How was your Holly 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
Holly Tree Image at the top of this post Credit: Helen Hotson – Fotolia
