Magical Partings #05 - 9th Oct 2024

This week I have been sorting out my Last Will and Testament, my executors and what I want my funeral to look like. I know it all sounds a bit depressing and morbid, but what I don’t want is for those I leave behind to have to make arrangements and worry they are getting anything wrong in their time of grief. I like things to be sorted, so yes I may only be 56 years of age and in relatively good health, but you never know what is around the corner, so my thinking is “sooner rather than too late”

Anyway, I wrote out my letter of wishes for my funeral which is now with my Will and a copy with my executors and part of that process was to let them know exactly how I wanted my cremation to go, the songs I wanted playing, what my casket should look like (cheap as possible) etc etc. Because I want to be cremated, I decided along time ago that sitting in a plastic bottle on the fireplace wasn’t going to work for me and as I have a love of trees and herbalism, I wanted to be turned into a tree.

I have given my family some say in the funeral and one of those choices was which tree I would become, with a choice of 3 given. So I will either intime be a Blackthorn, a Rowan or a Yew.

What made me choice these 3 trees out of all the native trees in the UK?

I have been drawn to Blackthorn for many years, I have a blackthorn wand I made at a festival one Summer Solstice, I have a jar of black-thorns I keep in my herb cabinet, should I ever need to banish negative energy or protect my threshold and I love the magical benefits of the tree - It is a tree of Protection & Strength, always strongly associated to Witches, until the burning times when Christianity took the same tree and suggested it kept witches away! It is associated with the changing seasons, from the lovely white flowers that show us spring is her and winter has passed. It even produces the sloe berry that sustains us.

Yew is the tree of Life and Death, it shows us there is no ending, just recycling. It is used in rituals related to magic, fertility, and power, it also creates healing. It is related to the Winter Solstice and offers us strength, protection and rebirth. It also embodies the Crone aspect of magic which relates to me. The life span of the Yew is around 2000 years, so its link to longevity makes ideal sense.

The Rowan is known by many names, the mountain ash, the quickbeam, the wicken, and the witchwood, and it has a long history of magical and protective associations throughout witchcraft. They are common around ancient settlements and stone circles. Many call Rowan the mother of all trees, the protector of witches and the caller of fairies. It is often used for making wands and amulets, plus other altar items. The rowan can also help clear the mind and open up a person’s inspiration. It is used within vibrational medicine due to the belief it is able to tune our bodies into nature. It can broaden and open our perspective and make room for a wider imagination., so is ideal for those who want to journey towards enlightenment.

There isn’t really a tree I don’t love immensely, but having to choose only 3, these were them, closely followed by the Oak of course.