http://crystalforest1.homestead.com/CelticTreeMonthHAWTHORN.html

May 13 to June 9

"The fair maid who, the first of May,

Goes to the fields at break of day

And washes in dew from the hawthorn tree, 

Will ever after handsome be." 

Latin Name(Crataegus oxyacantha)

Celtic Symbol : The Chalice

Color: Purple

Zodiac Degrees : 21º00` Taurus - 17º59 Gemini

Letter: H

Class: Peasant

Ruling Planet : Vulcan - Govannan

Ancient Gods associated with Vulcan

    Greek : Vulcan Or Hephaestus

    Celtic : Govannan Or Goibniu

Goddess associations: Cardea and the legends of Cu Chulainn. 

Magickal associations: Fertility, defense (use the thorns), peace, prosperity, binding cleansing & enforced chastity,  restraint, male potency, hindrance, bringing protection from the inner magical realms. Hawthorn can be used for protection, love and marriage spells. 

According to the Ogham calendar, May, the month of the female Hawthorn, leads up to the fertile Oak month following on from Mayday, or Beltane. The Hawthorn is a small tree that grows with a dense, many branched and twisted habit. Hawthorn usually doesn't grow much bigger than a shrub, and is popular in England as a hedge plant due to its impenetrable growth and has even been used to pen livestock. The origin of the name Hawthorn comes from the Anglo-Saxon 'haegthorn', meaning hedge-thorn. Hawthorn has a light, hard, apple-like wood that provides the hottest fire known when it is burned. It is a deciduous tree dense leafed and thorny with short trunk. New shoots and leaves are reddish. It has a distinctive white blossom with strong scent in May and red berries (haws) later in the season. Height 10 - 15 m. It is long lived - 250 years.It may also be noted that its leaves and blossoms are used to create a tea to aid with anxiety, appetite loss and poor circulation.  Its juice can be used in the treatment of asthma, rheumatism, arthritis, and laryngitis.

Other common names are Whitethorn and May. Whitethorn originates from the contrast of her smooth gray bark with the powdery black bark of the Blackthorn. The name May comes from the time that the tree flowers and because the blossom is used to form garlands on houses and maypoles for Mayday. The custom of gathering Hawthorn blossoms was known has "Going a Maying.  It is also the tree used at marriages for it reflects the union of the forces of nature.

The Greeks and Romans saw the hawthorn as symbolic of hope and marriage, but in Europe it was associated with witchcraft and considered to be unlucky. It was thought that sleeping in a house with hawthorn blossoms would cause great misfortune. This seeming contradiction is to be expected from a tree with such beautiful blossoms and such deadly-looking thorns. It is a generally unlucky tree and its name, translated from the Irish Brehon Laws, had the meaning "harm". 

The Hawthorn blossom, for many men, has the strong scent of female sexuality and was used by the Turks as an erotic symbol. The monks of Glastonbury perpetuated it and sanctified it with an approving tale that the staff of Joseph and the Crown of thorns were made of Hawthorn.

Hawthorn blossoms have potently erotic perfume and were thought to enrich fertility. In Celtic times most divorces took place at Beltane, the beginning of light half of the year when the hawthorn is a mass of blossoms and new leaves. In many cultures, the month of the Hawthorn (May) is a month of bad luck for marriages. However, to destroy a Hawthorn was to incur great peril to the person responsible. 

The Hawthorn tree is embodied in the character of the chief giant Yspaddaden in a Welsh romance of Kulhwch and Olwen.  A guardian figure who tries to protect the virginity of Olwen.  He is felled and the blooms of summer soon open, thus symbolizing the advance of summer defeating winter at last.   It is associated with Govanna (Vulcan) a smith god that is the custodian of the celestial fire and higher powers of the mind.  Thus it is symbolize as the Chalice as it too represents divine secrets and everlasting life.

Celtic Tree Astrology

Hawthorn tree people are full of innovations and new ideas. They tend to be very beautiful in youth. People born under this sign are multi - talented and adapt easily to any changes in their lives. They have personal qualities akin to the Celtic bards and druids of old, often excelling in the performing arts and naturally drawn to spheres of influence. They can be tough to work with because they demand total business attitudes and so do not joke around but attend only to the business at hand. They can be shrewd business people. They are very dependable and stable Generally, their great strength is knowing the weaknesses of their adversaries or any opposing forces, but they are not ruthless people, merely clever strategists. They are protective of all they consider to be family. 

People born during the first two weeks of the lunar month are more impulsive and have a more sensual nature. Their positive traits are, however, extremely consolidating once they have decided upon their course of action. People born in the last two weeks have a distinctly different approach to all things, and are much more difficult to pin down regarding personal relationships or commitments of any kind. Their positive traits are linked to a wider vision that opens the locked doors of the mind.