Celtic Tree Astrology

The Celtic people once existed across the width and breadth of the European continent. Form the shores of Ireland to the hills of Northern Italy, the Celts were a presence and a power for centuries. Now though, we have only a few scattered remnants of their culture, their language, and their history to remember them by. The Celts have become one of history’s greatest mysteries, a people maligned and honored in equal measure by those who came after.The strongest concentration of Celtic influence remaining in the modern world exists in the British Isles, fittingly enough. It was there, in Scotland and Ireland, that many believe the Celts to have made their last stand against the tide of history that swept over them and it is there that the remnants of Celtic culture and belief still cling to relevancy in a world awash in modern thought and theory.The concept of is one such belief. The Celtic astrology signs were devised by the Druids, who were the – for the lack of a better term – the priest class of the Celts.Like many elements of the inclusive Celtic cosmology, the tree astrology was based on natural symbolism, in this case, a tree. The Celtic astrology tree was made of all trees through time and space, with roots burrowed in the earth and whose branches scratched the heavens and curled through time to touch each phase of the moon. Mankind descended from the branches of this tree to live upon the Earth, but they always returned to the tree for the important things. Or so the druids said. For the druids, each tree was a different part of THE tree, and, as such represented a different facet of life to be explored…death, rebirth, renewal. It was all a cycle, and each tree represented a step in that cycle, traveling through the seasons.After the winter, came the Birch, which symbolized renewal and rebirth.The Ash tree was the tree of power…the power of chieftains and the druids themselves.The Willow symbolized the power embodied in the female form, a power that spoke to the rhythms of the universe.The Oak symbolized the turning of the year, from the Spring trees of the Birch, the Ash and the Willow, to the Summer months.The Hazel tree was the tree of wisdom, and sat at the crux between Summer and Fall, when power gives way to knowledge.The Ivy came next, representing the determination of man and the oncoming Winter.The Rowan tree guarded the home during the long dark of the Winter months, and represented the unrestrained spirituality of that time of year.The Alder tree linked both male and female in the blooming of the Spring months.The Hawthorn, much like the Rowan, was a protective member of the Zodiac, in this case protecting man during the turning of the seasons from Spring to Summer.The Holly symbolized a return of energy, as the Summer prepared to turn.The Grape Vine represented intuition and the Reed represented knowledge gained.Each tree commanded a view of a different facet of human existence, filtered through the changing of the seasons and the phases of the moon overhead.The Celtic trees of astrology functioned in much the same fashion as our current astrological symbols. They were agents of prediction and planning. While the Druids looked to the trees rather than the stars, they learned no less than what was coming and what their people could expect in those months. Every branch of the Celtic Cosmic Tree was of a different type, and when the appropriate period of time came around, the Druids would look to the proper branch, and they would, if all was well, see what the future held.