Ashes & Sacred Trees

asheS & Sacred trees

"You were sitting further away from them, circled with ash mixed with mistletoe that could keep the werewolves away."

BASICS

» Ashes are the additional, power-boosting supplements used along with runes and/or spells. The ashes have to be made from leaves or wood or the whole tree and depending on what wood was burned to make ash, it's properties varies.

Ash is created from sacred trees. The most popular ones are alder tree, ash tree, cedar tree, elder tree, fir tree, furze tree and rowan tree. Sometimes ash is combined with herbs or plants or extracts that boost its power.

Ash tree magic appears in Nordic mythology (In Norse lore, Odin hung from Yggdrasil, the World Tree, for nine days and nights so that he might be granted wisdom. Yggdrasil was an ash tree, and since the time of Odin's ordeal, the ash has often been associated with divination and knowledge), Celtic legends and Pagan folklore.

STORY

» In RWW a circle of ash can stop monsters from entering a certain area or helps with healing. Ash can also be used as poison - for example, mistletoe ash is nearly lethal for werewolves - and healing, but again, each ash is made for something else.

» Runes can be drawn with ashes or chalk that is to some extent crated from ash.

» Ashes can help you find things, people or objects.

ALDER TREE » This tree was sacred to the Druids. It has the power to summon wind and is used in Finding/Searching Spells.

ASH TREE » The ash from ash tree is used for healing, but also symbolises knowledge and wisdom.

CEDAR TREE » Touching cedar leaves summons the Earth power, helps to focus, makes your mind sharper.

ELDER TREE » It's widely used for keeping the evil spirits at bay. Often used when dealing with ghosts. It can both bless and curse.

ELM TREE » Elm adds stability and grounding to a spell.

FIR TREE » It's used to predict or see the future and for every spell time-related.

FURZE TREE » The wood and blooms of furze tree is burned right before a fight, in preparation for conflict and protection.

HAZEL TREE » Symbolizes white magic and healing. Twigs and sticks can even help to find a lost treasure or water. Drawing a circle around yourself with a hazel branch will give you protection. Magically, hazel wood is used to gain knowledge, wisdom and poetic inspiration.

MISTLETOE » It was the most sacred tree of the Druids. The berries of mistletoe are poisonous, can be lethal, especially for werewolves, but also for most magic creatures.

OAK TREE » King of Trees. Used for magickal charms, the Druids and Priestesses listened to the rustling oak leaves and the wrens in the trees for divinatory messages. Burning oak leaves purifies the atmosphere. It can be used in spells for protection, strength, success and stability; the different varieties will lend their own special 'flavour' to the magic.

ROWAN TREE » Mountain Ash. Known as an aid and protection against enchantment. Sticks of the Rowan were used to carve Runes on. The berries have a tiny pentagram on them and are especially poisonous. The pentagram is the ancient symbol of protection. The Rowan tree indicates protection and control of the senses from enchantment and beguiling.

WILLOW TREE » Tree of Enchantment and Witches' Asprin.

RANDOM Uses of ash in the story

PROTECTION » Dal circles herself with Elder tree ash mixed with mistletoe to keep the evil werewolf pack away.

BARRIERS » Barriers are created by using both protective and destructive spells, plus ashes and magic circles with different protective words. In chapter thirty-two, Dal uses a furze twig to draw a magic circle, combine it with the Latin's word "auxilum" that means help and support, and add Runes to it - Uruz for endurance, Thurisaz for resistance, Perthro for unknown and Algiz for protection. Then she throws up rowan tree ash up in the air and it connects with the drawn symbol. The ashes spreads, creating a huge circle around a very big area, and with an addition of magic, a barrier is created.

FOCUSION » Rubbing your fingers in the cedar tree ashes helps to clear the mind and calm the magic.

FINDING PEOPLE » "You hold the pile of ash in your right hand, put your left palm on your left eye and close the right one. You stretch your hand out, so your clasped fist with ash inside it is hovering right above the center of the map.

“Ériu, lend me your power; show me the way to the wolf,” you say, and after that, you chant a long spell in complete silence. By the end of the spell, you can feel the bubble of invisibility break. You open your palm at once and the ash hits the map, rolls down the edges; but then every little particle stops before it can fall onto the floor, and they make a swirl on the map, moving from one side to another. You focus all your power on the ash; it slowly combines with the leaves and takes a shape of a small dot.

“A fháil dó,” you whisper, and the ash seems to shiver. It moves towards a certain spot on the city map and stops, forming a thin, black circle around the old warehouse on the outskirts of the town.

“Found him,” you say."