Hawthorne Hips/berries,Flowers known as knots
The Hawthorn (Crataegus mongyna), Whitethorn, Haegthorn, Quickthorn or May Tree, is one of the most wild, enchanted and sacred of our native trees. Known as the "faerie tree", this beautiful, often gnarled, thorny little tree can live to a great age, and can be found growing in the wildest and harshest of spots. It grows all over Europe, Greece, North Africa and Western Asia and is rich in folklore and legend. Even growing in a town, the Hawthorn retains the spirit of the wild, and some town Hawthorn hedges have probably been there for hundreds of years - long before the town built up around them. The beauty of this tree in full blossom touches all our hearts and holds a special place in our affections. The keyword for the Hawthorn is the heart, and this is reflected in its herbal uses as well as its symbolism and place in folklore and legend. It has a dual sexual significance, as a symbol of abandonment and fertility, linking it to the Beltane celebrations and revelries, and a later overlay in British folklore of misfortune, chastity and sexual abstinence. This later overlay is now being transformed again, coming forward out of the confines of puritanical Christianity to become once again a positive symbol of the heart through its ability on a subtle level to open the heart to spiritual growth and love.
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Location: Hawthorne Hips/berries,Flowers known as knots
Photo credit: © Neil Dangerfield / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
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Keywords: age, berries, blossom, bright, crataegus, enchanted, faerie, fairy, folklore, great, haegthorn, hardy, hawthorne, hips, knots, mongyna, mystical, queen, quickthorn, red, sacred, spirit, thorns, tough, tree, unlucky, whitethorn, wild
