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Ivy

In ancient times, our Celtic Druid Ancestors devised a system, part alphabet, part calendar/zodiac, to be carved using simple notches onto wood or stone. Each character was a number and a letter. The consonants were time periods – mostly lunar months and the vowels were the solstices or equinoxes. Each symbol represented a tree or shrub, around which grew an extensive mythology, recording historical and religious stories, the uses of each tree both for craftwork and medicinally, and a divinatory system similar to the tarot. To the Celts, the whole landscape was alive with meaning, and wisdom – the wisdom of the trees.

Ivy, Ogham name Gort, rules 30th September to 27th October. Evergreen Ivy is said to house the Spirit of Nature during the dead of Winter, and so represents regeneration, preserving life to continue the next year. The last sheaf of corn to be cut each harvest was bound round with Ivy called the Ivy Girl, to preserve the spirit of the corn until the following years harvest.