Witches, Judas, and Elders

Look into the spooky soul of the elder tree as it oozes with myth, magic and medicine – a home to goddesses – salve for the ailing. To cut one down is to risk revenge taken by the dryad living within, the one exception being the use of any of its parts for medicine or as a protective charm. Please ask the dryad reverently for permission.

With the rise of Christianity, the elder tree became a witch's tree. It was portrayed as a tree of sorrow because Judas was said to have hung himself from its branches. According to Christian lore, the reason for the tree's stooped demeanor and pliable branches is so that never again should anyone commit suicide with the help of an elder.

elder knots –
through gateways and gallows
Judas weds the witch

I told her it is illegal in Michigan to kill bats. How is it that we are made with feelings deeper than the greatest abyss and yet, we wear a stoic veil over mindfulness of the other? Fear stabs both eyes and the blood is enough sustenance for a lifetime.

And just like that, desire runs along snaggy-toothed banks of the river, all the way to the welcoming sea. What passes must not be Love. What floats beneath the willows must be let go.

Flowers, thistle and goldenrod all die back.
We die back.
I no longer walk the garden like a jailer, or carry armfuls of light.
This earth, our grave, as wretched as it is glorious.

Ode to the last of green things! Ode to the once wild blossoming of all of our cares.

Rest now in the fluid care of elder trees; in the passing of the river beyond my knoll; in the abundance of what we harvested for a time.