Ogham Tuesday: Yew/Idho

Yews are trees of age and legend. In Britain, they’re often found around churchyards and cemeteries, and there’s more than one estimated to be thousands of years old. The Fortingall Yew (in Scotland) is one of the oldest known non-clonal trees in Europe at 3,000-5,000 years old. (Some estimates say it’s only 1,500 years old; others date it at 9,000 years old.) It’s hard to precisely date because the trunk has split into several parts over time, which hasn’t left enough heartwood for rings to measure reliably, but it’s connected with a Bronze-Age archeological site. It's OLD old.

Yew is a very adaptable evergreen, growing well in hedges and topiaries with few problems as long as they have good drainage. And its wood holds well under tension, making it ideal for hunting bows. But beware: eating even a small quantity of leaves can be fatal for livestock and humans. All parts of the plant are toxic, including the red berries that grow on female yews. 

Yew is an ogham of patience and passage. While this ogham corresponds to gateways, don’t imagine a door. Instead, picture a tunnel. You have to leave behind the previous state of being and pass through to the next phase, but it’s not a journey of a single step. Yew is going to take its time. 

The last letter of the standard ogham alphabet, yew can be the signal of a larger cycle coming to an end. Your bravery and faith now will determine the success of that transition. When yew comes up in a reading, take stock of what you need to release before you pass through the eye of the needle to your next destination. 

Keywords include: passages, transition, gateway, between, patience, death, rebirth, liminal, pause, resolution, closure, cycle, ready, evolve, graduate, regeneration

Guidance might include:

• You’ve prepared enough. It’s time to walk away from old, outgrown patterns.

• Change takes time. The next thing is coming, so stop watching the clock or comparing your progress to anybody else’s. Just keep moving forward. 

• Focus on the light at the end of the tunnel, not the darkness around you. (Yew promises that it’s not an oncoming train.)

Questions or cautions might include:

• What do you need to release, to make room for the new cycle?

• How can you use the tension of this moment to launch you into real growth and change?

• Are you too preoccupied with measuring to fully experience this moment of transformation?

What connections do you see? 

Blessings,

Nicole

~ Nicole (Nikki, sometimes Saffron Hare) is founder and general manager at Nine Fires Press. Her Druidic practice has included solitary, small-group, and congregational worship, with a focus on liturgy and seership. She is studying for her Master Gardener certification, rehabbing an underground home in the Midwestern US, and loves to fall in love with bad ideas.