The Celtic Month of Hazel symbolizes inspiration and wisdom. It is a good time to learn a new skill and practice spells that develop your awareness.
The Ogham letter for the Month of Hazel is Coll, which roughly translates as inner life force. Build alliances and understanding.
The Hazel Tree
Hazel is a small tree or a large shrub that is common throughout North America, Asia, and Europe. They produce a nut referred to as hazelnuts aka filberts.
The nuts are a valuable agricultural crop.
They are a very valuable tree in their ecosystem. Hazelnuts are eaten by people and wildlife.
In addition, farmers plant them for hedgerows as they grow in a clump and like to be close together. birds love them for shelter.
The phrase “in a nutshell” comes from this tree because the outer casing is so hard and it protects the nut very well.
Historically cutting down a hazel was forbidden in Scotland and Ireland.
CORRESPONDENCES
Ogham: Coll
Symbolic Meaning: Alliances, Creative Inspiration, Divination, Scientific knowledge, and Wisdom
Ruling Planet: Mercury
Ruling Element: Air
Gender: Masculine
Season: Summer
Corresponding Star Sign: Leo, Virgo
Crystals: Flint, Pearl, Topaz
Birds: Crane, Crow
Animals: Bears, Dolphins, Lion, and Salmon
Plants: Aster, Iris, and Solomon’s Seal
Color: Orange
Day: Wednesday
Tarot: 9 of Swords
Deities: Aemgus, Artemis, Diana, Hermes/Mercury
Hazel Magic
The wood has long been thought to have magical properties. Both Hermes and Mercury had a staff made of hazel. Also popular among druids and many pagans today.
Hazel branches and wands are good when casting a circle.
Sit next to a clump of hazels if you need inspiration. Write a song, chant, or poem this month.
Spells that focus on attaining wisdom and knowledge are powerful this month. This is a good month to work on your Book of Spells.
Cast spells to develop your awareness, senses, and level of concentration.
People who eat hazelnuts will have the gift of prophecy. They are also a symbol of good luck.
Divination is a good skill to focus on and Hazel supports dowsing and dream journeys.
Hazel makes a very sensitive wand that is good for divination, circle casting, and protection. This wand can be somewhat temperamental as it responds to the witch’s emotional state. For Harry Potter fans Professor Sybill Trelawney had a hazel wand.
Where you see hazel, apple, and hawthorn trees together is often a door to the Otherworld.
Make a Divining Rod
Hazel branches and wands are known to have the divination power of dowsing.
Look for a fallen forked twig or small branch about one to two feet in length.
Thank the tree and give it an offering of moon water.
Cleanse your twig and ask the deities to bless your intention of dowsing. If you are a more advanced witch you may call upon the fae for help.
Grasp the fork of the branch with one side in each hand. Point the long end towards the ground and walk back and forth.
The dowsing rod will twitch or vibrate when you are near water.
Salmon and Hazel
In Celtic culture, the salmon are considered to be very wise. Legend tells us there were nine hazel trees surrounding a sacred pond.
Legend tells us that one salmon ate many nuts as they fell in the pond. One man wanted to get wisdom from the salmon so he caught it and told his students to cook it but not eat any.
Well, as often boys do he didn’t exactly obey his teacher and ate a piece of the salmon. The young boy was named Fionn mac Cumhaill. He became a hero in Gaelic mythology as a warrior, poet, and seer.
It is said that each spot on a salmon represents a hazelnut it has eaten.
Salmon are a keystone species. The Atlantic salmon Salmo salar ranges widely around the United Kingdom and western Europe.
Hazel Zodiac
People born under this sign are charming, fight for social causes, honest, moody, and understanding. They are known to be wise and good communicators. They excel at academic endeavors and are good at math and science especially.
Hazel people need to work on self-acceptance and self-worth. Spells for self-care are areas they should focus on. They also often have a struggle between the left (analytical) and right (creative) sides of their brain. This results in a need to work on balance.
Fae
This is a great month for working with the Fae. They live among the hazel bushes and appreciate offerings of hazelnuts.
In Ireland, Faeries were known as Aes sídhe or daoine sídhe (the people of the mounds). Traditionally Hawthorne was known as the Fairy Tree however Hazel is also appealing to the Fae.
The Hazel is a symbol of the poetic fae, Bile Ratha.
Witch Hazel
The tree witch hazel is a wonderful landscaping and medicinal tree. Its common cultivar is Hamamelis virginiana and it is not related at all to hazel trees.
However, they do have several things in common magically. Witch hazel is wonderful for divination and water dowsing. It is also known for wisdom and has fabulous healing properties.
If you are interested in learning how to grow witch hazel and make your own homemade remedies then check out my article Witch Hazel: Bewitching Brew or Herbal Medicine For the Skin on my environmental website.
Author, Ame Vanorio, is the founder of CPH, a lifelong pagan and Environmental Educator. She teaches our online courses and does our social media.
Holly is an evergreen, has masculine energy, and is symbolic of immortality. Said to repel lightning strikes it was often planted near homes. It is notably the wood used in Harry Potter’s wand.
The month Tinne, as called by the Celts, fell around the holiday of Lughnasa. We often associate evergreen Holly with winter and the Yule Season because during the summer solstice the Holly King defeats the Oak King and the days start to get shorter.