|
Round The Square for July 6
ROWAN TREE: In our recent columns about determining which tree best suits your personality, we seemed to have “lost” one tree somehow ” an interesting one at that.
The rowan tree somehow got misplaced in all our computer cutting and pasting, and several readers were quick to wonder why.
Today, that explanation and also a little bit about this tree.
You who were identified as a “rowan” (sensitivity) are full of charm, cheerful, gifted without egotism, likes to draw attention, loves life, motion, unrest and even complications, is both dependent and independent, good taste, artistic, passionate, emotional, good company, does not forget.
Our list of what we called “horto-scopes” was provided by our friends at Elk State Forest. In case you missed it, the list matched people with a certain tree depending on their date of birth ” not unlike the familiar astrological signs.
If you’ve never heard of a “rowan” tree, don’t feel alone. We never had either so we turned to Wikipedia for all the details and found a very unusual deciduous tree which would probably be at home in a Harry Potter movie.
Rowans are a small deciduous tree ” only a bit larger than a shrub ” and resemble the American mountain ash, showy mountain ash in the east, sitka mountain ash in the west. However, it is not in the ash family but is more closely related to the apples and hawthorns in the rose family. Its flowers are creamy white, and the fruit usually a small orange or red pome.
The interesting part, though, is the European rowan’s place in mythology and folklore.
The rowan was thought to be a magical tree which protected against malevolent beings. The density of the wood made it useable for magician staves, and its branches for dowsing rods and magic wands.
The rowan tree was carried on vessels to avoid storms, kept in houses to guard against lightning, and even planted on graves to keep the deceased from haunting. It was also used to protect one from witches ” quite a handy thing to have around!
Fresh rowan berry juice is useable as a laxative, gargle for sore throats, inflamed tonsils, hoarseness and a source of vitamins A and C. Rowan is also used for eye irritations, spastic pains in the uterus, heart-bladder problems, neuralgia, gout and waist constrictions.
Pretty cool, we must admit!
 printer friendly version
 e-mail this story
Reader Comments
There are No comments posted. comments to this story.
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of bradfordera.com.
Submit a Comment
We encourage your feedback and dialog, all comments will be reviewed by our Web staff before appearing on the Web site.
|
