Parting the Mists

Many thanks for your patience as I took a week off from the card without notice. I hope everyone’s week went well, and I hope it was a happy and gratitude-filled one for those of us who celebrated Thanksgiving last week.

We are back today with a powerful card from the Druid Plant Oracle. See you tomorrow!

Blessings,

Thistle

The Guardians – Elder, Hawthorn, and Birch

The Guardians are three trees that together act as preservers of our health, possibly even prolonging our lives, by strengthening the immune system and the key organs of the heart and circulatory system, the liver, and kidneys. Each of them is member of the Ogham family of 18 trees and seven plants that make up this mysterious woodland alphabet that has come to be known as the “Druid’s tree language.”

The card shows a Birch tree growing between an Elder and a Hawthorn. The three trees act like guardians of the sacred pool, in which we can see Brooklime, also know as Water Pimpernel. This may be the mysterious Samolus revered by the Druids, according to Pliny.

Meaning: If you have chosen this card, it may indicate that a situation or relationship which seems to be in difficulty can be preserved and strengthened if action is taken. Sometimes, if there is no expectation of a quick fix, a problem can slowly be turned around over a period of time by a number of small adjustments. The three Guardians act by gradually strengthening the key organs of the body. Similarly, if you take actions to strengthen the specific areas of a relationship, this will, in time, affect every part of it. Rather than focusing on areas of weakness between you, identify where you do connect well, and try to build on these. Long-term relationships need healthy “immune systems” that can cope with the inevitable stresses that arise between two individuals.

This card also reminds us that plants sometimes work best when they are given as a remedy on their own, and sometimes in combination with other plants. If you have chosen this card reversed, it may indicate that you are being called upon to work in a group. Your independence might feel threatened, but is is likely that the synergy generated as a team will be far more effective than if you were to continue to work alone. Alternatively, the card may suggest that you need to have the confidence in your abilities and trust in life to slow down and not take on every offer that is made to you. We often find ourselves rushing through life, anxious that if we stop nobody will want us. Generally this not true, and by slowing down or pausing we give life a chance to show us new directions.

The Druid Plant Oracle by authors Philip and Stephanie Carr-Gomm and artist Will Worthington.