Since the beginning of time, trees have been recognized as a symbol of life and regeneration, and to some of sacred knowledge. To primitive man the tree and its by products were a source used in all aspects of life. It offered shelter from the elements, food from its fruit, heat from a fire, clothing from its bark and tools as well as weapons from its wood. It is little wonder that the tree evolved as one of the earliest symbols of reverence to worship.
In Celtic Tree Lore, your tree is the walnut if you were born between April 21 - April 30. It can sometimes be confusing as there are sometimes more than one type of tree in Celtic Lore for your birth month. At times you can see a bit of your personality in each one.
The personality of most people with this tree as their symbol is unrelenting, strange and full of contrasts. The Walnut's motto is "Looking for a Homeland" or "The Passion." Often egotistical, walnuts are aggressive and noble with a broad horizon. They are unexpected and sponteneous in their reactions with little or no flexibility. Walnut people possess unlimited ambition and can make for difficult and uncommon partners. Not always liked but often admired, the walnut individual is an ingenious strategist, who is very jealous and passionate by nature and rarely given to compromise. Walnuts will accept and endure a multitude of troubles in order to satisfy the desire for pleasure. An uncompromising character, the walnut individual will undertake a project with inexhaustible perseverance and once in love, tends to love until death.
Once believed to be a vessel of evil, the walnut tree has long been associated with witchcraft and healing. It is now used for fertility magic and smooth transitions. The roots of walnut trees give off a substance into the soil that make it very hard for other plants to grow near the tree.
Walnuts were thrown to Roman wedding guests by the groom to bring good health, to ward off disease, and increase fertility. Young boys eagerly scrambled for the tossed walnuts, as the groom's gesture indicated his passage into manhood. In Rome, the walnut was thought to enhance fertility, yet in Romania, a bride would place one roasted walnut in her bodice for every year she wished to remain childless.
During the Middle Ages, Europeans believed walnuts would ward off fevers, witchcraft, epileptic fits, the evil eye, and even lightning. The Chinese believe crickets to be a creature of good omen, and would often carry musically-trained crickets in walnut shells covered with intricately-carved patterns.
According to Roman lore, the gods feasted on walnuts while their lowly subjects subsisted on lesser nuts such as acorns, beechnuts, and chestnuts.
There are three types of walnut trees: English, Black and Butternut. English Walnut grows in Asia, Europe and now in North America. Black Walnut and Butternut are North American trees. Nuts are mostly harvested from English Walnut; Black Walnuts have some uses, but are prized even more for their lumber; Butternut is a lovely wood for furniture.
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