The Ash Tree

-Botanical

Latin name: Fraxinus Excelsior

The Ash Tree is a very old tree, because scientists know that it does exist since the Tertiary Era. Their oldest place seems to be the North East of Canada. They have evaluated gradually during their progression to the South, and the result is that the Ash Tree is today everywhere in Europe, Western Asian and even in some regions of Africa. This tree lost its leaves very early in autumn, making appear some big black and velvety buds, characteristics of this specie. Flowers appear at the beginning of spring, before leaves. And at the end of summer, it's easy to observe the Ash tree's fruits. Because of the form of the Ash Tree flowers, scientists classified it in the same family of Olive Tree. But the Ash Tree is very higher; sometimes it can reach 40 meters high. We can count about 60 different species of Ash Tree.

-Customs, Legends and Mythology

Gaelic name: Nuin

Month: March
Color: Glass Green
Letter in the Ogham: N
Magical properties: Healing, Prosperity, Protection

In Europe, magic rituals gave to the Ash Tree important healing powers, and in particular baby's umbilical hernia. The ritual said that people had to chop a young Ash Tree in two parts, and go the baby through the two parts of the tree. After that, people rounded up the two parts with a string, and the baby was supposed to get better in the same time of the young tree.
One legend said that if a snake had to choose between go through the Ash Tree's branches, or go through the fire, it preferred go to the fire. In the Scandinavian symbolic, the Ash Tree was the cosmic tree which linked the three worlds: underworld, world and sky.
According to the Greek mythology, Ash Tree was created by the blood of Ouranos, falling to the ground when Cronos cuted off his genital organs. Later, the Ash Tree was designed as one of the attributes of the ancient Greek Goddess Nemesis, Goddess of Revenge and Decency. The Ash Tree is also one of the attributes of Poseidon, God of the Sea but again of Seism.
For German and Scandinavian people, it's the founding tree, supporting the sky and taking its roots in wisdom. It's World-Tree is called Yggdrasil, the highest and the better tree. This spectacular Ash Tree was the symbol of the permanent fight between Life and Death, Write or Wrong.

-Healing

With the Lime Tree and the Birch, the Ash Tree is one of the most using trees for medicine. In the south of Morocco, it's very well use by men against high blood pressure.
The bark of young branches can be use to prepare medications against rheumatisms and diuretics.
More enigmatically, on the 16^th century people used the Ash Tree against poisons and venoms. They thought that if they had an Ash Tree's leaf with them everywhere, none reptile could attack them, or attack their cattle.
One of the Celtic traditions to cure people (and cattle) against paralysis and cramps was to bury one shrew alive in a hole, made in the trunk of the tree. After that, the tree was supposed to have a healing power, and people could have a medication thanks to its leaves and twigs.

-Physical uses

This utilization of the Ash Tree's wood is known since the Antiquity. In his "Metamorphosis", Ovid called this tree the "Javelins Tree". During the Middle-Age, Ash Trees were always planted next to the castle, to be able to build more arcs and arrows very quick.
Behind its strong grey bark, we can find a white wood, nervous and flexible, which were used during a long time in the sport equipments industry: sky poles, hockey poles, bicycle's rims.
Previously, it was used for the building of coaches or wagons, but it's not use today because of the decomposition of the wood, getting in touch with the soil.