Month One Week One Activity

Find Your Birth Tree

In the Black Mountain Druid Order the day after the winter solstice immediately prior to your birth date would be the first day of the Birch Moon, 28 days after that would be the first day of the Rowan moon, and so forth. To calculate your birth month, first find the winter solstice immediately prior to the date of your birth. The winter solstice is Mistletoe Day. The day immediately after that will be day one of the Birch Moon for that year. Rowan Moon starts 28 days after that, and so on. Keep counting up in 28-day increments until you arrive at the date of your birth.

When you arrive at the Moon of your birth, read the  information in the previous section for the Moon associated with your birth. Does it seem to fit you? If not, is there another tree (perhaps from a previous life) that would fit you better?

Now select a tree, preferably your birth tree, to spend a year and a day with. If you are fortunate enough to have one of your birth trees nearby, plan on visiting it at least once a week for a year. If you do not have a birth tree nearby, you may select another tree with which to develop a relationship. If there are no trees or other plants at all in your immediate area, spend at least one day a week doing research on a tree or other plant of your choosing.

The purpose of this exercise is to gain intimate knowledge of a tree of the ogham, so make your selection with that goal in mind. Try to select a tree of the ogham if possible (ogham is the Celtic Tree Alphabet covered in future lessons).

You may wish to keep a journal of your experiences as you conduct these exercises during your year of study in Foundational Druidry. If you choose to do so, you may wish to start by writing down the date of your birth according to the Celtic Tree Calendar, and any insights you may have gained from your birth tree.

A NOTE ON LOCAL TREE VARIETIES

Since our Order has members all over the world, and since the original ogham is based on plants that are native to the British Isles, you will probably have to make your own local substitutes for some or all trees of the ogham. To do this, first familiarize yourself with the characteristics of the plants of the ogham listed in the chart above. Next, find local varieties that have these same characteristics.

Note also that the names of many of the plants of the ogham are also wide categories. For example, the Vine can include various types of grapes or other plants. In Northern Scotland they even use blackberries for Vine. There are also many varieties of oak, ash, willow, ivy, etc. Just substitute a local variety in your own ogham. Druidry is about honoring spirits of place, and this is the best way to honor the spirits of the trees where you live.