Page 40 - September 2022 Magazine - Bumper Edition

The Holly is a hardwood and therefore would have been ideal to make the shaft of spears, even more so, as it was believed to be a divine protector.
As the Holly bears fruit in the winter, it has always been a major feature of the Yuletide festivities. Whilst clearly a tradition from the Celtic Pagans, the Romans also decorated their houses with it during Saturnalia, a major feast to celebrate Saturn, held around about the 17th of December, another reason for the early Christians to celebrate Jesus's birth close to this time.
As with several other trees, legend would have us believe the Holly allowed itself to be used as the wood for the crucifixion. So once again we say tosh! The cheapest, most abundant tree would have been used, and it was the Olive.
Whilst the Druids would not have sanctioned the Celts to burn Holly, the exception was when there was a ‘Need Fire’. This was a practice carried out when disease came to a village but more often to the village livestock.
The cattle, sheep, pigs, goats, geese, etc. would be driven through the smoke of ‘Need Fire’ to cure and or cleanse them of disease. This ‘Need Fire’ would have been made from the nine sacred woods. The Holly, the Oak, the Pine, the Cedar, the Poplar, the Ash, the Apple, the Juniper, and the Hazel.
Whilst maybe not with all the nine sacred woods, this may actually be the last practised Celtic tradition. Up to only 150 years ago, farmers were recorded as driving cattle and swine through smoke if their livestock fell sick.
Today, European Holly has nearly 200 different species yet amazingly, worldwide there are about 600.
New Moon
New Moon peeps do tend to be a little presumptuous in their well-intended guidance of others.
This can lead to you being just a little over-optimistic in your ability to do so and result in a real downer if you don’t succeed.
You want to be seen as someone who has helped someone else do well.
Full Moon
One the other hand, whilst equally ambitious, are more concerned with their own achievements, as opposed to showing the world they can help others.
Holly people tend to be very level even when faced with drastic change. You don’t like to be at the forefront, preferring to lead from the sidelines.
You value your personal standing, like your values and integrity but you really don’t like it if you are criticized. People born under the Holly find it hard to live up to their own very high expectations of themselves.
You’re stubborn as hell! But people respect that and admire you for ‘sticking to your guns’. Your passion and conviction for a cause is your appeal.
There’s a deep-rooted ‘wild-side’ to you, which rarely appears, but those close to you love it when it does.
40 | The Flickering Cauldron® Magazine - Ogham Holly