My Celtic Holly art - plus a look at holly folklore, tales, meaning & symbolism...

• It’s a celebration of a year of trees - a calendar idea that allocates a tree to a month (or period of time) similar to the zodiac idea that we’re all familiar with.

• The months are actually based around lunar months of 28 days so there are 13 months and 13 corresponding trees in each year.​

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• The Celtic Tree Calendar that’s widely used is based on Robert Graves’ idea of a Celtic Tree Calendar put forward in his book ‘The White Goddess’.

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The Celtic Tree Calendar is actually a beautiful idea – focusing our attention on our different trees and appreciating their beauty as well as their natural history and the parts they’ve played in our own social and cultural story…

I love the idea and I’ve based my latest Celtic Tree Project around the 13 tree months – although I also intend including other favourite trees later (so hopefully your own favourite tree will be there before too long, as well…).

​I'll show you my Celtic Tree Calendar artworks project at the end of the post (or you can scroll down now if you can't wait!!)...

It’s certainly a wonderful idea and it’s really captured the public imagination. I think it’s a great way for us all to feel more connected with nature…

My Celtic oak art – plus oak meaning, symbolism, myth and stories…

The oak is traditionally seen as the ‘King of the Forest’ or the ‘Father of Trees’. It’s a native British tree that at one time was incredibly widespread – in the time of King Henry VIII one third of Britain was covered in oak forests.

The trees are slow growing - producing hard, valuable timber – and can live to over 700 years old, sometimes 1000 years or more.

The oak is called ‘a garden and a country’ as it provides a whole ecosystem of life from small ferns and other plants growing in its nooks and crannies to fungi, lichen and (rarely) mistletoe – as well as being home to numerous insects, birds, and even small mammals.

Acorns are said to be ‘man’s first food’ in the legends of several different cultures – and humans have used this tree for building, furniture, healing, and food, as well as the tree having symbolic, social, and cultural importance throughout the ages.

Let’s explore our relationship with the oak tree…

My Celtic hawthorn art plus a look at hawthorn meaning, symbolism, stories, folklore and traditions...

Hawthorn, commonly known as whitethorn or may, is one of our most beautiful spring trees in the countryside, where you will often see it in hedgerows festooned with tiny, white, pungently-scented blossoms, during the month of May.

Hawthorn is a native tree to the British Isles and in Irish Brehon law, dating from early Celtic times, the hawthorn was known as a ‘peasant tree’.

Historic pollen records show hawthorn was in Britain at least as early as 6000BC.

The Gaelic name for hawthorn is ‘huath’ – which may also relate to the Anglo-Saxon word ‘haw’ which is believed to mean ‘hedge’.

Hawthorn is now widely used as a hedging plant after the 19th century General Enclosures Act, but in earlier times, the wood was used to make small personal items such as knife handles, combs and trinket boxes.

It’s a tree that grows alongside people and has become a part of our lives and traditions…

​Beautiful Celtic willow art prints and arty products – I explain willow tree symbolism and meaning…

The mystical willow tree is one of our ancient native British trees (White willow, Salix alba) and is a favourite in countryside and gardens.

The willow tree is beautiful – an elegantly-shaped tree that dances in the wind and grows in atmospheric, watery places – so it’s no wonder that people have always taken the willow to their hearts...

In ancient Tibet, the willow was revered as the ‘world tree’ or ‘tree of life’.

Our modern name for the willow comes from the Anglo-Saxon ‘wileg’.

We have a long relationship with the willow tree – we’ve long recognised its usefulness and its special abilities as well as its inherent beauty...

Beautiful Celtic Tree of Life art prints and arty products by Lotti Brown (2 different tree of life designs)...
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And a look at tree of life meaning, symbolism and history...

I've been having fun with some tree of life designs and now have not one but two gorgeous Celtic art tree of life pieces to inspire you to feel connected with the natural world...

The tree of life is a popular and instantly recognisable Celtic symbol – but its origins go back hundreds or thousands of years and tell us something about our origins as a society and how we thought about our place in the world.

The tree of life is something that unites humanity. There is the concept of a tree of life in many cultures, mythologies and religions, especially Indo-European, Siberian and Native American religions.
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