The willow tree grows in areas of moisture. They are often seen on the banks of the river. There are the common willow, white willow, weeping willow, and pussywillow varieties. People throughout the ages have utilized the willow for healing, tools, and spirituality. White willow is a traditional basket-making material and was also woven for sheep hurdles. Cricket bats are made from a cultivated derivative of the white willow. In healing, white willow bark is used to bring down fever, relieve nasal allergies such as hayfever, and as an analgesic. Weeping willow twigs or canes have also been used for baskets and tools where strength and flexibility are both needed. Willow wands are used in healing rituals. The willow is a representative of healthy ecosystem and healthy water. The willows in the area where I live have been deteriorating from lack of water, pollution, and disease. The willows have continued to exist in areas that have escaped heavy industrialization. In a time when our world is abused and sickens, the decrease in willow population is an indication of our neglect. The willow is a symbol of wisdom and healing of our earth as well as the people of the earth. Legends and stories have been written about the willow for the duration of time. The legends and histories span a variety of cultures throughout the world.

The Celtic tradition uses a tree alphabet and assigns tree associations to the wheel of the year in an astrological system. In magical associations the willow represents romantic love, healing, protection, fertility, and is especially powerful for women's mysteries. The Willow or Saille moon is The Witches' Moon and a Moon of Balance. The willow tree is associated with death and rebirth in the Celtic and Middle Eastern cultures. Willow branches and leaves were used at burial sites and in altar configurations. The druids considered the willow sacred because they believe that two scarlet eggs that contained the Sun and the Earth were hidden in the willow's bows. The willow held the eggs until creation when they hatched. The willow can therefore be connected to the Tree of Life in creation. The Celts also believed that life was related to the tree or willow. Life was believed to be seated in the human spine, which in some legends was originally formed from willow wood. In the ogham alphabet, Saille or willow represents the feminine. It relates to the rune Laguz in that it responds to the spiritual or mystical side of the human nature. The psychic connection is indicated and responds to encourage intuition and creativity of thought. Oddly enough, Laguz in the runic alphabet is associated with water, but in linguistic terms laguz refers to log or wood. Perhaps it is willow wood and therefore connected to water as well.

Pussywillow or Goat Willow

There is a rhyme that tells about the riddle of the pussywillow.

"The Willow Cats"
by Margaret Widdemer
They called them pussywillows
But there is no cat to see
Except the little furry toes
That stick out on the tree.

I think that very long ago
When I was just born new
There must have been whole pussycats
Where just the toes stick through.

And every spring it worries me
I cannot ever find
Those willowcats that ran away
And left their toes behind.

This poem is a bit morbid for some. I prefer the other story I heard about the origin of the pussywillow.

Once there was a farmer who had a cat. One spring, the cat gave birth to a litter of kittens. The kittens were too many for the cat to nurse. The farmer decided to throw the kittens into the river, since there were too many to feed. The mother cat, however, was devastated by the loss of her kittens. The cat went to the riverbank to rescue her children, but she was not strong enough or able to rescue them all. She began wailing in grief, and her cries were carried by the wind throughout the river valley. The kittens also cried in their struggles to survive in the torent. The willow trees along the bank heard the cries of mother and children. Each willow dropped its branches to the water. As the kittens washed through, the willows scooped them up into their saving branches. Today we see each spring the reminder of their saving ways. The image of the kittens nestles in the bows of the pussywillow.

The willow is also associated with the story of the Holy Grail. The story is an explanation of why the willow "weeps." The story has it that a young girl and her betrothed pledged love under the bows of the willow tree...

Weeping White Willow