Ogham Studies - Ruis (Elder)

[Fitheach]

(Elder tree, Glastonbury, England)

Please post your insights into this amazing tree!

Ruis

The Eldritch Elder tree,
Grandmother of the Grove
Her wisdom she imparts with tea,
In her flower hat and cream lace gloves.

Or perhaps you’ll take some wine,
Wisdom distilled in elderberry,
She’s the Cailleach of the Trine,
And an Elder Queen of Fairy.

In Fall she dons a coat whose hue,
Deep purple, her delight,
And gently leads the passing souls,
From darkness back to light.

[Explorer]

This tree is a bit special to me. She is one of the trees that I notice more than others, because she provides me with goodies when I am hiking. I use the flowers for tea, or just to nibble. And I eat the berries as a little refreshing snack (you don't want too eat too much of them though).
The flowers go well on chocolate also as you can see in the picture ;-).

For me she has a relation to Rowan, but I am not exactly sure why. Perhaps because their flowers and berries look similar in form, perhaps because often see them together. Or perhaps because they are both considered 'witch trees'. (But I did not know that until I read that). To me they seem to be a pair in some way. I am also not sure how the concepts of 'protection' and 'sacrifice' are related. It sounds like I still have some investigating to do here. Any idea's?

(Other, probably totally irrelevant, coincidences is that they are exactly opposite from each other in my diagram,  that they have the same colour (red) associated to them and that their ogham names sound similar, Luis and Ruis).

[Lizzy]

(you don't want too eat too much of them though).

Now he tells me!  :spank:
Hahaha, I used to eat tons of these berries, I absolutely loved them, but I never got 'really' sick from eating them, even after a kilo or something.

As a kid I always sat under them, I think it was the first tree I had a 'connection' with, don't know why exactly, must explore!  :D

[Fitheach]

Chocolate and elder!  I have to try it!

[Potia]

In this area the Elder is is the first tree to start coming into leaf in the Spring so for me it is a sign of Spring's return.

Blessings
Potia.

[Dryadia2]

Native Texas Elder
http://www.freewebs.com/dryadia/nativetexaselder.htm

[Creirwy]

Elder is one thats taken me a while to get to know. When I first felt drawn to it and asked for a branch to make an ogham few from it I cut my finger with the blade (accidently!) and so gave a very literal blood offering to this tree. So she is one I feel a very deeper magic with, like Rowan. Explorer I too connect the two together and think of Rowan as the Maiden and Elder as the Crone, but yet one is not too far away from the other. Elderflowers and the evil crone stories of the tree make me think of those stories with old hags turn into beautiful ladies and bring us happiness or curses depending on how we treat them. So Elder is a tree I respect deeply.

And I always find i'm called to it or get it in readings when I think i know things. Like say if I log on the message board and think 'oh its the same old questions, boring' and go into druidic hubris, Elder gives me a wack on the head and reminds me that ego is creeping in. She keeps me grounded and stops me making a prat out of myself - sometimes lol.

Elderflower is of the summer solstice yet its berries mean samhain, the maiden and crone together, and how nothing in nature is as clear cut as our pretty diagrams and what we 'think' it all means. Its all suprising and magical beyond our minds can understand.

[ennys]

Just bought some dried elder today...the season for the fresh flowers is almost over, but I love my elder tea
I love elder for its being a very pretty and handy tree: in the open air museum where I work, we use its branches hollowed out to blow in the fire. (is this an english sentence? ), and of course I use the flowers for tea and the berries for jam. First time I used way to much elder in the jam and not enough apple, but I've learned from that

Together with willow and hazel this is one of my favourite trees. These are trees natural to my environment, too.

[Serpentia]

Ah yes, been looking forward to this one. Elder is a tree still much valued in Germany, her name is related to one of the Goddess' names, Frau Holle - she's the one making it snow in winter when she shakes out her bedding. The fruits and leaves are popular for making juice, jelly and other delicacies, as Explorer already noted (chocolate, though, is new to me...). It's considered to be a veritable apothecary for various ailments and was not to be chopped down.

Serpentia

[Huathe]

Elder is common here in the southern Appalacians. Many of us old hillbillies make Elderberry Wine.

It also now makes me think of the recent Harry Potter movie, The Deathly Hallows part 1. The Elder Wand, possessed by Albus Dumbledore isThe most powerful wand of all.