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Celtic tree calendar · Celtic tree month 13

Elder

Elder · Ruis

Elder (Ruis), month 13 of the modern 'Celtic tree calendar', 25 November – 22 December.

The elder was a tree of strong folk taboos — it was considered unlucky to burn its wood — and of healing, as its flowers and berries were used in remedies. In the tree calendar it closes the year before the winter solstice and stands for endings and regeneration.

The thirteen tree months come from Robert Graves' The White Goddess (1948), not from ancient sources. The tree associations of the Ogham letters do go back to medieval Irish scholars, but there is no evidence for an ancient Celtic tree calendar.

Personality

free-spirited · thoughtful · generous · adventurous · regenerating · candid

In the modern 'Celtic tree calendar', a person born in the Elder month (25 November – 22 December) is described as free-spirited, thoughtful and regenerative, at home with endings and new beginnings. The tree calendar is a modern creation from Robert Graves' The White Goddess (1948), not a calendar of the ancient Celts; Elder corresponds to the Ogham letter Ruis and closes Graves' year before the winter solstice.

Modern writers draw on the elder's strong folk taboos, such as the belief that it was unlucky to burn its wood, and on its use in folk remedies, as well as on its ability to regrow from damaged branches. Elder people are said to be adventurous, generous, outspoken and wise beyond their years, combining a love of freedom with a reflective, philosophical streak. Their challenges are described as impatience, bluntness and a restlessness that resists settling down.

In love Elder people are portrayed as honest and fun-loving but independent; in work, as travellers, healers, teachers and those who help others through transitions. As with every tree-month portrait, this is a modern contemplative reading of the tree rather than ancient lore.

Sources and further reading