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Celtic tree calendar · Celtic tree month 7

Oak

Oak · Duir

Oak (Duir), month 7 of the modern 'Celtic tree calendar', 10 June – 7 July.

The oak, the tree of the summer solstice in Graves' scheme, was linked with the Druids by classical writers (Pliny describes them cutting mistletoe from an oak). Its Ogham name duir is related to words for 'door', and it represents strength, endurance and the doorway of midsummer.

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

strong · enduring · protective · generous · wise · dependable

In the modern 'Celtic tree calendar', a person born in the Oak month (10 June – 7 July) is described as strong, enduring and protective, a pillar for others. The tree calendar was devised by Robert Graves in The White Goddess (1948) and is not an ancient Celtic calendar; Oak corresponds to the Ogham letter Duir, a word related to 'door', and in Graves' scheme it holds the doorway of midsummer.

Modern books draw the Oak personality from the tree's long life, strength and classical association with the Druids, whom Pliny describes cutting mistletoe from an oak. Oak people are said to be courageous, generous, wise and dependable, with a strong sense of justice and a natural instinct to protect and to lead. Their challenges are described as stubbornness, over-confidence, a tendency to take on too much and difficulty asking for help.

In love Oak people are portrayed as loyal, faithful and protective partners; in work, as leaders, teachers, guardians and those who carry responsibility well. As with all tree-calendar portraits, this is a modern symbolic reading built on folklore, not a description from the Celtic past.

Sources and further reading