The Hawthorne is one of my favorite trees in terms of magical philosophy, and it’s one of the most magical trees in the entirety of the Western Esoteric Tradition. Given the last point, it’s somewhere between weird and amusing that I knew very little about the Hawthorne’s magical properties until just a few years ago.
I’m not sure how she had slipped past my radar for so long. I place such emphasis on the Hawthorne in particular areas of practice that I really do wonder but don’t remember what I did in these cases before I caught on to Genus Crataegus.
A Special Tree Among the Fairies
Hawthorne are believed to be a sacred tree among fairy folk and nature spirits. It is possible the tree is used either to guard certain portals and gateways between worlds, or perhaps the tree itself is the gateway or series of gateways.
Hawthorne spirits and all parts of the tree are powerful protection elements in any magical operation. In particular they repel vampires, which means amulets and potions from the Hawthorne can protect from a variety of energy-leeching spirits and personality types. There is much to contemplate on this point, and I’ll leave you to it as time is limited at the time of this writing.
I have read many times that a Hawthorne spirit or use of a wand of Hawthorne can open the doors – all of the doors – into the magic of fairies plus protect you from the magic wielded by the Fae and nature spirits as you travel to or draw from their planes of existence.
Of Saturn and the Goddess
Hawthorne corresponds to the rune Hagalaz, and thus to the path of Tau on the Tree of Life, joining this material world to the Underworld of Saturn and the Goddess Hecate. The etheric principle and the astral realms are easily accessed via Hawthorne magic, and the power to bring down and manifest from the upper worlds (for as above, so below) is great in the essence of this tree.
Gateway of Gateways
Hawthorne is the tree corresponding to Path 32, or Path of Tau, on the Tree of Life. What this essentially means is this tree represents and is connected magically to the channel connecting our material reality to the astral realm ruled by Luna, or the Moon. This channel is typically said to be ruled by the sphere of Saturn, and I think many magicians would agree the ruling influence along this path is somehow shared between Lunar, Saturnine, and terrestrial Elemental forces.
Understanding this pathway in one form or another and working with the influences and concepts involved is an immensely important aspect of magical training. Some will disagree here, but I believe this boy of work holds the keys to astral projection and travel, plus bringing causal and higher forces down and into our world, i.e. most types of manifestation work.
The Hawthorne is also symbolic of marriage, and the union of Divine Male and Divine Female. The source for many of my wands is actually a tree at a gateway and crossroads on a local wedding venue.
“The Wishing Tree” is actually a title attributed to more than one plant, but indeed the Hawthorne is one of the title holders. It’s a fair fit, given the correspondence with the astral pathways (and thus manifestation) discussed above.
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