IX: Ash
The magical healing properties of ash trees.
Good morning. Today is nonidi, the 29th of Ventôse, Year CCXXXI. We celebrate le frêne, a tree with very useful wood.
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I find tree gender fascinating. Ash are dioecious, meaning there are male trees and female trees. For those looking to plant a tree on their property, the male trees are usually recommended because the fruit of an ash, called a samara (or ash key), is actually a tiny helicopter that takes to the air when ripe and creates quite a mess. However, here in Chicago where this newsletter is based, new ash trees are restricted to keep the spread of emerald ash borer from killing the many old native trees from succumbing, so we mostly have elderly ash, and arborists are observing they are mostly female. Is this because previous generations actually preferred lawns littered with samara? No, it's apparently because some male ash trees, when in a monosexual environment, will age into femininity, transitioning through a period of hermaphroditic limbs before dropping the male ones and committing to being female.
The ash tree is common wherever it grows, so it's one of the most recognizable and beloved species. But nowhere did this love grow stronger than in the North Sea area, where the Celts, Vikings, and ancient Saxons all obtained belief in the ash as a magical tree with connections to magic and the life force itself.
