Hawthorn

13May07

    “The May or hawthorn hedges of England were once thought to be the meeting place of fairies . . . So powerful is folk belief that even today it is difficult to walk along a hedgerow with friends and not be stopped . . . from picking May blossom, with the warning that it will bring bad luck.

Yet in other countries hawthorn is considered to bring luck, especially at weddings, and at one time Germans used the branches in funeral pyres so that the soul of the deceased might spring directly up to heaven.”

—-Stafford Whiteaker, English Garden Embroidery

 

New Vrindaban has several hawthorn trees around the temple complex. One of them was damaged in an ice storm a few years ago, but has recovered. They are in flower now. I enjoy the sight of them at all seasons because I find their horizontal branching pattern attractive.

 

 

 

 

 

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