Ash (Tree): Magical Properties & Uses

Ash is the tree of healing, of the world's spine, and of the connection between worlds. Its primary magical uses are in healing workings, in sea magic (it has a long association with water despite its fire element), and in workings that require a connection to the upper and lower worlds simultaneously: the axis mundi quality of Yggdrasil. Ash keys (the winged seeds) are used in love divination and in working with fate. The wood is used for wands and staves associated with healing and authority. In the Northern tradition ash is the appropriate tree for any working seeking wisdom, particularly the hard-won wisdom of sacrifice and endurance.

Ash bark (Fraxinus excelsior) has been used in European folk medicine as a febrifuge and tonic, and as a substitute for Peruvian bark (quinine) in the treatment of fevers during times when the latter was unavailable. The leaves have mild diuretic properties and have been used in treatments for gout and rheumatism. Ash keys (seeds) were pickled and eaten as a condiment in medieval England. The bark contains fraxin and other compounds with mild anti-inflammatory properties. Culpeper recommended ash for various complaints and particularly for dropsy. It is not extensively used in contemporary herbal medicine.

Odin, Poseidon, Thor

The Norse called it Yggdrasil (the World Tree on which Odin hung for nine nights to win the wisdom of the runes) and to this day the wood of the ash holds a particular significance in the Northern European magical tradition. The ash is one of the three most sacred trees of the British Isles, alongside the oak and the hawthorn. In Irish mythology the five sacred trees of Ireland included ash; in the Ogham alphabet it is Nion, the fifth letter. Its keys (the winged seeds) were used in folk divination. Ash wood was used for the shafts of weapons and tools throughout the ancient and medieval world: the Norse spear was an ash spear, and Odin's own weapon, Gungnir, was of ash.