Patti M. Walsh

Following the lunar cycle of 28 days, the Celtic Tree Calendar tracks the year in terms of trees, not months, and focuses on the changing seasons. It was proposed by novelist and poet Robert Graves in his book, The White Goddess, in 1948. Graves rearranged the early medieval Irish ogham alphabet to suit his concept of a calendar, naming 13 months after trees.
 

Straight as an Arrow

A member of the genus of plants belonging to the grass family, the common reed is a phragmite (sounds like frag MIGHTY). Because it grows straight and true, it is the traditional choice for arrows. Symbolizing integrity and implying direct action, the arrow shows up in many idioms:

• A “straight arrow” is an honest and trustworthy person;
• Cupid’s arrow targets love;
• We are assailed by the slings and arrows of misfortune;
• Having “arrows in the quiver” implies options to solve a problem;
• In modern logos, arrows represent positive movement, direction, and speed.

Ngetal is the only ogham plant that does not grow as a wood—even ivy and vines have hard, woody stems. Yet reeds are durable and can grow up to 20 feet tall.

Because of these qualities, reeds were used for protection. Yet they are flexible and resilient, bending in the wind as winter approaches. The reed’s complex symbolism is rooted in its dual nature as a plant that exists between land and water.

A member of the grass family growing at the water’s edge, the reed inhabits a liminal space—a space that is neither water nor earth. As such, it is a threshold between the mortal world and the spiritual Otherworld.

By transforming wind into sound when crafted into pipes, the reeds’ hollow stems also represent communication and expression. Because of the haunting sounds sometimes heard when the wind rushes through reeds, the plant is often associated with the souls of the dead being summoned from the Underworld. Some believe it is the best time of year for a séance.

The month of the reed coincides with Samhain (Halloween). As a period for endings, new beginnings, and honoring ancestors, the reed represents the passage of the soul and renewal after death.

Medicine and Nutrition

A member of the grass family, the entire plant has been used extensively in traditional medicine to do just about everything: treat asthma, bronchitis, cholera, lung abscesses, and urinary tract infections; suppress nausea and diarrhea; lower fevers; stop bleeding; dissolve kidney stones; and as an antidote for poisoning, especially from seafood.

Likewise, the reed is edible. The root can be eaten raw or cooked like potatoes. It can be dried, ground coarsely, and used as a porridge. Young shoots—raw or cooked—can be used like bamboo shoots. Partly unfolded leaves can be used as a potherb. The Japanese grind dry young leaves into a powder and mix them with cereal flour to make dumplings. Seeds—raw or cooked—can also be ground into a powder and used as a flour.

A sweet licorice-like sugar can be extracted from the stalks and eaten raw or cooked. The gum that exudes from the stems can be rolled into balls and eaten as sweets. And a powder extracted from the dried stems can be moistened and roasted like marshmallow.

Learn more about reeds as food in The Mighty Phragmite video, produced by EdibleWildFood.com

Mythology

While reeds were sacred to the druids, who used them to make darts and arrows, and some Celtic folklore depicts reeds as instruments or weapons used by spirits and fairies, the most famous myth involving reeds is the Greek story of Pan and Syrinx.

Famously told by the Roman poet Ovid in his Metamorphoses, it depicts unrequited love and transformation.

Syrinx was a beautiful water nymph who followed the virgin goddess Artemis (who, incidentally, was depicted with a hunting bow and quiver of arrows). Like Artemis, Syrinx valued her chastity. The lustful Pan—half-man, half-goat—pursued Syrinx. In her attempt to escape him, Syrinx found herself on the banks of a river. With Pan closing in, Syrinx begged her fellow river nymphs to save her. In answer to her plea, she was instantly transformed into a patch of marsh reeds. Pan, frustrated to find nothing but reeds in his grasp, sighed in disappointment. As his breath blew across the hollow reeds, it produced a mournful, haunting melody. Pan cut the reeds into different lengths and bound them together to create a musical instrument, which he named the syrinx, or panpipes, in honor of his lost love. 

Another Greek story, Aesop’s fable of “The Oak Tree and the Reed,” depicts the reed as a symbol of adaptability and survival. Enjoy this version by Evergreen Tales, a story channel that is “dedicated to breathing life back into literature that has been buried under the dust of time.” It is from The Aesop for Children, published in 1919.