Cetheora aipgitre gáise:
ainmne, sonmathe, sobraide, sothnges;
ar is gáeth cach ainmnetach,
sái cach somnath,
fairsing cach sobraid,
sochoisc cach sothengtha
Four elements of wisdom:
patience, quietness, sobriety, well-spokenness;
for every patient person is wise, every quiet person is a sage,
every sober person is generous, every well-spoken person is good company
~ From The Yellow Book of Lecan
Botanical name: Quercus robur
Family: Fagaceae
Ogham: Dair
Scots Gaelic: Daraich
Irish Gaelic: Dair
Welsh: Derw
French: Chêne
Message: Do not shout your convictions aloud. Stand by them every day. That speaks more loudly.
Under the oaks, the acorns are falling. The light is gold. Beneath the great boughs, there abides a deep serenity.
The oak brought the peoples of northern Europe a sense of peace in the autumn, when a rich harvest of acorns made bountiful flour to feed the folk and good grazing to fatten the pigs. (1) Since it was said that the serving of pig meat at the table was ‘the freeing of shame from every face’, (2) a good acorn harvest presaged a good winter.
On a deeper level, oak trees bring us calm by their very presence. German experiments have shown that the blood pressure of tourists visiting a forest rises under conifers. But under a stand of oaks, the tourists’ blood pressure falls to pre-experimental levels, growing peaceful. (3)
In the summer, the wood of the oak is cut to make many things, for it lasts longest. Indeed, a single oak lives an average of six hundred years. Some have been found that have reached a millennium, (4) and archeological digs have unearthed oaken artifacts dating to 8,000 years of age (5). Oak was the preferred wood for doors, casks and all things that would be subject to the punishment of the elements. It was also the wood of choice for objects that were intended to be passed down from one generation to the next. As Erynn Laurie writes, “The tree itself is long lived and working its wood takes effort, but what is made from it is frequently exquisite in craftsmanship and long lasting, for less talented craftsmen use softer woods to practice their arts, graduating to harder and more valuable woods as their skill grows.” (6)
This toughness is engendered by both the growth habits and the biochemistry of the species. Under a microscope, a cross-section of oak wood is shown to have many tiny, closely spaced cells. This means that the tree lays down new growth very slowly, but it can withstand both intense pressure and damage since its wood is extremely dense: the average density is about 0.75 g/cm3 (0.43 oz/cu in). (7) These cramped cells also make invasion by bacteria more difficult. And if bacteria does happen to find a way in through a wound, the extremely high level of tannic acid in the tree’s sap is sure to kill it off. (8) Our ancestors were right: Oak is the tree of permanence.
So long-lived is the oak, and so tall, that it has been associated with kingship and the gathering of great wisdom. Across the landscape of northern Europe, place names tell us what the tree meant to the people, for so many place names include ‘Derry’ or ‘Dare’, Anglicizations of ‘daire’, the word for the oak. Kildare, ‘Church of the Oak,’ Derrybeg, ‘the Little Oak Wood’, Derrydorragh the ‘Dark Oak Wood’ and Derry itself, ‘Place of the Oak’, are all examples. (9) As the oak remembers time, people remember the oak.
People once called themselves after the oaks as well as their places; there were tribes in the 11th century known as ‘men of the oaks’, (10) and in times older than that, the priestly class themselves were called ‘Dur-wid’, which can be translated as ‘wise as oak trees’ or ‘those with the knowledge of the oak’. (11) For centuries, the druids led the folk and venerated the oak as the ever-living tree, source of vitality.
As it was associated with the land and wisdom of the land, so the oak was associated with sovereignty and the wise rulership of kings. Called ‘The Tara of the Wood’, (12) the oak was the tree of the Dagda, father of the gods, whose great strength lay in his endurance. No matter what befell, the Dagda would stand firm for his people.
There is a tale in The Book of Invasions that tells us of the Dagda and his steadfast way. It had come the time of Samhain during the seven years of strife between the terrible Formorii and the Tuatha de Dannan, and a truce had been called for the holiday. Under the name of the truce, the Formorii invited the Dagda to a feast at their camp. Since it was a great offense to refuse the hospitality of a host, and a greater one to refuse the food of a host, the Dagda accepted. When he reached the encampment, he found that the Formorii had set a trap for him; a pit had been dug and filled with eighty cauldrons worth of oats, milk and honey. Now the Dagda was great and formidable, but this was more food than fifty warriors could take up. And yet it was Samhain, and to refuse the food of a host would be a crime. So the Dagda took up a great spoon. The Formorii snickered. And the Dagda ate, and ate, until he was scraping the base of the pit. The Formorii stared in shock.
“But you have left some porridge behind,” said one of the enemy querulously.
The Dagda nodded. So he scooped rock and dirt into his mouth. Then he stood, dusted off his jerkin, and left the enemy camp triumphant.
When the world is daunting, when the work ahead of you is long and hard, tuck an acorn in your pocket. Each time you touch it, remember the strength of the oak. Stand quiet, but stand firm. If you have made your judgements wisely, there is great wisdom in quietly waiting out the braggarts and the bluster. If you are firm in your convictions, you have no need to shout them. You have only to stand by them.
- A Druid’s Herbal of Sacred Tree Medicine, Hopman, Ellen, Destiny Books, 1994
- Whispers from the Woods: The Lore & Magic of Trees, Kynes, Sandra, Llewellyn Books, 2005
- The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate, Wohlleben, Peter. Greystone Books, 2016
- Oak: The Frame of Civilization, Logan, William B. W.W., Norton, 2005
- Ogam: Weaving Word Wisdom, Laurie, Erynn Rowan, Megalithica Books, 2007
- Oak Trees Inside and Out, Hipp, Andrew Rosen Publishing Group, 2004
- An Oak Tree, Byfield, Liz, Collins Educational, 1990
- A Druid’s Herbal of Sacred Tree Medicine, Hopman, Ellen, Destiny Books, 1994
- A Dictionary of Literary Symbols, Ferber, Michael, Cambridge Press, 1999
- The Poem-Book of Gael. Translations from Irish Gaelic Poetry Into English Prose and Verse, Hull, Eleanor, Chatto & Windus, 1912