Hawthorn: The Heart, Inner Equilibrium & Otherworld Portals
Meet the Hawthorn tree -
best friend to the heart, protector of sacred places and guardian of otherworld portals
The Hawthorn tree is a powerful medicinal and magical plant, native to temperate regions across the Northern Hemisphere including Asia, North America, North Africa and Europe. Living for thousands of years, Hawthorn trees are found at sacred sites from The Glastonbury thorn in England to The Dibeen Forest in the Jordan valley and include hundreds of varieties, recognizable by their white or pink blossoms, rich red berries and sharp thorns.
Medicinally, Hawthorn supports the whole heart and cardiovascular system. Their leaves, flowers and berries are prepared as a tea or preserved in extracts. Gently dilating the entire vascular system, especially capillaries in the limbs, Hawthorn creates more space for blood to move more freely and with less effort from the heart. This action takes pressure off the heart, giving the muscle a chance to rest and recover from any kind of stress.
Hawthorn’s physical effects are gentle and subtle, but also powerful and can be felt immediately. A strong dose can instantly reduce the heart rate, relieve painful tension in the chest due to emotional stress, warm cold fingers and toes when coming in from the cold or relieve the pressure of circulation-related headaches.
Over time, Hawthorn supports the heartbeat becoming stronger, more regular and more efficient. Regular use helps maintain healthy circulation and stabilizes the blood pressure, raising or lowering depending on which is needed. Hawthorn works best when taken in small doses over long periods of time, with best effects after one full year.
Hawthorn beautifully treats the physical heart and also provides medicine for the non-physical aspects of the heart - the emotional body and soul’s presence. Hawthorn makes a great ally for any emotionally charged moment by opening up space for vulnerability, authenticity and emotions to flow. Their medicine can be used specifically to support intense times of transition like loss of a loved one or processing heavy and painful emotions like grief. Hawthorn medicine can also be used to create space for creative flow in celebrations and emotional intimacy in relationships. Positive or negative, Hawthorn helps us feel more.
The heart is by nature a highly metaphysical organ operating in multiple dimensions, circulating the blood in the 3rd dimension, projecting infrared vibrations that make up our electro-magnetic field / energetic body and processing the subtler frequencies of emotion, intuition and inner vision. Our heart is the first organ that forms in utero, powering the creation of all other organs and it’s beat supplies the heat that is our vital force - our last heartbeat marks the last moment of life. The heart is a vibrational instrument and an inter-dimensional portal, our soul’s direct contact with the physical world.
In accordance with it’s properties, Hawthorn is a powerful spiritual force that can assist us to clear space, center our heart and expand our perception. Incorporating Hawthorn medicine into any spiritual practice will increase capacity to perceive subtle and internal frequencies. Taking Hawthorn internally is ideal support for introspective work like meditation, dreaming, divination, visioning and artistic creation.
This protector tree is also an ideal ally for conducting rituals, spells or engaging with the spirit world. Hawthorn’s presence removes unwarranted influences and can provide shelter while we engage in inter-dimensional endeavors. For advanced spell crafters, Hawthorn is a potent ingredient for protection magic like warding, reversals or banishing spells. Include their berries, flowers or thorns in spells, altars and offerings or sit underneath a tree to cleanse your electro-magnetic field.
Hawthorn has correspondence with the element of Fire, the planets Mars and Jupiter, the fixed stars Aldebaran and Antares, and the astrological signs Aries and Sagittarius.
The energetic signature of Hawthorn is the masterful warrior, a supreme protector who opens up space for sovereignty, truth, authenticity, vulnerability, gentleness, softness, peace, harmony and joy. The living trees are guardians who stand at the gateway to other worlds, creating portals to adjacent realms of Faeries and nature spirits. In some places Hawthorns are even regarded with fear, left standing in the middle of farm fields because superstition warns against cutting their branches or interfering with their growth.
In their very structural growth pattern, Hawthorn trees express the principle of untamed wildness, pure freedom and sovereignty. Their craggy, twisted branches grow in a pattern that is highly individualized, each tree is shaped differently from the next. Some growing into thick hedges providing sanctuary for birds and small animals, others bending into archways and tunnels. Often found growing in solitary outposts, far away from other trees, they are so resilient that they can establish outcroppings perched high on windswept hilltops or rock formations where no other tree could survive.
My personal experience with the Hawthorns began in 2017, during my apprenticeship with Karen Rose of Sacred Vibes Apothecary in Brooklyn, New York. I studied the hawthorns in Prospect Park and the time I spent with these powerful protectors jump-started my journey of self discovery, helping me clear away distortions in my perception and reclaim my relationship to the world of magic.
Working with Hawthorn taught me how to see with my heart. The heart is an organ of perception just as much as the brain, processing emotional and vibrational information. Listening with the heart allows us to look past physical reality and perceive the spirit moving through the flesh. Building flexibility in my heart allows me to experience a wider range of frequencies and brings me to my center. This ancient tree is my collaborator in all my readings and consultations, allowing me to approach my clients with equilibrium, clarity and an open heart.