From Roots to Leaves, Branches to Bark
The Goddess Tree Grows

REED

Phragmites communis
12th month of Celtic Tree calendar, October 28 - November 24
12th letter of the Ogham alphabet - nGetal

Stone: Black Obsidian
Color: Crimson
Bird: Geese, Kingfisher
Deity: Coventina, Morrigan, Rhiannon, Manannan Mac Lir, Poseidon, Pwyll
Folk Names: Sweet flag, myrtle grass, norfolk reed

Reed has served as a floor covering, roofing, and room deodorizer. The powdered root was used as an insecticide against fleas. Soaked in fat the stalks made a cheap alternative to candles. Other uses include arrow shafts and writing pens. Reed flutes were a subject of legend; it is rumored that the Pied Piper's magical flute was made of reed, and Pan's flute may also have been made from reed. Today reed is used in wood-wind instruments. Medicinally the plant was used to treat eye problems.

Dreaming of Reed means not all your friends are true. Handling them in dreams mean that you may be deceived in business.

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Watchers of the Wetlands
by Scott B. Stewart

The family of reeds
watch over the wetlands.
Standing-tall sentries of rivers, lakes and ponds
blessed by the omnipresent hands
of our dear Goddess, who cares for them all:
her reeds, rushes and cattails
which thrive along swamps.
The Celts have long-honored
these most unique of plants
which make music in the wind
and most gracefully bend.

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Use reed with your favorite spell for balance and harmony. Reed is used to make flutes, and a small piece from the reed can be used symbolically to invite sweet harmony into your life. Sing your incantation to it and then place it where you will see it often.
Whispers from the Woods, by Sandra Kynes

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Call to Reed - nGetal
by facesofwomanspirit.com

Reed, Mother Protector
Lead my conscious awareness
Help me to see my whole self
The sight of the world in change
and the door of the inner consciousness
That guides my transformation
And heals my soul.


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THE CELTIC TREE ORACLE
by Liz and Colin Murray

Thin and slender is the Reed. He stands in clumps at the edge of the river and between his feet hides the swift pike awaiting an unsuspecting minnow to come his way. In his thin-ness the reed resembles arrows that fly, silver-tipped, up into the unknown air to land at the very source that one had searched for all these years. Firing arrows off into the unknown is an expression of the desire to search out basic truths. If you loose off without direction, the place of landing will be random. If the firing off is carried out with the correct conviction, determination and sense of purpose, then the act becomes secondary to the event that comes both before and after the moment.

Choosing this card indicates that you are aware of the great outside that surrounds us all. You are capable of finding order where others find only chaos. Your results are as sure as the intentions with which you started. You progress by continually keeping your aim in sight. Choosing the Reed gives you the capacity to make spiritual weapons, just as the bowman has first to make and find his bow, then he has to make the arrows and tip them with a point. The flights, or feathers, at the base of the arrow give direction and prevent the arrow twisting and changing direction in flight.

In the same way, with the Reed you are able to find direction and to give meaning and purpose to your journey that started at the beginning of the year in November, according to the old calendar. Once the journey has been entered upon, then surprise encounters and upsets are only to be expected. The skills to overcome these short-lived troubles are as important and essential as making the journey in the first place.

The reed gives you that all-important skill and direction. If chosen reversed, it shows that you still have some way to go before your sight and skill is polished enough to embark upon the journey, the results of which may be as yet unknown.

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Everything lost is found again; everything hurt is healed again.

This truth has the power to retrieve a part of your spirit from the past. It's a mantra that's strong enough to overcome past injuries. This will be your constant thought today.

Healing Cards, by Carolyn Myss and Peter Occhiogrosso

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The Great Goddess
Rhiannon

Image from The Oracle of the Goddess

Goddess of the Night

As a Celtic Goddess of the underworld and the dead, she possessed the gift of shape shifting. She also knew every plant and every tree and was often found dancing with the branches and playing with butterflies. She is closely interwoven with all life on earth. Rhiannon teaches us to accept what is ours, and trust that our deepest desires will come to us without much effort. Just shift your attention and change the shape of your image of the world. You can see yourself mirrored in every life-form just like the Goddess. This is the great art of life.

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As Will I

Breeze moves sofly over
the back gardens and the concrete
to my nostrils
carrying the smell of sewage
in another city heatwave
as our planet struggles
to survive
But breeze still remembers
and is intact
she knows the pure sources of
all the ways of life
and of all the winds
Leaves display disease
edges curl with dryness
of global warming and pollution
sister tree species disappear
But leaves still remember
as do I
all the beauty of this earth
their lush green and vibrant memory
is still intact
as is mine

Mary Steel 2006, and We’Moon’08

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October 28, 2008 - New Moon in Scorpio
November 5, 2008 - Waxing Half Moon in Aquarius
November 12, 2008 - Full Moon in Taurus
November 19, 2008 - Waning Half Moon in Leo

Celtic Moon sign - Reed Moon
The roots of the reed go deeply into the water from which it takes its nourishment. These roots are the strongest part of the reed, in fact - so its true strength is doubly hidden, both beneath the water and the floor of the pond or lake where it grows. If you were born under this sign, you, too, have secret strength, and perhaps secret motivations, as well. Your challenge is to use your "detective abilities" wisely, not to undermine others or find their weaknesses, but to evolve into a deeply perceptive individual whose wisdom can be used to teach others.
Written by Kim Rogers-Gallagher, and Llewellyn's Witches' Datebook 2000

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A Crone Stone
reading from Gwendolyn

The Seeker
In this stone I see a path leading around a tree and over a hill.

Maybe you are not lost, maybe you are wandering to find the wisdom you need. Your intuition has lead you this far, it can take you beyond the horizon.
visit cronestones.com for more about crone stones

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Shop: http://sticksandstonescircle.com

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I release the need to determine how things "should" be
If you are suffering in your life right now, I can guarantee that this condition is tied up with some kind of attachment to how things "should" be going.

Inner Peace Cards by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

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Pray Peace

This letter is a labor of love, from Gwendolyn
Permission to share freely, please in its entirety, with links and credits
Feel free to contact me: gwendolyn@thegoddesstree.com

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from Moon Bee Acres
There is a branch for you to sit upon with a beautiful view.
Climb up into her arms, and stay for a spell.
Feel her roots, her bark, her branches, her leaves.
She is shade, shelter, a home, a hide-away.
She is an escape.
She rocks you to sleep in your hammock.
She holds up your birdfeeder, your wind chimes, and your decorations.
She embraces anyone who loves to climb.
In the spring she offers life, and in the fall she gives her own.
She does not judge.
She just is.
Gwendolyn
thegoddesstree.com

www.thegoddesstree.com/MotherNature/Reed.htm

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