The willow tree was sacred to the goddesses Arianrhod, Circe, Hecate, and Persephone. On Circe's enchanted island, there was a grove of willows from which hung corpses. The virgin form of Hecate was Helice, who guarded Mount Helicon. She carried a willow wand as a cosmic symbol connected with the stars. In the Celtic tradition, the willow was called saille, the letter S, in the tree alphabet.
The willow was also a tree associated with grief, although this association probably dates only from the Middle Ages. The Bible refers to exiled Jews weeping beside the rivers of Babylon and hanging their harps on "willows" there. However, it is more likely that the trees referred to were the Euphrates aspen rather than what we know of as the willow.
Willow wands are used for divination and water witching, and are one of the preferred woods for the making of magical wands. Many modern Witches use the willow in healing rites and believe that a willow planted in the garden will draw down the blessings of the goddess from the moon, thus guarding the home. Other names for the willow are Saugh Tree, Tree of Enchantment, Witches' Aspirin, and Withy.
Scott Cunningham equates the willow with the moon and water, and with Artemis, Ceres, Hecate, Persephone, Hera, Mercury, Belili, and Belinus. He states that willow leaves are used in mixtures to attract love and that all parts of the willow guard against evil. The leaves, bark, and wood are utilized in healing spells.
(Salix), a genus of plants of the family Salicaceae. They are trees, shrubs, or shrublets with spirally placed, for the most part short-stemmed, leaves. The flowers are unisexual and dioecious and lack a perianth. They sit in the axils of covering scales and are gathered into dense clusters called catkins. The male flowers usually have one to eight (up to 12) stamens and the female, one pistil with a monothalamous ovary and two often delaminated stigmata. The fruit is a capsule containing numerous seeds with tufted pappi. Willows are pollinated by insects (mainly bees). There are approximately 300 species, predominantly in the temperate zone of Eurasia and North America.
The USSR has approximately 120 species; there are also many interspecies hybrids. The willow has many names in Russia: the large trees and shrubs that grow primarily in the west of the European part of the USSR are called vetla (white willow, Salix alba), verba (daphne willow, S. daphnoides), sheliuga (sharp-leaved willow, S. acutifolia), and rakita (goat willow, S. cap-red); bushes are called loza or lozniak (French willow, S. triandra); and the usually shrubby species of the eastern regions of the European part of the USSR, Siberia, and Middle Asia are called tal or tal’nik (purple osier, S. purpurea).
The polar and high-altitude willows are low-growing, spreading shrublets that reach a height of only a few centimeters—for example, the polar willow (S. polaris) and the dwarf willow (S. herbacea). But there are willows that grow 30–40 m tall and over 0.5 m in diameter.
The majority of willows are small trees (10–15 m) or shrubs. Their ability to produce adventitious roots permits willows to be easily propagated from cuttings and even from twigs (except for the goat willow, S. capred). The seeds lose their germinating capacity within several days; only the bay willow (S. pentan-drd) seeds remain vital until the following spring.
Willow wood is very light and soft and rots readily. It is used for making small hand-carved articles. In unforested areas willow is used as a building material. The withes of some shrubby willows (osier, purple willow and French willow) are used for weaving baskets and making furniture. The leafy branches of the willow are used as fodder for animals (especially goats and sheep). The bark of many willows is used for tanning leathers (the gray, goat, and white willows). The bark of some species contains the glucoside salicin, which has medicinal value. Many species are ornamental (common osier, S. viminalis). Willows are used for reinforcing sands (sharp-leaved willow, Caspian willow), the banks of canals and ditches, and the slopes of dams (white willow, brittle willow); in antierosion plantings in forest-steppe and steppe regions (white, brittle, and osier willows); and as field-protecting and roadside forest strips on moister soils.
A. K. SKVORTSOV